I’m sitting in the stand at Penrith – a trial match at the foot of the mountains on a night which featured a storm alert. Then it happens. The Parra chant starts at Penrith’s home ground and on cue Junior Paulo steamrolls his way through the meat of the Panthers’ ruck to place an exclamation point on the win.
The Eels faithful outnumbered and out-cheered the Panthers fans in their own back yard. Can we sense that a special season is upon us?
At TCT, we can’t recall being so excited about an upcoming season in recent memory. We’ve reported on an intense and demanding pre-season. Like the rest of you, we roared ourselves hoarse as the Eels took the spoils in Auckland. And, naturally enough, we needed to be there when Mr K. Foran made his long awaited debut in Eels colours in the local derby trial.
Now here we are with the 2016 season about to kick off, and the mighty Eels have the honour of hosting last season’s grand finalists in the season opener at Pirtek.
How big is this game?
Certainly, the team has a golden opportunity to announce their arrival as a finals contender with a strong showing against Brisbane – after all, many pundits see the Broncos featuring again in this year’s decider. The Eels trial against the Panthers provided a glimpse of the brutal defence and strong forward play that will lay the platform for Foran and Norman to direct our fast and exciting backline.
As fans, this is a big occasion and we can make our own statement. By selling out this match, the Eels faithful can intimidate the Broncos in an arena of Blue and Gold noise. We can send a message to our team that we are coming along for this great ride in 2016. The boys lifted in a trial match as the chant went up. Imagine the impact of a full house at Pirtek Stadium!
Importantly, we can also send the government a message that the Blue and Gold Army will turn up in massive numbers to support our team. We need a new stadium that can cater for the thousands that want to be there.
Come kick off time on Thursday 3rd March, there should not be an empty seat in Pirtek Stadium. There will be no better sight or sound to herald the Eels debuts of Foran, Gordon, Jennings, Scott and Gutherson.
Let’s make this a night to remember! See you there.
#Parra2K16
Sixties
Images courtesy of the Parramatta Eels and www.smh.com.au
…and Jennings too!
Yes, a very highly anticipated season opener for all eels fans, more so than any previous season I can recall. Will Foran be the general like champion we expect him to be in the early rounds? Will Jennings decide to pass the ball on occasions to the Trailer? Will our impressive back row out intimidate the Broncos? Will we see Norman and Foran link up in attack as we saw Saturday night?
Most of all however, will be a premiership force in 2016 like many are predicting?
Yep, can’t wait!
Noted re Jennings – how could I omit him? I have edited the post. Cheers.
Broncos were impressive in the WCS with brutal defence and sublime attacking against poor opposition in their win. We looked a bit rusty in comparison. Imo we will have to pick up our game to prevail but I can say our defence looked impressive, it was our attack at looked a bit pedestrian at times. The inclusion of Edwards took our attack to another level and hopefully he is in our starting 13.
Adding Edwards will be a huge plus for the team. He does bring both aggression and skill.
Totally agree Sixties!
It’s interesting to note that the thing that affects crowd figures most weeks isn’t casual ticket buyers but in fact Member attendance.
If you’re a season ticket holder, don’t fall on the excuse of the season kicking off on a Thursday night, let’s get out to Pirtek & make our presence felt and heard!
Very important Clint. The day and time might not suit everyone, but member attendance is vital.
I look forward to all new seasons, we have to as eels fans, but I’d have to go back to 1997 to get anywhere near the anticipation that I am feeling for this season. The super league war was still on in 1997 and the 1st round was against Norths at Parra with 25k in attendance. I got to the ground just as Pay, McCraken, Smith and Dymock were coming in from the training paddock at the back of the ground and the look in their eyes as they filed past me gave me goose bumps. You could just see their single minded focused on the job at hand which was get a win for the eels. These guys were professionals, at the top of their games and had pride in the jersey they were wearing. I get the same feeling with the squad for this year and with any share of luck it should be a cracker of a season. Can’t wait for the ride to begin.
I remember that night well! As for this year, there is a real unity and sense of pride this year.
As BA says, let’s play some Parramatta football.
A bit of topic but does anyone know why we are not celebrating our 70th year 1947? I know Manly have a special logo. Did our club forget.
Not sure. Although this is the 70th year, I think that they might be waiting until the 70th anniversary of the first match which is next year.