It’s been another big week on the Blue and Gold front. Really, it’s just Eels Fan 101 – you cannot expect a week to go by without some news, good or bad.
There’s plenty to discuss – memberships, corporate partnerships, a confirmed signing and all of this on the eve of the preseason.
Like all of you, I’ve got my takes. I’m carting it up, bumpers up!
I look forward to you taking the next hit up or firing back with a shot of your own.
Memberships and Corporate Partnerships On The Rise
In Sunday’s “What’s The Buzz” column, Phil Rothfield reported that the Eels have burst out of the gates to be early leaders in NRL memberships.
Currently sitting on 26,021 members, the club has jumped ahead of traditional leaders, South Sydney, who have 24,980 members.
For both clubs, these numbers mostly represent supporters who have rolled over their membership from 2020 to 2021. But given the uncertainty of live sport attendance in a COVID-19 world, it’s a huge tick of faith in each club and the game.
Rothfield also reported on the success of the Eels in securing Lending Association as a corporate partner, in addition to extending current partner Actron, before teasing the future announcement of more partnerships.
All of this is terrific news for the financial health of the Eels, as it would be for any NRL club.
Interestingly, much of this success was credited to the role of Bankwest Stadium. The push for more stadiums for other Sydney clubs being the hook in this take.
Without question, Bankwest Stadium has been a game changer. The Eels play out of a world class stadium, and supporters and corporates enjoy being part of the match day experience and superb facilities.
But make no mistake, the improved on-field performances of the football team have been critical in the membership surge, the corporate involvement and the free-to-air scheduling.
Mahoney acknowledges the BankWest faithful
A non-competitive Eels team would not draw the attendances or ratings that we’ve seen over the last two years. The falling crowd figures and ratings of Bankwest Stadium’s other major tenant, the Wanderers, proves the importance of a strong football team. Their last three home matches before COVID-19 struck Australia averaged just over 9K,
The Brisbane Broncos memberships numbers have plummeted from around 36k to 27K under the weight of disappointing seasons. And the Titans, who play out of one of the code’s best grounds, have had less than eight thousand members for the past two years.
Rugby league needs arenas like Bankwest Stadium. It’s a venue that elevates our game. Eels fans should celebrate having such a superb home ground.
But clubs also need competitive teams to help make financial ends meet, and while that remains the focus of Parra’s decision makers, we will be in a good place.
New Apparel Partner, New Look Jerseys
The Eels have announced their new partnership with Italian Sportswear giant Macron.
Although they produce apparel for a variety of sports including rugby union and rugby league, Macron are best known internationally for their football (soccer) gear. This will be the company’s first foray into the NRL market.
The mural
The Eels provided the first glimpse of their 2021 jersey range via a mural painted by Jeswri.
The home jersey retains a similar design, but there are changes to both the away jumper and the alternate strip.
A gold away design will pay homage to Parramatta’s 1981 grand final jersey, with the sponsorship on the chest providing the blue contrast.
The alternate white jersey could draw an interesting response from supporters. Though featuring very little of the traditional Blue and Gold colours, the design bears a strong similarity to the Eels run out t-shirt and was selected by the Eels leadership group.
A big seller as a t-shirt, it might just surprise how popular it proves to be when available.
Cartwright Confirmed
After getting the all-clear from the NRL, Bryce Cartwright’s signature has finally been confirmed by the Eels.
I’ve already gone on record for my support of his recruitment, especially as his one year deal risks not much more than a top 30 squad spot.
Bryce Cartwright
My sources are very confident about his attitude and desire to succeed, and the ball is now in his court to earn a first grade jersey.
There will be very strong competition in the forwards this year, particularly for that bench impact role. Few outside of Junior Paulo can boast Cartwright’s skill set for a big bloke, and he could be the impact forward to give the Eels an edge.
I’ll be able to get that first impression when he commences preseason training.
Pathways Podcast
For those who haven’t listened as yet, please tune into our two special episodes of The Tip Sheet. Ham from the Parra Podcast joins Forty and I as we preview the Eels junior representative season ahead and the players to watch out for.
All of the pathways grades have been bumped up by a year. For example, the Flegg will go from an under 20 competition to an under 21 competition. This change provides young footballers with the year of age football experience that they missed out on due to the COVID-19 sport restrictions.
Training Reports To Begin
It’s that time of year again baby!
An aerodynamic King Gutho in the last preseason.
Eels preseason training is about to kick into gear and, of course, TCT will be there to cover it for you.
We can expect the new additions, including pathways players, to be the first cab off the rank this week, with the majority of the returning players to join them in a fortnight.
This pre-Christmas period is normally the tough conditioning period, but with the majority of the NRL players only getting a week of training before the festive break, the January program could be a little different to the norm.
I look forward to keeping you updated with my reports throughout the summer months.
Eels forever!
Sixties
Sixties, thanks for the report, I look to seeing a revived Cartwright playing this year, if he’s at his top, he provides a heck of a lot options for the team, his playing skills hopefully will be on show each week, needs to secure a spot first though.
Re the jersey’s, Personally I am no real fan of them, at least the white version is not a playing version rather a T shirt if I read your post correctly. The other two or at least one is pretty much the same as last year, but the other one is to me a nothing version, and for me why on earth do we have to be changing them every year? Money grabbing for the makers but how many will buy them or keep what they have?
I am a fan of not changing the home jersey – pick and stick. But other jerseys can change. The alternate is a jersey, but it’s very similar to the run in t shirt from last year – they wear it on caps runs and pre match warm ups.
Tks sixties. I wonder if any of the newbies are quietly planning a crack at Gutho. They won’t get much opportunity til new year, so prep up now lads then go your hardest.
I reckon they will. I’ll put my money on Jake Arthur to have a crack.
Given what I saw of him in the schools final game, he is a definite contender for the halves, means real pressure on our 6 & 7 to perform. I can see though if he gets picked too soon, can visual the amount of yells and favouritism calls by some sections of the eels home grown critics.
I appreciate your enthusiastic support for Jake Arthur’s development as a junior with considerable potential Colin. But really mate he is just a kid and a million miles away from an NRL game mate. BA wouldn’t do that to him at this very early stage of his career. Nor would he allow himself to be accused of bias or put his relationship with the playing group at risk.
Spot on Rowdy. If he continues to develop as a player, and physically, I see him getting his first shot in 2022. He got a taste of playing against older players in the Wenty trial in February and went well, but that was only about ten minutes at the end of the game. Supporters will be able to watch his development in Flegg and then Canterbury Cup as 2021 unfolds.
Colin, they won’t rush Jake. He will play NRL when he’s ready, and even though Dylan Brown debuted at 18, he didn’t lose the football that Jake did this year.
Without doubt you are correct that the BA knockers will howl favouritism whenever he does debut, but if he hasn’t earned his spot, BA won’t select him as he plays such a key position. You are also correct that as he develops, he will apply pressure.
Rowdy & sixties, I was in no way advocating that he will be rushed into the top team early, in saying he would be a contender for the halves, is just putting him in for the future, I don’t even know how old he is, but being still at school this year, says how young he is.
I would not put any of the players in that game from either club in the same way either although there were enough who were impressive, but in the schools cup.
Any of those players, as the progress outside the school competition could be anything or simply end up not taking the step up to higher RL standards.
Well said Colin. Sometimes you get one out of the box like Dylan, but patience is generally the key.
I hope our due diligence on new sponsors is very robust.
Why tell us things in your article what we know already from the paper?
I have a reason or two why the men at TCT might think it a good topic to reproduce. a) Firstly this is a footy fan discussion site anniemoose. The news papers don’t usually put up articles for debate. b) this article was(quite unbelievably from your perspective, I know) not produced for your personal benefit only. anymouse . c) The discussion on TCT often brings a raft of facts and perspectives not considered very important by the click baiters or journalists.
Thanks Rowdy. Incredible contribution from Anonymous 🙄
It’s quite plain in my introduction if you bothered to read it Mr Anonymous. This is Eels news from the past week. This is the column to discuss it. If you have an issue with understanding that, or with it existing, please don’t waste your time.