Ok for one we must hope that panthers beat the warriors ,because the warriors are at home to the under performing TItans. Then we must hope that the storm can beat the broncos ,lastly we must beat the Raiders.Should the warriors win against the panthers then our season is over, the titans simply will not beat the warriors in new Zealand when they would be playing for a semi final. The storm have a great record against the broncos and is too close to call however the storm are the untouchables in Melbourne and we can count on the refs ensuring that the storm get a victory.
As for our eels ........ if we are going to dish up such pathetic rubbish then we do not deserve to be there, today as we all know was a chance to cement a spot,a chance to show the nrl we don't need favours from other clubs and we can beat anyone. What we saw was the opposite ,there was no hunger and a shocking display in both attack and defence. BA has some huge problems to overcome. Our right side defence was almost non existent ,hoppa is not a player standing up... its like he simply isn't big enough, fit enough, strong enough or fast enough . Hoppa must work hard in the Offseason or risk being in wenty next year. Morgan must either play wing or not at all, he doesn't. pass the ball and a centre must use his winger when he can. Our forward pack is very soft and while they play hot 1 week they lack stamina and grit to go week in week out. Then we have Corey Norman, here is a player I was so excited that he was coming but just isn't a class 5/8. Both him and Hoppe have some serious issues to deal with and they will struggle to make first grade next year. Pretenders do not last and get found out. I will not blame Hayne and Sandow, these two guys didn't turn up today but they have got us to where we are now which is fantastic. Our season 2014 is still a success, we have come a long way but we have a long way to go and lets just hope season 2015 brings us even better luck on and off the field . Although I see us crushing the raiders in the ultimate revenge for the eels fans next week and belting RS twice in a season to be something to cheer about . I do not see that we will now male the semis. I hope I'm wrong and the eels can return to glory but it is a very long shot.
Should the warriors beat the panthers ,they will waltz into the playoffs ,if they don't then our chances are 60% as unless the storm lose 2 in a row at this end of the season we are in. It could become a situation where the storm use to hurt us. With the knowledge that they can kill off the eels with a loss ,they may be tempted to rest players knowing they are in the semis anyway. The storm on the other hand will want to go into the playoffs with a win and so this match is sure to be a nailbiter for us.
So guys lets hope the panthers and storm win, because if it doesn't happen then we are doomed for 2014. We have a few signings now and hopefully BA can get the new recruits to improves our defence which is simply not good enough. Semi may be loved by all but he must learn to position himself better when in the defensive line. I would like to see Hoppa moved to wing next year and Semi if his defence game improves in the off season to be moved to the centres. He has size, speed, power and can offload. This would mean Morgan is back to went. The Eels have some serious work to do. Hoppa is big money for little value. He may be the man to drop out should BA decide that Morgan is up to the challenge. We also need Props, a Couple of big boppers with size and determination. We simply do not have the aggression needed to win a title right now. We still have a bit left over to buy a prop or two due to players leaving or retiring. This must be a priority to. Our club. Yes we have some Yung guys trying hard but we need to ensure we have the size o match these big teams. Semi was a great find, so maybe a trip to Fiji is the go for eels talent scouts. Go to Fiji and find the two biggest meanest guys you can find and tell them to hold the ball and run to the line. I would like to read your thoughts on what we lack, what positions you feel need are most urgent to buy players for ?.For me we need props and we need them yesterday. I am not giving up , but we a very minor chance now to make it. If only this team was able to be More consistent then we could be talking semis and not be so concerned. Another small truth is we have had a few refs calls go against us this year that cost us at least 4 points more. This would have had us top 4 now. So whatever happens now ... our team as done us proud in 2014.Congradulations to BA and the side for bringing some smiles to us fans even if it didn't happen today.
EME
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Mr Radradra
Mrs Radradra
Sex
I think your being a bit harsh - considering we ran 15th in 2011 and then collected consecutive wooden spoons in 2012 and 2013. This season has been hugely successful (IMO), not to mention losing out 2 best players (Peats and Mau) for the 2nd half of the season, i think its been a good year. We also need to remember we are a very young team with not much experience and our 1,6,7 and 9 haven't played that much footy together.
I agree with some of the points you noted, but i think your being a bit harsh. 2014 has been a successful year and we shouldn't be so quick to get the knives out and start criticizing.
Hoppa will come good - he needs another off-season under his belt. He's young and he was out of the game for 2 years. I think he has done extremely well considering.
2 new props for next year are Mossop and Wicks. Are they good enough?
if these are our two starting props next year I think we should be concerned!
#2 Defend better.
#3 Stop resting players in games deemed unimportant.
We may have won the wooden spoon the last 2 years but BA didn't get a wooden spoon team. Hoppa, Norman, Peats, Gower, Mau, Moeroa just to name a couple was not in a wooden spoon team so the team BA got was a lot better than the teams from the last 2 seasons. We are still poor in defence which is a surprise since BA is surposedly a defencive coach and a stickler for good defence. Attack wise we have improved a great deal. We may have to get rid of the few players that played in the wooden spoon era to get rid of the loosing mentality. Defaintly need to get rid of the likes of Seffa, Morgan, Vai and Hunt and buy players like Watmough which would bring so much to the team.