Currently the Eels sit in 14th position but could have been higher if they would have beaten the Bunnies. Last year they finished in 15th position. There are 3 more rounds left and they play Roosters at home, Warriors away and lastly Knights at home. I honestly can only see them winning 1 of them. This would put them on 22 Points. The teams below them are:
Rabbits: play Dragons, Bye, Roosters
Knights: play Broncos, Sharks, Eels
Titans: play Warriors, Dolphins, Raiders
I reckon the Eels will finish in 14th spot which is one better than last year. Nothing to get excited about
Replies
Brilliant, Daz.
It’s a weak-list sport and cohesion is a major weakness for newly built teams. Another off-season together should improve some fundamentals like ball control & support play.
Sorting the six is critical. Even once that’s done, combinations will still take time to develop.
Other Fundamentals need work. First, kick chases. They’re better than they used to be (less staggered) but still too often on autopilot, giving the opposition an extra 10-20m of yardage. Second, slowing the ruck and wrestling. At their peak, the Panthers were masters here. They’d pin sides in their red zone, hold up and push back runners, slow the ball, the attack, and reset their defence. Winning those moments build pressure, and pressure wins games.
A bit more punch in the pack would help too. JDB and a fitter, improving Big Sam are positives, but I still think we need another middle and backrower. Guymer offers great depth and can play in the middle. Tuilagi has some skills and can play with gusto at times, but he’s error-prone, drifts in and out of games, and has defensive frailties. Either Latu steps up, or we recruit a more reliable backrower to fix the now.
We’ll have plenty of cap space by 2027. Once Matto, Lane, Hands, and Simmo’s money (and any freight) clears. I reckon we’re about $3m behind atm. Ryles and the club have essentially admitted there are roster holes.
Given all the changes and band-aids Ryles has ripped off at Formula-one-speeds, it’s a minor miracle we aren’t dead last.
Pleasingly, Ryles has kept the side up for long stretches after a disastrous start. That's something BA’s Jeckyll-Hyde teams never managed where we’d perform well for a week or two and then get belted. It was a theme.
Yes, last week, Souths wanted it more and won the loose ball. We were mentally down. But overall resilience is there. Without resilience, the team is doomed. With it, there’s hope. It’s early days, I'm no fortune teller and there are holes to plug, but the foundation and culture is being laid.
The average improvement for a new coach in their first season in the NRL era is 1 win compared to the previous season. There's every chance we end up with 2 more wins to finish the year which would put us slightly ahead of the curve.
Nah, we'll finish maybe 1 spot better than Trent Barrett and a sacked coach did. I think we are just better off letting sleeping dogs lie as it's no great feat to improve on lol.
Forget the comparisons and pretend this year or last year ever happened.
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