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Parramatta fell to their worst loss of the season in a 34-4 humbling by the Bulldogs. Sixties and Forty20 rip off the bandaid in the Instant Reaction to talk about a bizarre lack of faith in proven systems and an inexplicable need to play ‘heroball’.
Sixties questions how the Eels handled their bye week given the lack of energy and focus put on display today while Forty20 calls for changes against the Roosters – including a stint in NSW Cup for Reed Mahoney.
As always with ugly losses like these we respect the robust discussion that comes with them. That said, please keep things civil and keep criticism focused on the footy rather than personal attacks on players, coaches or other members of the community.
Not even worthy of a team review ,mentally soft as butter, type of game question why support this team,
by that reply you dont !!
We don’t have any elite players.But we have at least 6 being paid that money.We we’re worst than pathetic today.Probably the worst performance I can remember from an eels side ever and you know what I sort of expected it.We are as soft as marsh mellows and it starts at the Coach who can’t prepare us for games we are expected to win.I could go on all day.
You usually do !
Put a name to yourself hero.
Well Its ken , whats the difference whoever you are .
I agree wholeheartedly Gianni. It is a coaches job to make sure the players are on song mentally. IMO, they weren’t and he BA didn’t. He did say pre-game that he believed the team had earned 5 days off and it would freshen them up? Got that wrong too!
Will tune into this one later on today; am i the only one who thinks N Brown has been quiet this year???? He is not the only one but seems to be off the mark….
He had a couple of good games at the start of the year, otherwise has been ordinary I agree.
I thought Nathan Brown was one of our better ones. We must be watching a different game Milo.
Probably Murray, we all see things differently. i just think he has been quiet all season.
Marata to the bench – hasn’t had the impact starting. Ice back to the edge and start Matto at lock. Reed really needs a week off or clear direction, killing us with some terrible play calls and has been that way all year. Junior needs to run first, ball play second. Will also needs to play smarter footy, great potential but is making poor errors. Mentality was completely off and not for the first time this year – which is down to the players and the coaching staff. Was a tough afternoon at the stadium – bitterly disappointing. Worst loss I can remember in a long time. Expecting a big bounce back because supporters deserve it after today. Long way to go this season but we are nearing a tipping point. Thanks for the listen gents 👍🏻
The bounce back ! But that’s the problem with this team… we will probably come out and belt the Roosters and the Rabbits and we will think everything is again back on keel – and then fold like wet tissue against the Tigers and Warriors !!
This happens constantly under brad Arthur, at what point do we all agree he is a good coach but not great. We honestly have to move on from him
Well he certainly should cop the responsiblity that’s for sure but I think the Eels are just happy to be a performing team qualifying for the finals, we are light years from a premiership team.
He’s had 9 years now so surely there must be a point where the club will have to have a serious conversation with him but I fear that conversation is a few years away yet.
Thanks for taking the time guys – it was absolutely brutal. I would have to disagree with you regarding Moses, I thought his head was miles away this afternoon. Ok we have the structures and we go off script – agree but there just has to be consequences. There has to be changes. Mahoney was woeful but you bring in Rein ? Who is an absolute shell of his former self. How about going left field and give Hands a go at hooker ? But all this is just a thought bubble as we all know BA will do stuff all and give them yet another chance… that’s why he’s such a divisive coach.
Its telling when Kyle Flannegan give Mitch Moses a rugby league lesson, not to mention a half backs lesson, and Flannegan wasnt that great, Moses was dreadful!
One of the worst games I’ve seen Mitch play.
Absolutely abysmal.
Maybe Craig or John can answer 1 apparently there wasn’t a captains run yesterday and 2 is Junior carrying an injury that is being kept quiet as he sure is playing like something is the matter.
I haven’t been getting to training as much this year due to commitments. I didn’t see any training in the lead up to this game.
I always try to be positive but it cost my family just over $200 dollars for tickets, parking and petrol, not to mention the 5 hour drive. I have never ever felt like sending in my receipts for a refund but todays ranks as bad as that hot, embarrassing thrashing I sat through in 2018 rd 2 on the hill at Manly. I don’t take any win for granted but I demand that they must turn up and put in a genuine effort. Today they did not, they did not respect the opposition, the fans and embarrassed themselves.
We don’t have to the win the premiership but we have to be building towards one. I made clear my views on Reed and the way he let his manager handle his signing, the not so accidental photo op in the Chinese restaurant, so I acknowledge that I don’t really cheer wholeheartedly for him anymore but I am well and truely over him. We beat the Storm despite him ignoring Moses and I have lost count of the amount of times I have watched him ignore the backline shift to run himself and throw a hospital pass to a forward two metres from him close to the line or try a nothing kick that either does not get through or is pointless.
Drop him. We might not have the best player to bring up, but seriously what will we be missing, nothing in attack and his ineffective tackling.We saw today that a little effort and desire can go a long way and until I see genuine unselfish effort from Reed ( I still cannot believe I think this as I would never have thought I would) I don’t want him in the team.
Gutho is our captain and has my support but he was probably one of the players most guilty today with going sideways before forward and he must stop going into the line in defence on our goal line. I know that is what teams do but if we want our fullback to do that we either need one with more pace or we need our centres to cover it. It is so easy to see from behind the posts that teams are now playing for it.The last 5-6 weeks it has become the go to play, short kick when Gutho is caught in the line and it will cost us in big games.
If Maika is not going to ruck the ball out with something resembling effort put in Sean Russel who at least has speed and can help cover up kicks in behind etc.
Not performing after a two week break is not new.
I support our team and this playing group so I will say the truth. Today was awful both on the field and for the fans at the ground and at home who had to sit through it.
Totally agree but at least Reed was the only player who rushed Burton today. Everyone else just sat back and let him decide what kick he wanted to execute. It was like the team had been drugged before play ! Woeful and I’ve talked to a lot of supporters who have said that today was it. The eels have a lot of supporters but that’s a two way street, the battle for fans is a tenuous one and battle scarred eels tragics won’t last forever!
Gents, as always after such a loss thank you for turning up. It does help. Reed’s form is poor and as others have noted, he seems to be overriding calls and taking poor options especially those bloody crash plays. Stop it!. But I’m not sure who can take his place? Rein seems down on form. Is Hands an option?
Very disappointed like everyone else. The Roosters game is starting to fill me with dread. However I’ll be there.
Kudos lads for getting that podcast out so early.
To my mind their defence has been poor all year and it provides every opponent with a whiff particularly when they turn up with the attitude that they did today. It was just an embarrassment today and how this has happened again so soon after the tigers game is just bewildering and continues to underpin that familiar dialogue about the eels from the rest of the non eels league community and media.
If I’ve had a criticism of BA it’s that these sorts of results against lower ranked opponents occur much too often. He’s not out their playing but he gets to choose who does. I don’t get to see the NSW Cup too often and while they’re weren’t many holding up their hands demanding selection from what I saw today, but poor or non compliant players shouldn’t be rewarded with guaranteed selection. Some in the 1sts need a stint in the 2nds to ram home that point.
After the tigers game I thought that the top 4 was likely out of reach but it might come down to F&A. Moses effort to score sickens me.
This is a side capable of winning and losing against any side. Tightening their defence will go a long way towards greater consistency.
I welcome Josh Hodgson coming to the club, he will bring an older head and a steel that our club desperately need. Our leadership group are found wanting on days like today, which happen too often.
Ian, I agree he’s tough and strong in the middle. He’s a an international and very experienced. We’ll be better with him.
Can he last a season?????
I like this take!
I enjoyed the pod, well done.
I don’t understand all this talk about attitude. What the hell does that mean?
To me, they just seem to be a footy team with low footy IQ. When their plan is being spoiled, they are far too easily frustrated and beaten. Every individual thinks they can save the day, yet they just keep “digging up, stupid”.
That was my point. The footy intelligence isn’t on show in a game like that. As I said, it’s currently what separates the Panthers from the pack. Both Cleary and Yeo are terrific on field leaders, and streets ahead of their opposition IQ wise on a weekly basis.
Penrith players just refuse to give up. It is not in their DNA. To win against Penrith, you have to beat them. They will not beat themselves. They make teams compete for every minute for 80 minutes, and most teams simply can’t go with them. Most teams can’t counter this Penrith attitude, and it instilled in all their players. A case in point is Jaeman Salmon. He leaves the Eels and is now in Panther’s top 17, and his defense is the best I’ve seen in his short career – and he’s actually an attacking player!! This attitude is contagious, and every Penrith player has it. Like the Storm for many years, players are now becoming better players in the Panther’s system. I have little doubt it is the coaching. I really believe Parra has the players, I really do. I am just not sure they have the coaching.
Does that not come down to the coach, and the mental toughness instilled in the team!!!
Soft and weak.
Everyone knew JAC needed a big game to press for Origin selection.
Everyone knew this was a danger game
Everyone knew Burton would kick…
Everyone knew Bulldogs would be up against their old enemy…
Everyone one EXCEPT those involved with the Parra team.
Tks men, what can you say? In the ‘it could be this year’ era, St George early last year showed the formula for reducing us, the ref took a while to jump on the tactics that game but we couldn’t recover, yesterday the ref dealt with it but we still couldn’t compose and recover. We just don’t respond to energy and spoiling when it’s not Storm or Penrith that’s a mental thing, we’re adjusting to what we think the challenge may be. To me, it’s coaching, leadership and the forwards. The worse the forwards go, the more the spine falters,then others chime in. Just look at Penrith, the same 95% of the time, run hard, tackle hard, energy, speed and focus 80 minutes.
And Penrith leadership, Cleary, Yeo and Fisher-Harris.
Far from being a Roosters supporter, in fact I dislike them ferociously, but what was pointed from them was after a bad loss this season, what did Robbo do. He fronted the presser and said “ this is on me, I prepared the team and it wasn’t good enough, I need to do better and not put the side in this position “.
The reference that BA makes that it is all about the collision and desire, the frustration of seemingly putting 100% on the players doesn’t build a collective effort.
At the same time, perhaps when such an abject display is seen , a reference to an apology for the game from the club wouldn’t be a bad thing.Tough to do but it’s perhaps worth considering given the time and cost of attending the game.
🫣😇 which face today derek
WhTs your point, if it’s a dig at me, explain
Agreed. Like any sport, if the athlete performs poorly, the coach has to question what went wrong in the preparation. I haven’t heard BA mention anything about this publicly. This type of poor performance seems to happen quite regularly against the lower placed teams, so there is definitely something not right in our preparation for these games.
After a loss like this we need to switch it up we are too predictable.
Maka to start Junior off the bench.
Matto to start
Ice back to the edge
Matata off the bench
Ogden on bench in place of Kafusi
Rodwell in for N Brown
Rein in for Reed
That’s how you rest players! Not give them an easy week off training. Training is where you set the standards.
Talk about big money for Matto is hurting the others that have been let go next year. All of a sudden money can be found?? That causes Poor morale!
I think more of a discussion about the coaching group would be helpful on these podcasts.
The playing group cops a hammering from Forty and Sixties and rightly so but all that is said about the coaching group is that the systems are in place to beat the best teams so it must be all okay.
Well Bellemy and Robinson and Cleary do not get beaten by average sides or if they do they are very very competitive.
Attitude starts with the coaching group and the mentality the players pick up from them.
I love BA but I want a playing group who plays week in week out with the hard attitude and if you lose because the other team was better or ref calls went against you then so be it.
Brad has been there a long time maybe his messages are only being half heard now?
Tony