The Cumberland Throw

From The Stands – Critically Looking Ahead

Anyone who knows me, or knows what I often write about, would understand that when it comes to my Parramatta Eels, I tend to look forward and think glass half full. So therefore I will spend only a little time evaluating what I saw From the Stands on Thursday night.

 

There are three simple reasons.

Firstly, it was not hard to see what went wrong as we got repeated opportunities to witness the train wreck as our team kept making the same mistakes over and over again in both attack and defence.

Secondly, I don’t want to insult any of our readers by suggesting that they need me to point out what was obvious.

Finally, and in my own shot at the team, the energy I expend in reflecting on the performance should match the energy many of our players displayed last Thursday night. That is – very little.

So my take on Parra’s performance – it was embarrassing. That’s it, it was embarrassing. Nothing good about it. Should I say embarrassing again?.

It’s now more productive to focus on what I need to see as I watch, support and cheer for my team each and every game they play.

Make no mistake, I was not happy with what I watched but I will always support this team and I will always support these players. But there are things that are needed from our players. You will notice I say our players. They play for our team and as such I support them.

That does not mean that players shouldn’t be held accountable. It also doesn’t mean players shouldn’t be dropped. I will not name those I believe don’t deserve their place in this week’s team. That said, a few of the players from last Thursday game simply look like they can’t be trusted to do their job and at the moment this team is not playing well enough to carry passengers, waiting for them to get back into form.

From the stands I need to see:

– Commitment to defending as one.  Every player needs to do their job within our defensive system, which means other players can do theirs.

Ferguson and Jennings in deep discussion.

– Footy Smarts. That includes playing in our systems, and not going out of them just to get Fergo a try. Play well, play smart footy and he will get a try.

– Controlled enthusiasm. A try scored through the middle or hitting an edge is worth the same amount as that on the wing.

– Composure. Getting a repeat set is a good thing! I think our playmakers need reminding of that.

– Teamwork. Constructing, earning and having good team work will be rewarded with some tries. We don’t need to fluke one with a miracle offload or bomb. 

Mitch Moses

– Trust. Mitch Moses needs to trust himself, trust his team mates and have trust in his skills. 

I left Mitch Moses to last because his involvement is possibly the most critical factor moving forward. With Dylan out he needs to step up by calming down. Gutho and Nathan Brown can pick up some of what we have lost through the injury to Dylan Brown. Moses needs to guide us, he needs to calm us when needed and to energise us when required. He needs to kick long and play with calmness.

Step up Mitch. I believe you can and I hope you prove the doubters wrong.

We need you at your best. It really is that simple.

Shelley

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20 thoughts on “From The Stands – Critically Looking Ahead

  1. Colin Hussey

    Shelley a pretty fair assessment overall.

    As a ex train driver and having been involved in derailments, (same as a train wreck) they are often incidents that happen without warning, such as wash a ways in heavy rain/flooding, a broken rail, an idiot motorist ignoring the level crossing warning and getting hit by a train. Other types include a single wagon on the train derailing and unless sighted by the enginemen can cause severe damage to the line, also often the derailed wagon tipping over and bringing a large portion of the train to also tip over creating a big mess and lines to be closed for repairs.

    The big thing though is that with a derailment, even of one wagon, can well be felt in the locomotive cabin as the smooth running no longer exists and the loco is pulled back, that alerts the crew to look back along the train to see a reason, and when the derailed wagon, still upright is bouncing up on the outside of the line, the time to use the brakes is there and stop the train.

    I was involved in one such incident as the last one mentioned on the Blue Mountains in the early 1970’s where the single wagon derailed and when we stopped all bar 4 wagons speared out between the overhead stanchions of High Voltage wires.

    One wagon derailed because as it was found out was the result of a small section of track that had a fault causing the wagon’s wheel to ride the top of the rail for around 1km without any resistance felt in the loco, before the wagons wheels dropped of the rail and hit the side of a platform.

    Taking that experience and putting it into a RL context is both hard and easy. One person in a team that is not doing his job properly can have a big negative affect on the rest of the team. It could be one person or the whole team that is causing the problem. We were required to constantly look back and check the train behind us, to see if anything was wrong, it was then up to the driver and his mate to ensure the train ran properly, that responsibility is huge, more so these days with heavier trains and associated costs.

    With this in mind, its those in charge of the train/team on the track/field who need to ensure nothing is wrong before and all around you. The driver and his assistant are responsible for safe running and getting to the end is winning. The captain and the VC is in that role, and they need to make sure the team does not derail, checking and making sure they are alert to what’s in front of them otherwise they end up in a heap because of not watching what is in front of them and around them.

    I other words, stay alert for any dangers and be ready to counter what is to be thrown at them, the slightest drop off can cause a fall down wards and easy to end at the bottom. The driver and his mate shared the load, and if one wasn’t well the other took on an added role, especially back in steam days. If a player has a problem that hampers his role within the team, and no replacement is available then the rest of the team or one individual needs to step up and take some of the burden and share among each other.

    1. sixties

      Colin, this is a pretty decent analogy. And I agree that we need people to step up. Yet, at the same time, they only need to reflect on what they have done well in the past to know that they are capable of doing so.

      1. Colin Hussey

        My analogy is in the past and meant that way as well, as a team & club, also the supporters know that the current team has the ability of winning (said it in another post also), they would therefore know what it was like, meaning those games where they won well, from here on in to years end, they need to be recapture that winning ball that appears to have been kicked too high for them if their minds are not attuned to getting that winning confidence back.

        The ball has to come down and be caught, then its time to run, and play at the top of their abilities.

    2. Shelley

      For me it is really simple, they are either part of the team and therefore part of the solution or they are the problem no matter how much talent they have.It happened so we need to use the game to our benefit.

      1. Colin Hussey

        Shelley 2 true. They all have talent and their abilities are the same as their talents, its really a matter of taking hold of those two areas that the all already know and go for it, support each other, hold each other up, play for each other and those watching from the stands and on the box.

  2. Jeff Cooke

    I’m expecting the spine to step up in Dylan’s absence. I don’t subscribe to the view that Parra’s season is over. The road back starts on Sunday.

    1. sixties

      Anyone that suggests the season is over an find another team to support Jeff because the team will be playing finals footy.

    2. Shelley

      I agree the season is far from over. I was disappointed in the team last week, but more disappointed I have to say in the fans at the ground. We left with 5 to go because I did not want my son to hear a repeat of the booing by so called fans at half time. I would not want to be in trenches with some of the fans at the ground last week. I know it was the minority but it was a loud minority.

      1. Gustarny

        Shelley there was no booing at the end of the game.I can honestly say that I have never once left a game early or turned the tv off even when beat by 60 by the storm.If they are hurting So am I plus I’m battle hardened I also travelled down from Newy every week in the 90s.

        1. Shelley

          That is great to hear about full time. I would normally stay and watch every minute. In 2018 my family and I watched every minute until the final siren all but one home game, which we could not attend.

          I get it, the game was bad and some of the plays put on and attempted tackles were embarrassing but I could never boo. I hate it, it does nothing, helps no-one. I did not clap at halftime and the conversations we had amongst family at halftime in no way had anything complimentary to say ( apart from Dylan Brown putting most to shame) but as I said booing achieves nothing.

          Thanks for staying and travelling each week. It is hard at times, but we love going to the game, it is so much better at the ground and we have lifelong friends that we meet at the footy each game.

  3. BDon

    Well said Shelley. I absolutely know you were on the KISS train, if I could just add kick/chase then then the basics are well covered.
    Wash my mouth out for saying the P word (Panthers, Penrith), but watching them provides lessons, they run hard, tackle hard and maintain focus and energy.The standard and consistency comes from Cleary and Aposai, both almost foolproof at present. They rarely blink first (think Moses to Matterson, forced pass – blink).
    I suspect Junior will need to join Moses, Gutho, NBrown. Why can’t his link to Moses bring Field’s pace into play occasionally?Field just can’t make up the numbers now Dylan is out for weeks.

    1. sixties

      BDon – it comes back to what’s between the ears again doesn’t it. Field cannot afford to view himself as a stop-gap.

    2. Shelley

      I feel they need to block out everyone, including us fans. We are in front of all but two teams on the ladder. That is a fact and the team need to have faith in themselves. Things need to be fixed but they can do it.

  4. Anonymous

    The early stages of the 2020 season were great because we didn’t have that stench of declaration to score off every play. Some how we have lost it along the way and have reverted back to.old ways. Mitch needs to get out of his head and play his game. He is a gifted player but you can almost see it when he is overthinking every move. Hopefully last week was the game we had to lose because to pick themselves up, Sunday is the game they have to win.

    1. Shelley

      I agree he needs to look up and take the line on, that is when he plays his best. I do wonder if his calf is okay and therefore it may not be possible for him to put his foot down when attacking.

      1. Colin Hussey

        Shelley the biggest question mark on MM is his calf, depending on how hard he can run, but also his kicking and how his calf can respond to that. It can hinder him with running but Field has speed and ability to skip around the opposition, Matto on that side also provides help.

        How much the kicking is affected may mean that Gutho can come in for some of those kicks, he’s more than capable of it. Sharing the load can make for lighter work across the board.

  5. Longfin Eel

    Well said Shelley. This talk about Fergo needing to score a try is ludicrous, and I hope the players are not buying into it. Fergo needs to play his role, and if that means finishing tries down his wing then he needs to put more attention into that. However if our attack is better served elsewhere, that is where the players should focus on.

    Agreed that Moses needs to take control of the mentality of the players. We were too frantic from the get-go last week and after coming away empty handed a could of times, we completely lost focus of the job at hand. Earlier this year I thought the players had learned to remain calm even when things were not going their way, but lately there has been some regression in that area. Hope they can be more focused on that this weekend.

  6. Hazey

    Dear Shelley,

    Your pieces are excellent and insightful. I watched the warriors game v our Eels and I have to say that I’m so tired of the relentless bias that some of the commentators go on with against the Eels.

    Have missed something of years gone by to cause this?

    That sinbinning probably warranted at least a penalty at least— the guy had his first clenched, if it was opened handed it would have resembled what the commentators were trying to play down.

    I flicked from the bias of Fox Greg Alexander (panthers and Warriors) and Andrew Voss ( Bulldogs) over to Channel 9 to see the same bias.

    I love my Eels, but they mightn’t be the best team in the Comp— but with Phil Gould leading the way amongst a miriad of Parra bashers— it’s depressing every time they commentate

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