Eels Blogs

Memories of the last time we made the Grand Final.

As we all know in 2009 we went on the crazy run and made the Grand Final after beating arch-rivals Canterbury-Bankstown in the preliminary final.  We already got revenge on them for 1998 in 2007 but the 2009 win was all that much sweeter.  I remember the pandemonium of Grand Final week in 2009, the only other Grand Final weeks which could match it are the 2014 Grand Final and 2016 Grand Final weeks.

Tickets for the 2009 GF were sold out almost immediately, I tried to get a ticket but the cheapest going were 150 quid.  The whole week on the telly, radio etc, everyone talked about the game and they wished Parramatta well and wanted them to win it regardless to club loyalty.  Even the NSW Premier said if Parramatta win he would name two of the new trains after Moi Moi and Hayne.  Because the opponent were Melbourne, a team everyone hates, it were an us against them mentality, a NSW against Victoria story.   On Grand Final day, I met up in the Sydney CBD with a mate and on the train coming in, to walking through the city centre I had random people coming up saying "Go Parra" or "I support this team but beat Melbourne for us please". 

Because we couldn't get tickets we went to the League's club at Parramatta.  Before we got to the club, there was a convoy of cars doing continuous laps of the Parramatta CBD honking their horns and playing the Parramatta song, inside the club the crowd inside were insane, people everywhere, lines everywhere.  We stayed there for a bit and went outside, the Doorman went "Are youse coming back in Because in ten minutes we are locking the doors, we are full".  We ended up leaving and going to PJ Gallaghers and walked through Parramatta admist all the car horns, cars doing laps, people everywhere.  On Church Street I saw a lad in a Melbourne shirt, some of the car loads saw him, got out of the cars and surrounded him, what happened to the lad after that I don't know to be fair.

At PJ Gallaghers the pub were packed and it was 💯 Parramatta fans.  Watching the game on the telly, the crowd would of been 95% Parramatta, there must of been maybe 5000 Melbourne fans in the ground if that.  The first half we were down 10-0 but when we came back in the second half, especially with the Moi Moi try, people were throwing full pints in the air, one lad was swinging from the speaker system.  Of course we know the result and I witnessed a lot of grown men crying in the pub, on the way back to the station, the cars of Parramatta fans had been replaced by fans of Canterbury etc and they were hurling abuse at us and anyone else who wore Parramatta colours, something that burns me to this day.  As we all know the team we lost to were almost $4 million over the salary cap which strangely enough made me feel better slightly because Melbourne had to cheat to beat us.  Everyone thought we would build off 2009 but it weren't the case, 13 long years later here we are.