After reflecting on another Eels season filled with disappointment got me thinking. Throughout my years supporting the Eels the amount of poor seasons clearly out weigh the good ones. In 3 and a half weeks I'll turn 50 years old making me a 1976 model. Everything started extremely well supporting the Eels with 4 premierships during my first 10 years, however, the next 40 years have been disappointing most of the time. Failure has become expected. The regular disappointment of being an Eels supporter is the reason I didn't push or guide my 3 kids towards the Eels. Throughout the years I've been able to see what direction the Eels were trying to go in looking for success, but currently I have no clue where they are hoping to get too. I have seen very little positive since the 2022 grand final loss. In the real world a downward spiral similar to what the Eels have produced since 2022 would see most people out of their job.
As I stated above, I'm only days away from turning 50 years old. If all goes well I'll be around for another 30 or 40 years. At this stage I'm not confident at all that I will see success like the glory days.
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As an eels supporter I have 15 years on you and I rarely can last a full match of viewing these days. I happily remember those glory days as well and at our best we had a dynamic pack of forwards, an organising halfback with a fleet footed 5/8 to compliment and speed to burn in the outside backs.
When we signed Moses in the Arthur years we had a similar pack but Moses has never been an organising halfback. We have relied on a long kicking game to mask so many deficiency's in recruitment and as Daley recently found, that will only get you so far.
So where to now? I see a couple of options as we are such a shit-show that individually no high profile players seem keen.
one option - just like in the super league years when we signed McCracken Dymock Jason Smith Dean Pay - we sign an established compliment of players who might be more likely to test the waters together as they already have that connection OR
We pick , recruite genuine athletes who have speed and size across the park At the moment we have neither .
I remember when Noel Cleale would sign young blokes from the country (like Penrith do now) and they would turn into great buys but the current RandR seem to be lacking in vision.
I watched the Roosters/Broncos game last night and all it did was frustrate me when I saw the quality number of players across the park . The Eels seem to be in another world from that and YET on any given day , for whatever reason, they can turn up and ice a performance
A frustrating team to follow !!!
Same boat here.
I'm 51 and have already excepted the fact that I won't see another Eels premiership in my lifetime.
Only one of my four kids follows the footy and I have tried my best to steer him away from supporting Parra but to no avail.
I have had friends and family who were long time Eels supporters pass away before they got to see another premiership and even if I last another 30 or 40 years, I have zero confidence of seeing another one.
I'm about a month ahead of you Slip, feel the exact same as you. Unfortunately my two boys follow the Eels as it was a natural developement when they watched their father. Luckily they are not committed to the game and team like me.
We were never going to beat Penrith in 22 but at least I got to go and watch them in a GF. I made that choice to go unlike previous times as I new it was now a very rare thing to happen, the Eels in a GF.
I remember 2001, it really should of been ours, that was our year, the best team all year but we couldn't do it on the day.
2009, that seemed to hurt the most, against the cheats, we were amazing leading up to the final. Hayne was shredding, probably should of been ours except the refs seemed to be on the Storm's cheating band wagon. That era was some of the most enjoyable times as an Eels fan, we had some great guys in our roster. If we had of won that day I think I could handle how inept the club has become now.
It's a sad story.
I'm 36 and started supporting this club in 2001. We've had some great years—2001, 2005, 2007, 2009 (my favourite), and 2022—but for most of the past 25 years it's been frustration. Every season I'm left wondering why we aren't better, why our recruitment isn't stronger, and why the club doesn't seem to be run as well as it should be.
I'll always love this club, but it's becoming harder to see a path forward. With more teams entering the competition and the salary cap spread even thinner, the gap between well-run clubs and poorly run ones only gets bigger.
Until this club starts getting its act together, I won't be spending any more money on memberships, merchandise, or going to games. I'll always support the team, but they've got to give supporters a reason to believe things are finally changing.
Im 24 and already given up and no I dont expect to die any time soon lol.
To put it in perspective, tigers haven't made finals since 2011. It can always be worse 😂
EA if Sarantinos and O'neill aren't moved on, ill guarantee you'll have to dye your ball hairs before the age of 28. That's the life we face under the dumb and dumber of league.
Trust me, its not a good look especially when you're single lol
I'm 45 started following parra in 1988 when i got into footy. Went through the crap from 88-96 no finals. Smithy came along and gave us some great years. Ever since fitzy was ousted its been down hill until we had some decent years 19-22. This bullshit has gone to long us supporters have had enough of shit getting put on us by other supporters lol. Until the front office is gone and replaced by people who have a clue then we are wasting our time with blogs tbh
Yeah eels have always been a rollercoaster to support. Either really good or really bad lol. Incosistent as heck
The question is, does the pain and suffering of the Eels supporters also being shared by the guys in the Front Offices? Or are they happy as long as the dollars are coming in? I hope there is no disconnect on the main objectives of the Eels Rugby League Club which is to win a Premiereship, and not just to have the cash registers ringing.
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