Probably a nonsense blog for some, but i wonder about what slice of the fan pie we will have and where this club will be in 10 years. Despite our huge advantages of where we are based and a state of the art stadium, Penriths success means we have fallen well behind them out West. Many of todays Eels fans are a result of the success in the 80s and even to a lesser extent the early 2000s where we played some really attractive footy. Turning on an Eels game you could always guarantee we were well represented even in Brisbane and when we're going well League was flying in Western Sydney and the NRL as a whole .Souths and Parra going well were keys to the success of the league. I really feel like that success stemed from the kids of the 70s and 80s growing up and having their own kids. These days out west there are Penrith jerseys everywhere, but outsie of that the kids are fascinated with the Broncos. Reece Walsh has captured the interest of a tonne of kids even down here which probably inflated our crowd by 5k last week. Watching them live on Friday and seeing the speed and skill of their outside backs in particular vs our plodders was stark. The skill and exectution of the Roosters on Sunday, the vision to put in cross field kicks on tackle 1 and the speed on their flanks was really attractive footy to see. Teams like the Sharks and Melbourne .. even Manly have a tonne of speed and excitement out there. Guys that make the crowd rise when theres half a chance. Its crazy how much this area of our game has been neglected both in development and recruitment . Guys like Dunster , Russell etc are never going to be that style of player and thats what everyone is looking for.
The BA style of footy he's had us playing isn't an attractive brand of footy. 5 tackles and kick long into the box with little to no attacking flare .. . Selling an Eels game to my 12 year old is a bit of a tough slog.. the guys they want to watch are the ones with a bit of spark and athleticism. I feel like we're really behind in those areas and it affects not just our week to wek results but outside of maybe Dylan Brown and Moses the club doesnt really have someone that captivates this gen and its been that way the entire time BA has been here. The collision chasing outside backs and power forward style probably helped us in 2022 but times have changed. The game is faster than ever and speed is king. It is obvious to all watching the quickest guys in our team are the 6 and 7 and the outside backs struggle to keep up with them. Why has this been largely overlooked for the entirety of BAs stint here? Why has there been an obvious need for speed and depth in the backline and year on year guys move clubs and we add another plodding forward. Is it our recruitment team not knowing wtf theyre doing and thinking theyre getting a bargain with some offloaded forward that was proably offloade because theyre too slow? Or is it how BA wants to play? Our backrowers are the slowest in the league , our fullback is the slowest in the league, our play the balls are the slowest in the league and our outside backs collectively are the slowest in the league. Not adapting our rectruitment, playing style and how we look at the game is going to set this side back. We've all gone on about our flawed depth , systems and 'part time' footballers attitude thats crept in under BA but his tactics are that stale I think its going to be hard for us to capture succes and interest from this generation of kids without some athleticism and excitment coming into the side and quickly.
If a coach like Bennett came to Parra the absolute priority for him would be adding speed. Can guarantee it.
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Wayne has a knack for sorting out rosters, either moving players on that offer little future value or bringing in young talent and making it prosper. I've been saying for two years at least we should have got Xavier Savage for his speed.
What are people's thoughts on Lomax? Is he any quicker than what we've already got.
I think we agree Adam, if you watch a highlights reel of our NSW Cup side you will see a try scored by the winger Martin, cannot think of his first name.....that try would have only meant he ran 10 metres in a short arc, he showed more skill and pace than I have seen from any Parramatta winger this year. He is green as grass but has more attacking ability than anyone in the club outside of DB and Moses, playing with the gooses he does in the Reserve Grade backline means he doesn't get a lot of opportunity. Where have we seen that before?
BA reminds me of a lot of the academics I used to know, stuck in their outmoded ideology, despite the mountains of flaws and contrary empirical evidence. Like them, BA will stubbornly cling fast to his ideology. Changing is an admission of being wrong.
I don't think BA has an idealogy Bob, he just coaches the game the way he has been involved with it, he was mentored by Bellamey and also Hasler( I think Hasler) and seems to have adopted their style but with no adaptability to a game that changes nearly every year. There seems to be no original fault, just a reluctance to change. This is a shame because he offers a genuine love of the club and contrary to many things you read here, money is not an objective for him. I think if you asked him he would coach the side for the basic wage. But those criticisms are irrelevant now as he has used up his pass by date and has to move on for the good of everyone. Not the least himself.
Your analogy with academic's is true and whilst I agree I am not convinced which side is right. Like most things in life a balance needs to exist and that draws innovation out. No point in everyone agreeing for the sake of it. probably why I am a contrarian. I like to take the opposite side to maintain balance, as long as I have no arguments with the principle. Climate change is an example, there is no doubt that climate change is a real and worrying issue, the argument is what is the right remedy and how dangerous is the antidote.
Good blog by the way Snottie, I think you go over the top a lot in your comments, but this is well thought out and like your reference to the kids and what they are attracted to. Old bastards like me take the loyalty and following of the club for granted, but when I was 10 years old my Dad took me to Cumberland Oval and I thought I was in heaven, pretty naive on my part because my grandfather who lived with us took us out to dinner and I had prawn cutlets at the Parramatta Leagues Club, never had a restaurant type meal before, cost 10 shillings and I didn't know food like that existed. My experience was take away fish and chips on a friday night and on my birthday I got to choose a meal which was Salmon rissoles LOL..... things change and we need to remember that, not least being our coach as previously referenced.
Final conclusion (tautology) is that my youngest son who is now in his 40's insisted when he was 12 years old and we were doing a fair bit of travelling that he would only stay in 5 Star Hotels, yes kids are attracted to new things bright and shiny!
BA was last to understand that the game has changed to favour faster teams and will be sacked for it.
Which outside backs has the bush bum purchased over the past 5 seasons, - Harper & opacik. Harper has to be in the bottom 5 slowest backs in the NRL. Unlike the bushie Bennett Went with all out speed and the dolphins are reaping the benefits.
The bushie will live and die by his slow monotonous forwards battle collision strategy. Time to go Arthur
Disagree Chiefy, I dont think Harper would make bottom 5, I would back him in to bottom 1 or 2 and I don't know who number 2 is. The amazing thing is I think he is slower now than when he started. A good honest toiler by the way. He is a depth player only and that may be in the forwards, I wonder how he would go at hooker? Maybe not as silly as it sounds when we are talking about Hands as a 14.
We are also seeing the " stuck in the past" thinking play out with problem solving in the international world or Politics and War.
Good point Tad, the most true statement in terms of the ultimate mistake, killing people in the name of something solves nothing. We just do not seem to learn that one!
Poppa I think footy like all aspects of life is a small micro canvas of the big picture. I think we are finally getting to a stage where a different reality is on the horizon. ( I am going through my astrology thing but the latest big event in astrology is the very rare eclipse we have just been through (( look at what we are going through around the world ((( if you watch credible world news))) To get gains we have to go through pain. The momentum has started and will filter through football at some stage .I see what we are going through now as an opportunity to be taken.The earlybird catches the worm type of thing.
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