To Our Players And Staff,
Last night two quality football teams provided the rugby league world with 100% of themselves for 80 minutes. The result was one of the most enthralling finals matches on record – played over 1400km away from either club’s home ground.
Nothing more could be asked of any Eels player. The heartbreak was etched on your faces after the game and then concisely expressed by Brad Arthur in his post-match interview.
That Parramatta jersey that you wear is special to supporters. The front of it currently reads, “Thinking of you, playing for you Western Sydney”.
No truer words could have been selected for what we witnessed at such a distant venue. You gave your all for the Blue and Gold; you gave your all for the region you represent.
Your hits in defence were ferocious. Your charges into the Panthers wall, fearless. Your composure in a tight match, with tight calls rarely falling your way, incredible.
Know this – if the match had been played in a Western Sydney stadium, every single supporter in the sold out stands would have provided you with a standing ovation as you left the field.
There was an overflow of emotions from the Blue and Gold Army last night. We felt the pain and the anger of an undeserved loss, and we also felt the frustration of not being able to express our pride at the moment that you most needed to see and hear it.
Earlier this week, Paul Broughton had this to say about you:
“Parramatta Eels NRL team,Coach, families & staff during Final Series been resident where I live. All are considerate, respectful & courteous even considering the stress of being away from the sanctity of home. It says much about this Sydney club & its respect for the games values”
Success for any organisation begins with the people within it. Such praise from a highly respected rugby league gentleman like Paul Broughton should fill all Eels supporters with pride, and instil confidence about our future.
There are times, rare times, when a team gives everything asked of them, when they’ve earned the victory but circumstances beyond their control prevent that from happening. Last night was such a time.
However, the desire, commitment and effort that was on display by everyone wearing that Parra jersey in Mackay will ultimately drive you closer to the premiership outcome that we all aspire to see. You have now announced that your best will match it with the best that any other club can deliver. When you look in the mirror, know that to be true.
This season finishes with mixed emotions. It should have continued for at least one more week, but already the fire for 2022 has been ignited. The silver lining is that we will be back in the stands to show our support.
The Parramatta Eels continue to grow as a team with this coaching staff and this group of players.
Last night might have been over a thousand kilometres away, but the hearts of your supporters have grown even fonder.
Eels forever!
Sixties
Are there similarities between ash klein and atkins akin to butch cassidy and sundance kid !!!!
I can’t argue with that!
Good communication sixties
Cheers DDay
Well said sixties❤️
Thanks Anon
Well written Sixties. The team went toe-to-toe with the team that pundits had handed the premiership to months ago. They went toe-to-toe against a full spine, a spine consisting of halves who have been handed many origin jerseys and limited them to just 1 try. The forwards bashed and barged their way to a dominant performance. The backs followed suit making tough runs as well as driving their shoulder into tackles.
Whilst there were incorrect calls they didn’t let that phase them and not once did any player drop their head after making an error. They got on with the task and were still within a whisker of defeating the 2nd best team of the past 2 years.
Every player stood up showing pride and passion in the Blue and Gold. They showed passion for the coach. And they certainly made this supporter, and I imagine many other supporters, proud of the performance they put in last night.
Great response Ham
Thanks Ham. It was a statement making performance wasn’t it. A number of weeks ago, I rightly questioned our resilience. Tonight the players answered that question.
Well said my dear friend, stay safe
Two football teams played an amazing game last night. One team won but the other can hold their heads a little higher.
We didn’t lay down figuratively or literally and in doing so we did not bring the game into disrepute. I wonder if our opposition can say the same?
I do not have the same curiosity about the officials…
Stay strong Parra and most importantly, in the words of Ronald Burgundy, “stay classy”
Well said Scott. Can I say, classy reply!
Thankyou for this brilliant letter on behalf of Eels fans. I feel honoured to be a part of wonderful club.
You’re welcome Anon. I was a bit emotional writing it.
I’m very emotional reading it , I thought those bs days were over but no they are still alive and kicking
Well said sixties, you’ve articulated beautifully what most Parra fans are thinking and feeling this morning.
A monumental effort by the lads on the park, they should all hold their heads up high.
Truly a match where the officials had far too much input into the result. I won’t say anything more, still seething about a lot of those calls last night.
Onward and bring on 2022!
Cheers Mike. I didn’t want to draw attention to the officials in this “letter”. The players deserve far too much respect for me to focus on the match officials.
Well said sixties, you’ve articulated beautifully what most Parra fans are thinking and feeling this morning.
A monumental effort by the lads on the park, they should all hold their heads up high.
Truly a match where the officials had far too much input into the result. I won’t say anything more, still seething about a lot of those calls last night.
Onward and bring on 2022!
Thanks Mike. I wanted to focus on the praise for our team and separate that from the valid criticism deserved by match officials.
Well said sixties As a parramatta supporter for some 50 years I am feeling your pain for one of the gutsiest performances I have ever seen Anyone who can deny your performance needs to pull their heads out of their a*** grow up & stop the bitching about BA & all involved with this champion team I only hope we can retain this entire squad of players so we can give the title 1 hell of a shake next year Cheers to you all you did us all proud
Like you, I’ve got over 50 years of support for this team. Like you said, it’s one of the gutsiest performances I’ve seen.
Thank you for this letter. It certainly does relay what we the fans are feeling. We are bursting with pride as the result truly does not indicate the game.
Thank you to every member of the Team from the players right through the coaching team and support staff and admin and membership teams. All your work is appreciated by each and every supporter.
To the players and staff and families that are part of the COVID bubble we thank you for your commitment to bring us some joy in our life and this difficult time. The sacrifices you have made are truly appreciated.
Now unfortunately we all have to move on to 2022 with the knowledge that the shining light is well within our grasp.
I wish you all a safe and enjoyable offseason and cannot wait until our first home game so we can all stand as one and show you just how proud we are as this feeling will not leave us. Bring on March!
Carmel Spiteri
Well said Craig,
I have never doubted your pride and loyalty and I think one of the real positives is that you personally can go forward knowing that your “never say die” attitude was most justified, confidence you have in BA and the players was more than vindicated.
I could not demonstrate that same loyalty but I am happy that we can go forward as one and that through whatever happened in the last month goes a long way to ensuring our future loyalty to BA and our team.
I believe a lot of lessons have been learned and BA has made a huge step forward into evolving into that premiership coach we all want.
Whilst I had called for BA’s head, he has done better than any replacement coach we were going to get by evolving through this period, this evolution makes BA a bigger winner than he himself probably understands this morning on reflection.
Onwards and upwards mate! have a good “orf seezun” to quote an old mate.
Cheers Poppa. My respect and admiration of BA has never been hidden. There are no special privileges, I’ve simply seen him make such an impact on our club that few coaches could have done. I’ve also watched him evolve. Maybe it’s taken times like these to see it, but I’ve watched 8 years of training and matches and I’ve seen it clearly.
That said, I recently questioned the players resilience. I’ve had to eat my words there.
Thanks for adding your message Carmel.
Well said
Cheers Dave
I am gutted for the players and coaches but I am so proud. We will bounce back, we always do and when we do eventually win another premiership it is going to be one hell of a party. Thank you to everyone at our club from both the football department and off field for their effort last night and over the year. See you all next year back at the stadium.
The blue and gold is a family and families stick together through thick and thin. They also speak up when they see something wrong or unjust. So here goes me doing that, sticking up for our players who were robbed last night.
The worst thing about the officiating last night is that no one was surprised by it. No one. If any Parra supporter who saw the referee and bunker official appointment when they came out did not have immediate concern you must watch a different game to me. We got from Mr Klein and Mr Atkins what I knew we would, what we always do and unfortunately will continue to get into the future.
The NRL can hold however many end of season reviews they like but the saying the fish rots from the head has never been so true as it is when said about the NRL.
Mr Annesley has overseen for years the NRL football department, he has appointed middle managers to look after departments in charge of development and game performance. Not one decent young referee has come through under him and his leadership tenure. Not one. The MRC is as inconsistent as ever. How Junior got no games and Sam Verills two is beyond me. The rules committee, well we all know what they have done to our wonderful game and his weekly press briefing in which by his own words he discusses issues that have got media attention demonstrates the problem. He cares only about shutting up the media, who apart from a few good journalists are nothing but talking heads for player managers, influential power brokers and coaches. He cares about saving his job.
What would be the reaction in the media and from the NRL if the Roosters had copped what we did last night? We all know the answer. We all remember Magic Round.
Good leaders have courage, bring through young people to make organisations better. Mr Annesley has done none of this.
To end on a positive, good leaders bring through young people and put them in an environment to succeed. Good clubs bring through and nurture young players. Our young players stood up last night, our young leaders in the past who have panicked on the field stayed composed. We have real good leadership on and off the field at Parra, I just wish I could say the same about the NRL.
Well noted about bringing through the next generation Shelley. Over the last couple of seasons we have lost referees for whom there was great respect – Matt Cecchin and Gavin Badger. Who has now taken their place.
Great letter 60’s . So so proud of them
Thanks June. They deserve it.
I have never been as pleased and proud of our players last night, they and the coach did not deserve that loss, especially with the way it was lost.
I was also pleased and proud to see our Coach for the first time fired up and speak against the pathetic refereeing and their lack of standards and the way the Riff manipulated the game, illegally. The on field ref and the one in the bunker seem set against the eels and the old cry of We wuz robbed stands real.
Annersely needs to really look into his refs and standards especially as I believe we lost the best ref when he decided to call it quits.
Thanks to the players and coaches for the eels, who all stood tall.
We couldn’t ask for more from our players Colin. We deserved more from the officials.
VT mate, & it still hurts though.
It hurts as much as any finals loss I’ve ever watched. Maybe it’s the anger kicking in.
Agreed 100%…..a lot of bad calls when against us, the one bad call for them was the Fergo incident in my opinion – and a lot or ours were momentum and game changing ( eg – the Moses pullback )
So true Greg. One call alone can be momentum changing. This was a major collection of calls.
Well said. No truer words could be said here. Incredibly proud to be a Parra supporter, we are used to hard times and we will prevail. That’s what being a Parramatta supporter is all about
It certainly is Jarrad – thanks.
Well said my brother.
I like most eels still feel robbed anger hatred upset by the tactics of the Penrith players n NRL officials. It was poor form.
Tell me sixties how far can a player run before the advantage is taken away.
I saw it last night when parra knocked on then a Penrith player ran about 15 before being pushed in to touch. They went back to play the knock on.
On the ref really if he is the best the nrl have to offer then we are in a lot of trouble.
I think we should have won but im not going to blame anyone after last night. They left it all out on the field.
So much for the players deciding the game. This 1 will be the ref decided the game.
Until next year sixties n fellow eel fan’s. Rest easy knowing we beat the storm twice in 1 yr no other team has done it.
My grand final tip is Melbourne vs south’s. Hate Penrith and Manly.
#Eels4life#
My understanding was always based on the “Old days” interpretation of 10 metres was taking the advantage. Who knows now!
I’m tipping Melbourne too.
I’m glad you picked up that also sixties about the nrl game’s for next week. Thought i was seeing thing’s lol
Strange eh!
I know this sounds stupid but can the NRL over turn a game if they think there official was poor
No
Well said sixties, and tks to all at TCT. First class info and passion.
Ive been banging on about our weakness in defending smart shifts out wide, I always thought ‘fix it and we become contenders’. Well that 17 had the problem covered and it’s been brewing over the past 5 weeks or so(I’ll spare you my theories on why). We now have a basis for real challenge, go the Eels!
The defence was so impressive BDon and it made a huge difference against The Storm and Riff.
Thanks for your support.
Sixties really well crafted letter.
Typically after a loss it takes me a couple of days to come to terms with it. Not today.
I agree with all that you said and feel that our players gave everything that they had. I felt so proud.
Walking around The Entrance this morning many people, not Eels supporters, pulled me up to tell me how we were robbed. I don’t feel bitter but I am disappointed for the players. They gave everything but it was taken out of their control.
Thanks John. It’s rare these days to have circumstances outside of your control determine the result. That cannot be in doubt here. How could so many calls be so badly missed. It boggles the mind.
Well said Sixties. After last night’s game, I helped myself to a serving of humble pie. In the past, I have been critical of BA but no more. The resolve and determination that he has instilled in the team over the last month has been something to behold. To be honest, I never thought he or the team had it in them in the big games. I was wrong. What a gritty performance for the whole 80 mins. On recent performances they are capable of mixing it with the best. Although they finished lower on the ladder this year, we saw just what they are capable of.
Cheers Salty, – we just saw the next evolution in the team. BA continues to be the man to lead us forward.
Evolution is the word, Sixties. I feel BA has learned and evolved since last year and that has impacted on the team. The way he rotated the squad to keep them fresh. It would have been very interesting to see what would’ve happened if they had finished Top 4. There was always that criticism (of which I was guilty) of saying they couldn’t compete with the top 4 sides. Well, that has been well and truly been put to bed. As far as I am concerned BA has earned the right to keep at it. I can see nothing but upside next year.
Salty, without question the squad were energised and focussed coming into the finals. They had plenty of running in them at the end of the Panthers clash. Every season is long and we deserved better, but I have the utmost confidence that BA is the man to lead the club forward for years to come.
Thanks Sixties and all of the team; good words.
I am still too upset to write much here. Yes we were v good and deserved more, but we did not win…hurts again.
Wished BA would have been more poignant abt the refs / bunker but this has been coming all yr.
You can imagine how angered he must have been to speak out after 8 years of holding his tongue about refs.
Great work Sixties. 100% agree.
Cheers
Thanks Pete. I needed to get the words down. If all of us were feeling so angered, so frustrated, I could barely imagine how the players must feel. I hope they get to read all of our feelings.
Congratulations to the Eels players and staff. The effort and desire was on show for all to see. I look forward to seeing this group play for years to come. Thank you.
Thankfully we have a board and management that recognise the long term improvement that’s occurring with our team. Imagine if we had a reactionary group in charge during that run of losses.
Great article I’m so proud of the boys ! Blue gold forever
Thanks Sharon. We’re all proud.
What a game ! What an effort ! What an undeserved result ! We are proud of you Eels.
That said, the game needs a sort out. In some ways it needs to revert to some things of the past. Penrith won last night by being the greater manipulators of things that are not meant to be a part of the game.
Go the Eels !!!
Deserved to be there Grand Final day.
Brelogail – it was a magnificent game and usually and rightfully a ref deserves credit for such games. That was not the case last night. It was substandard.
My personal message to everyone who work’s behind the scenes at TCT.
Sixties, Shelley, 40/20 n the rest.
Thank’s for a wonderful job of keeping us fan’s up to date with everything. Your knowledge of the greatest game of all show’s how passionate you all are about the game n our team.
Also thank’s for putting up with the heat us fan’s gave you all during that 4 game losing run.
It was nothing personal towards you guy’s n girl’s.
On the team to the coach’s n sponsor’s please remember we are loyal n passionate about our team thru thick n thin.
Until next year. #Eels4life#.
Thanks Rev,
The thing about a run of losses is the Eels have proven that they can rebound out of them. They have now proven that they deserve to be on the big stage.
i believe that we can best support our team by getting behind them during the tough times, not by sticking the boot in when they are struggling
Absolutely.
👍
Thank you for encapsulating all the emotion and pride that we felt during and after that game. Even though the season has ended prematurely, I’m sure we will look back on the season fondly for some great performances and look ahead to next season with confidence that we can match it once again with the best in the NRL. Thank you TCT for the best fan content going around.
Thank you for taking the time to add your comment and for your kind words Andrew. The “next year” comments are always hard to say but in this instance I think we approach 2022 with a fire in the belly.
Courageous effort men, I’d lost hope late in the season. But, you made me proud to be an Eels fan again. Can’t wait for next season
That they did Ross. They found resilience that I didn’t know existed. There was a genuine evolution evidenced in the Storm and Panthers clashes.
Bravo 👏👏👏. Super effort boys. You did the club and yourselves proud.
10 year – in 50 years of supporting, that was one of the gutsiest performances I’ve ever witnessed.
I don’t want to get ahead of myself or go off early but it is a long time since I have seen a young player come into NRL and play so confidently and competently.
He is what 5 or 6 games into his NRL career and already he looks like he will be around for a long time to come.
Dylan Brown probably comes the closest
G’day John, who are looking at regarding the young player?
I have had a lot of flack come my way when I stood up fo Haze Dunster, with a lot putting mud on him rather than giving him a fair go. He is not as big as Penisini but I really believe he pretty much came of age against the riff with his runs, after the first push back by a number of big riff players he started to dig his heels in and was not man handled as much after that, his run from his own end of the field to inside the riffs half was great especially as he went through and past several defenders.
With Penisini looking to be a permanent centre, and Dunster on the wing would be nice to see another young player come on the other wing.
Colin you are correct about Dunster. I think he will be on the right wing outside Penisini (the player I was referring to) in 2022.
He has improved out of sight since the start of the season. Your faith in Dunster is well placed. I think he will turn out to be a good club man for the Eels.
Haze deserves plenty of praise. He was a slow burn in terms of his progress to NRL compared to his peers. But he’s worked hard and been a good student for his coaches.
Might have helped if I had put his name in.
Of course I am talking of Will Penisini.
This is the biggest faux par since I fell up the stairs carrying two glasses of wine 🍷
I knew who you meant John.
Ditto me JE. And I reckon that bloke down in Gerringong is nodding.
👌 👌 👌
Hi John, I thought of Penisini at first but as Haze had played more games than Peni, and closer to the amount of games between the two of them reason I picked him.
I would love to see the two of them playing alongside of each other, will it happen? Its probable but I think that Waqa being next to Haze in the centres, that may dampen the match up.
Haze also needs to build his body a bit more for a regular NRL spot, but not at the expense of speed, which he should also try to improve.
I am really looking forward to next year especially with the hope that we will see more of these young players make the grade, in what I have already seen of them, & against a full NRL squad in the Riff, the first half was highly rateable but the 2nd half showed the difference – at this point though.
Colin I read an article recently on Craig Bellamy. The article listed every signing under the Bellamy reign.
It did not mention any of the players who went to the Storm as juniors and went through the Storm system. Players like Munster, Papenhuyzen, Brandon Smith and the like.
I was astounded that basically all were journeyman.
I have made comments here that we probably need to purchase at least one quality recruit for the outside backs. However if there are a few more hanging around like Will, maybe time will present the team we need.
Good post John and I agree with you on it. Bellamy really over the years has picked his players well, and when a list of the players are drawn up its fairly easy to see the number of players that are short term signings, there is competition between players for the spots, and not sure if its a process that will be surviving post the belly.
Will Penisini writes down his goals. He continues to achieve them. Winning a premiership with Parra is one of those goals.
Beautifully said Sixties gonna frame it
Thanks Lee. We all feel so proud of them.
I’ve been a Parramatta supporter for my whole life. I was so proud of the way my team played on Saturday night never giving up. Hold your heads high you played awesome 💚😘
Well said Cath
Unlucky.
Just found these articles on insta and it’s been a great read although the hurting remains. Just like to say that it’s really annoyed me over the past few months, how many fans turned on BA. Never makes excuses, never plays mind games with journos and has Parra competitive every year.
You could tell that loss hurt however and I thought the long silences in the pressa was telling. He didn’t want to mention the refs but he knew it was totally unjust against his players. Hopefully they re-sign him cause when the drought breaks, I would love to see BA be the one that does it.
Thanks for the 2021 memories Parra.
Thanks for adding your thoughts for this Matta and thank you also for finding us through Insta.
Extending BA is a priority. As you noted, BA just doesn’t get involved with ref blaming at pressers. It’s a measure of his frustration from this game that he finally had something to say.
That was 1000000% from all our hearts as supporters of the great club. Prouder and more loyal than ever before in the past. As supporters members who sometimes thought when are the coaches, players and staff gonna show us that they have the passion acommitment and love for this club as as us fans do. Yet On saturday even though we lost the game , that passion that committment and that real LOVE for our great club was everywhere and shining through our players, our coaches, our staff, our fans, our legends even our haters. It was what our club had lost since 1986. I have butterflys in my stomach thinking about the future.
Thank you for sharing your message Hanna. I think we were all full of emotion for what we saw the team display. I had tears in my eyes, but it was from a mix of anger, pride, gratitude – it’s even still difficult to articulate.
Bring on 2022.
It was a great game for a neutral for a eels fan it was painful I’m still cut.
I feel this year was our best chance of getting a premiership in terms if how we were tracking at the buissines end our premiership window is still slightly open but with cap space and player movement next year looms as this squads last chance.
I’m just hoping the uncertainty of the coach and the playing roster doesn’t derail the season.
Offside, the window won’t close if we extend BA which then provides clarity for off contract players that we want to keep. There’s a swag of younger players in the system, a number of whom made their debuts. And there’s our player of the year -Ice – who just turned 23!
If not Brad then make the call on who’s coming in early.
I’m still on the fence about BA as the best long-term option.
If you don’t extend BA soon, then you get a Tigers style mess. The Eels continue to improve. Players continue to emerge or improve under BA. We all want to see a premiership and we continue to move closer.
My thoughts post game immediately went to the words of The Great Man.
“Played Strong, Done Fine”.
Good words to use.