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It is the penultimate round of the 2020 regulation season and the Eels closed out their final home game of the scheduled draw with a 26-12 victory over the Brisbane Broncos. Parramatta slipped and sputtered through inclement weather in the opening 20-minutes of play before slipping into gear and while they were still short of their best, there were encouraging signs for the offence.
Sixties and Forty20 rattle off their key talking points from Parramatta’s 14th win of the season including the pre-game shake up made by Brad Arthur. A dubious decision to put Junior Paulo on report for failing his duty of care and the overall performance of the officials is put under the microscope after a decidedly ordinary showing.
The lads have a special guest on this week as they welcome a new analyst to their motley crew in the form of Clint Gee and he straightens the boys out on the importance of Parramatta playing direct.
From there it is all rapid fire stuff as Sixties and Forty20 try to beat the buzzer. Training reports, previews and a very serious interview all feature so be sure to listen, like and comment!
Still bemused by the Paulo incident – ridiculous outcome. There’ll be plenty of players on report based on that!
Part of me really wants the club to challenge it, as it’s just so utterly incomprehensible to everyone bar the MRC. But the other part of me thinks we’ve got a lousy record of beating the charges, and we don’t want him missing a match unnecessarily, so best to leave it alone.
It kind of feels like they felt they had to back up the ref, but made sure the charge was low enough to be meaningless. It never is in terms of carryover points, loadings, etc though.
Maybe the pace of today’s game is to much for one ref, so many erroneous calls. Why can’t lines people contribute more ,such as controlling 10 metres leaving ref to police ruck. Is deliberate game management by ref’s not corruption ?
Prometheus, I said it back when the 6 again rule was introduced – it is counterintuitive to reduce the number of refs at the same time as they introduce a ruck infringement rule. They are meant to monitor the wrestle, hands on the footy, lost possession and the defence line. Teams are regularly offside or more commonly jumping early. I don’t think they are likely to change however.
You’d have to talk to Ivan Cleary about referees managing games.
Given the opposition it was at best a C- performance
Not Again.🙄
So honest opinion is not welcomed here ?
You’ve been expressing your honest opinion. Do you have a problem with people not agreeing with you?
No I don’t, I enjoy a good debate
But you guys set up TCT because you felt you’re honest opinions were being shouted down in the “other room”, and yet the very same thing happens here with people who disagree with your opinions
What? We didn’t set up TCT for that reason. That has never been said by us. That is a plain untruth and absurd.
it goes along with the other lie that we were going to become a forum.
TCT was set up as a online magazine format with dedicated writers and since we started we have never deviated from that format.
We have stayed true to standards and content that never forgets that we are supporters. I’m also proud of the fact anybody can visit TCT and have confidence that this is a site which remains focussed on Parra and rugby league.
Nevertheless, you still shout down those that disagree with you
You still don’t get it. You disagree with people but view the avalanche of people disagreeing with you as “shouting you down”. In response, you throw false statements about why we set up TCT and accuse me of shouting you down because I disagree with your takes. Can you not see the hypocrisy? Your opinions are all over the recent posts. Everyone has no doubt about how you feel about the club you support.
This is not why we set up TCT.
it was a performance which earned a win. Try smiling. Did you cheer at any point Brett or did you spend the match moaning?
I certainly cheered the good aspects, and I don’t expect perfection, but I do expect improvement and we’re no longer seeing that. We are still plagued by amateur hour errors. When you watch us you always feel we are but one mental error away from total collapse.
Lets be honest, the Broncos are historically bad, and we simply won by default, not because we were better.
Time to take the blinkers off 60’s, as it stands right now we are now merely making up the numbers in the 8.
3 years ago that was fine, even last year it was acceptable, but not this year. I am no longer satisfied by just making the finals, I want us to be a genuine contender, and only a fool would suggest we are.
I don’t have the blinkers on mate. I’m not calling Parra the premiers and I’ve gone on record with criticisms. I’m simply taking the opposite perspective to how you support the Eels. You can choose to be negative about the Eels playing finals footy. I don’t.
OK, so what were you critical of ?
You obviously haven’t been listening to the pod. Every ep we deal with what’s been poor. For example, I’ve been calling for Maika to be “rested” and Blake to be shifted. I’ve been critical of the team not winning the middle as they were earlier in the year. But I don’t need to justify myself, it’s there in the pods and in what I’ve written. Shame on me for finding positives too when you can’t. It’s strange that I can in a 14/5 season isn’t it?
I would rate it a B- Brett but more importantly it was enough of a performance to add another notch to the win column. And many of those 14 wins have been just enough; whether it was Mel, Sharks or Knights (teams we regularly struggle against). Winning is habit and the Eels have formed some good habits in 2020. Enjoy the ride.
Yes, but we’ve also developed a number of bad habits, habits that will come to bite us in the finals.
DDay, Brett isn’t interested in identifying any positives. His total focus is the negative but he will call it being realistic. He’s already told me I have the blinkers on but I’ve never shied away from identifying what the Eels don’t do well.
Rubbish, I have identified numerous things that I thought were positive, but they are being far outweighed by the negative
Exactly, because our losses far outweigh our wins don’t they!
Get rid of this guy , I came over here to get away from the know all negativity .
I thought this was a place for ALL Eels fans
No, but wins against the bottom 8 sides mean nothing come finals time. We haven’t beaten a top 6 side since Canberra, I’m not including the win against the Sunshine Coast Falcons.
We have been in finals footy for the last month and have not played like it. Our regular season record is irrelevant. The real season starts in two weeks and the only team we can say with absolutely certainty that we are better than is the Sharks.
That will do me ladies and gentlemen, our regular season record is irrelevant! Tell that to about 8 teams right now.
Tks guys. Maintaining a level for 80 minutes seems to be our big picture challenge. We have just got to find the key to building pressure as a way of life not 5/10 minute cameos here and there. We missed the start by 5 lengths then, not surprisingly, struggled to gain true ascendancy against the bottom team.My belief is that this roster has the ability, we ve got one game to practice energy and composure to get that feeling in our bones. Did I notice more players pushing up to support the ball carrier?
It’s a been a big call for the team at training for most of the season – push up.
I thought the game was good, yes a slow nervous start but basically everything that we have all been critical of had been at least adressed, even the underperforming players. Broncos weren’t that bad, it was raining, one try off the back of that rediculous penalty and one try taken from us so 32-6 in the wet ain’t a bad result.Things looking up, next week will be a better indication of where we’re at.
Are you serious ? Our attention to the details is still poor.
Are you serious Brett? We just had a win. You really have an issue with what it means to back the team you claim to support.
So are you saying that our attention to detail is good enough or getting better ?
So you saw no improvement, nothing different from even the last game?the saddest part is that you would be almost smug in your “I told you so” if we do lose in the finals, I can see it now. Enjoy your deathride.
👍 👍 👍 Spot on
Last week we played the presumptive minor premiers, this week we played the likely wooden spooners, and the gulf between the two is enormous. There is no way you could say with any confidence that there was any material improvement in our performance.
And no, I’m not death riding the team, I live and breathe my beloved Eels, and I’ll support them ti my last breathe and I’ll cry over every year when we fall short, but I also won’t blind myself to reality.
It’s the mental application that we need to keep addressing as it impacts all parts of our game. When the team are fully focussed they perform. When they aren’t, history shows an ugly result.
That’s my point 60’s, the mental application is just not there and it hasn’t improved one iota under BA in 7 seasons. If it was going to improve it would’ve by now. Without that improvement we aren’t legit contenders. Hence my call for BA to go.
Brett, if anything you are very persistent.
I looked back over two recent comparable games Penrith and Parra.
Parra had a better score line than Penrith against the Warriors and broncos.
What does that mean? Probably nothing but the score line were very similar but in parra’s favour.
Teams who trail early invariably catch up to those who set the pace. We have seen it too many times. While Parra has dropped off it hasn’t died. The other slower teams are catching up.
I saw your grading C- and you know what – for the first fifteen minutes I rated it lower.
7 errors in 15 minutes was as you wrote amateur hour – pathetic.
But, Brett they played percentage football 2 errors in the 65 minutes.
That is what we wanted. Percentage football – cut the errors – hang on to the ball and give yourself a chance to try something different.
The score should have been higher but for a stupid call.
I hated the first fifteen – loved the next 65.
Loyal Eels supporters always hope for the best. How far will they go this year depends entirely on the team. If they give they get rewarded. If not then I live in hope for next year. But for me it has been a great season and worthy of praise.
Does that mean my standards are shallow?
I have seen the very worst of Parra over many years and I made up my mind to enjoy the better years.
Your criticism may be valid but sometimes we have our say and leave it there.
I am sure that you can do.
Zero, Brett’s having a go at people who aren’t tagging along with his negativity and at the same time claiming that he lives and breathes Parra. Brett, we can all support our team in our own way. I’m suggesting that for your sake, in what has been a good season under challenging circumstances for all teams and players and fans, you might try to find more joy. You might notice that while negative opinions aren’t restricted to just you in the replies on this site, the majority of replies that you attract are supportive of our team and coach.
See there you go again 60’s, getting defensive. I actually agreed with your statement about mental application but all you could see was “negativity”.
I’m not being negative about my team at all, I’m demanding more, as we all should be.
I’m demanding excellence, as we all should be.
I’m not prepared to settle for just making the finals or even making the top 4, though those achievements are noteworthy.
But, aside from the debacle that was 2018, we have been a finals team now since 2016. But all that proves is that we are better than half the league. Noteworthy yes, satisfying no.
We’ve got a roster that should be a legit contender this year, but we’re not, and that’s on BA. I love the guy, I have been an ardent supporter of his for 7 years, but he has every opportunity to improve us and it simply has not happened.
Brett were you a supporter in the 90 s if so how did you survive this long the stress would of killed you.I travelled down every week and used to get excited when we made A break as we didn’t make many and hardly won a game.All weekend I been hearing how pen,roosters ,storm,Canberra are only teams with a chance.I hope all their players also think we are no chance like you think.It only takes one win in top four then they will be saying Eels can win this like they did in about round 8.
Mate I was born in ’74 with a B&G umbilical cord. I lived and breathed our 4 premierships in the 80’s, I still have my bit of burned Cumberland Oval grandstand that my grandmother saved for me. I cried my eyes out as a 10 year old when we lost the 84 GF to the Dogs. My high school years here in Brisbane I had to live through the Broncos winning and Parra sucking. I lived through the ups & downs of the BS era, I’m not ashamed to say I cried as a 26 year old after the ’01 GF, I threw foam bricks at my TV after the ’05 Prelim.
Like all other Eels fans I’ve lived and breathed our great club, often in an unhealthy manner.
For the last 5 years I have been a ticketed member, despite living in Brisbane, and in that time I have been able to afford to fly down on just 5 occasions to watch the boys play, but never have I considered giving up my membership.
If there is a more passionate Eels fan than me, then I’d like to meet him or her.
For the record, I will continue to passionately support the team until the final whistle of our final game of the year, whichever that ends up being.
However, I do not believe that we are a genuine contender, anymore than I believe that the Raiders, Rabbitohs, Knights or Sharks are.
Rubbish.
Did you watch games under Kearney and Stuart? There was no mental fortitude back then, let me assure you. We’re now winning the close games, when history has taught us all to expect a loss. That’s why we find the tight scorelines so stressful – we had years of being trained into thinking that way, by teams that didn’t believe in themselves and couldn’t hang on. This team has done that pretty well this year, which is reflected in our ladder position.
And it’s all very well to call for the coach to go, but are there really better, viable alternatives that suit our club? In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a few clubs on the hunt for a coach. And even the great Wayne Bennett didn’t stop the Bunnies from getting towelled by the team that was coming dead last and had only won two games all year. I think there’s value in shaking up the support staff, but I think the head coach is a good fit for the development club we want to be. That is still a work in progress, but we are starting to see the players come through.
Can I suggest you take your dark glasses off, get a bit of perspective, and enjoy a winning season? Sure, we’re still long odds to take out the whole thing this year. But actually, what the ‘experts’ say has no bearing on who wins. We’re top four (improved), playing finals footy, and clearly in a premiership window if we can keep building and developing our squad. I know of at least eight teams’ supporters (probably 12) who’d trade us in a heartbeat.
If all that makes me ‘blinkered’, I’m sure it also makes me a much happier person.
At no point did I say that our mental weakness started with BA, of course it didn’t. I’m fully aware of the rabble we were under SK & Sticky.
The point I have been making is that it has not improved under BA.
Yes we are a vastly better club & team under BA, but that is IMO largely down to firstly a better club structure, and secondly a much superior roster. Do you truly believe we wouldn’t be as good as we are now if we were still coached by Sticky if he had this roster ?
Of course we would be. We have an outstanding roster with very few holes in it, and Mark O’Neill should get Executive of the Year for doing such a great job building it, that is if the NRL had such an award.
But very little of our improvement can be put down to coaching I’m afraid. The fact that simple details errors continue to plague us is testimony to that, and I say that as an unabashed fan of BA’s. I just don’t think he can take us any further.
As for who to replace him with, that is not the stumbling block you seem to think it is. The whole reason we went through the football department review after 2018 was to identify where the club needed to strengthen and put more resources in. Our football department structure is such now that it almost, I said almost, doesn’t matter who the coach is. Our coach is but one of five voices on our R&R committee. There are a number of very highly regarded young coaches waiting for the right opportunity who would make terrific options to replace BA, Craig Fitzgibbon would be ideal IMO.
Ignoring the guy with one drum to beat (and he does keep banging it!), I’d agree this game showed more promise. Yep, first 15 minutes were pretty terrible. But after that, we were solid if unspectacular. Certainly a much higher standard than Perenera!
We got a lot of what we’ve been asking for – some shared kicking duties (it’s so good to hear that Matto had been training for exactly what he did), straighter attack with the halves running into the line, more impact off the bench, fewer errors (excepting that first 15), and some set attacking plays (even if you didn’t like the one off the scrum). I did wonder if that move was partly about playing the long game – putting it into team’s heads that we might try this, and they’d better have that option covered, which might create other space.
The bust straight through our middle defence was concerning, as it’s not the first time it’s happened in the past few weeks, but that seems to be an individual lapse rather than a team one. As you noted, Fifita would’ve steamrollered pretty much any half in the comp, and the dummy half service to Moses was the cause of some of his poor kicks, so he’s not entirely to blame for his errors.
I particularly noted the bomb leading to an easy take in-goal for the Broncos, which was definitely due to the poor pass. Fergie isn’t the only one guilty of that, there’s been a number from the winger/centre on the fifth. We know they don’t have to pass much (*cough* Blake *cough*), but hopefully the dummy half pass is a skill they’re drilling this week.
I’m still in the “I don’t think we’re quite there yet this year”, but I do see us being competitive. We haven’t lost two games in a row, which is a hallmark of the best teams. I’m looking forward to playing the Panthers again with at least Reed back, and not on a short turnaround. Of course, we have to beat the Tigers first…
If the beat changed I wouldn’t have to repeat myself.
Does anyone else ever get the last word Brett? *rolls eyes*
🤣 🤣 🤣