The footy is back and even after an all too familiar, absolutely frustrating game from my beloved Eels, I still loved the day and of course my team.

I want to start by apologising to all Parra fans and the players. My lifetime track record at Panthers Stadium is not good, and it could be argued that it’s best that I stay away from this western derby. After Sunday, I am now zero wins from 8 matches at the foot of the mountains! That includes a few where we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

Having stayed away from Penrith home games for many years, I was convinced by family that this time would be different and so off I went. Perhaps I should re-visit my self imposed exile from Penrith Stadium….

First, my thoughts on suburban footy.

This match marked the first time that my young son had visited Penrith Stadium on an NRL game day to watch a local suburban derby. He loved the experience, sitting on the hill, and even made friends with a mixture of young Parra and Penrith fans around us. My personal highlight was watching him play a game of touch footy with his new friends out the back behind the hill.

But my nostalgia ends there.

Penrith Stadium

The parking was awful, especially after our 3 hour drive up from the South Coast, the line-up for food and toilets was dreadful and the non-existent reprieve from the excessive heat made for an uncomfortable day.  This is not a criticism of Penrith at all – they put on a great day and being a born and bred Western Sydney girl I wholeheartedly respect the passion and good natured banter that is always shown by Penrith fans.

Simply, our visit to Penrith Park serves to remind me why I am so looking forward to the new Parra stadium. I like going to suburban grounds once, possibly twice a year – just not every week.

On to the game itself. Let’s storyboard it.

Our team was good, then very good, then bad, followed by very bad.

It is only Round 1, but this simple phrase is an apt summary of my thoughts –  ‘the best indicator for future behaviour is past behaviour’.

Let me explain.

Our pattern of play on Sunday was exactly the same as many games last year. Whilst we found a way to victory in tight games last season, against Penrith on Sunday, we could not. 

Pre-game, I had concerns about the Parramatta bench against their Panthers counterparts and my view was simple – we needed to be winning by a lot at the 30minute mark, because that Penrith bench would do some damage.

The best teams have an x factor on the bench. Think Kasiano, Hess, and for the Panthers – Kikau on Sunday. Sure they’ll make mistakes, (even the odd costly one), and they may miss some tackles, but their team will not win the competition without them or a player with similar traits.

Is Kenny Edwards our X factor?

Who was our X factor off the bench?  On Sunday, we didn’t have that player who could come on and change momentum or put the nail in the coffin. Do we have one? Is there a player in the Blue and Gold camp capable of creating fear in opposition players and coaches?

I would argue Kenny Edwards, others might not. But I don’t think anyone would argue against the fact that we need to have one.

When Parra suffers a loss, it is often in a very predictable way. Those 10 minutes before and after half time will be our downfall. We most likely will be in the lead at the 30^th minute and be behind at the 50^th. Unfortunately this timeframe coincides with the rotation of the starting forwards   to the bench.

It seems to be a familiar scenario. A try in the last 5 minutes before half time – probably a soft try in which simple tackles are missed by players, followed by a drop in intensity after the break. Did our opposition coach know it? Consider his changes (or maybe Gus Gould’s changes) to the starting line-up.

Is there a similarity to NSW origin teams, full of hope, talent and promise? NSW always looks good on paper and selectors will always pick the best 17 players available. Nonetheless, they  continually pick a team with way too many fullbacks and second rowers, because they are our state’s best players and you cannot possibly leave them out. Parra have a group of talented and hard working back rowers who deserve selection. But is this the best option for our team?

It’s  early days in the season, but I wanted to pose a respectful question. Can we win finals football, or even the premiership, with a team and a bench full of hardworking, talented, but tradesmen-like forwards. Do we have the best balance in the forwards in our squad or are we overloaded with back-rowers? Our past behaviour in big games probably answers that in the negative. We need those forwards in our squad, but can we afford to select those same players every week.

It seems simple, yet it could also be very challenging for our coaches to actually deal with. Is it possible to distinguish between players who had an ordinary game but have the capacity to be better in the next game as opposed to players with a pattern of particular errors or who don’t create the right balance in our team? I’m glad that’s BA’s job and not mine.

I know two things.

1. Even though they came up short, our players didn’t lack in effort in the hot conditions.

2. Nothing is achieved by singling out players for a blast. Rugby league is a team sport and great clubs, fans, players and coaches alike win and lose together.

Unquestionably, the boys tried. I guess it’s a pleasing sign of how far our club has come that trying hard is not good enough anymore.

The footy is on again next week and another traditional rival awaits.

Keep the faith Parra fans, this team warrants and deserves our support.

In Blue & Gold,

Shelley

If you liked this article, you might consider supporting The Cumberland Throw.