Parramatta Eels 16
Brisbane Broncos 26
The Eels Territory deal ends in 2025, and I’ll be starting a crowdfunding campaign to replace the lost revenue for Parramatta to make sure we don’t need to do this damn trip again. Taking a game interstate only to have the fans cheer for your opposition is embarrassing, and it is clear the NRL is going to do us no favours in our attempt to grow the game (and our revenue). Let somebody else do it.
Lots. Turns out training sessions and recovery are important to a team being up for a performance. The Eels were uncreative early, out-enthused in the middle and then victims of some well-earned Broncos flukes. The tries themselves were ridiculous; lucky bounces, a crazy pass, forced by a basic mistake, but if they weren’t coming from those fluke plays they were probably coming from something more well worked later on.
The missed tackles were bad, the inability to break them ourselves also concerning. Then when we sort of got our act together in the second half a typhoon hit the field and we were subject to the little known “one crackdown per side” rule that allows only one player in the bin at a time for hip drop tackles. It only stole from us an undeserved chance to come back against 11 players, but I’d have taken it.
After listening to Blocker and Warren Smith for nearly one half of football (this was definitely a mute game by the 35th minute) I never want to hear the term X-factor again. That stupid story from last month is going to haunt us all year. Numbers:
Completions: Eels 26/38 (68%), Broncos 32/37 (86%)
Run metres: Eels 1,529, Broncos 1,745
Tackle breaks: Eels 21, Broncos 46
Average set distance: Eels 40.2m, Broncos 47.2m
Offloads: Eels 13, Broncos 6
Tackles made: Eels 313, Broncos 281
Errors: Eels 12, Broncos 7
I’m going to give MVP to the only player who won’t remember this game, Bailey Simonsson. Hope you’re okay, Bailey.
Clint Gutherson
1 – Fullback
We were well overdue some Gutho “moments”, and I don’t blame him for bombing the challenge on an unlikely to be overturned call. The bounce of the ball can be cruel sometimes.
Maika Sivo
2 – Left Wing
I’m grading angry today, but I don’t think Sivo was the problem here. Could he have done more? Absolutely. But not the problem.
Will Penisini
3 – Right Centre
That’s a lot of missed tackles for our defensive centre (5), and I’m not sure what he is doing kicking the ball so much.
Sean Russell
4 – Right Winger
How hard is it for us to find a winger who can catch a bloody ball?
Bailey Simonsson
21 – Left Centre
Like a guy who leaves his wife to chase a secretary who turns out wasn’t interested in him, I have a lot of regrets about what I’ve said about Bailey Simonsson having seen life on the other side.
Dylan Brown
6 – Five Eighth
This wasn’t his best game, but I don’t know how Brad Arthur saying he wants more from Dylan has translated into a narrative that he’s having a bad season.
Mitchell Moses
7 – Halfback
When Mitch loses the kicking battle, you know we are screwed, and Adam Reynolds made Moses’ kicking game look like Daniel Wagon’s.
RCG
8 – Front Row
Somebody forgot to fill big Reg’s tank after his monster effort last week. At least on this effort in an “Origin trial” we’ll have him available for those Origin round games, or we would have if Payne Haas didn’t “not-hip drop” him to a possible long term injury. Wonderful.
Josh Hodgson
9 – Hooker
I’m never trusting a Sixties pre-season report again.
Junior Paulo
10 – Front Row
Hard sledding, but Junior did okay.
Shaun Lane
11 – Second Row
Actually a decent game from Lane, but all I am going to remember is him forcing that ridiculous offload that cruelled the comeback.
Bryce Cartwright
12 – Second Row
His bad old habits in defence were returning, and like Hodgson he struggles when asked to make repeat efforts. It can’t be coincidence that he started to force the offload again when his defensive issues returned.
Ryan Matterson
13 – Lock
Probably the actual MVP if I didn’t want to make a joke in the MVP section, but nobody deserves an MVP in a loss like this.
Matt Doorey
17 – Interchange
I’d clocked off by the time he got into the game, I’m sure he wasn’t terrible.
J’maine Hopgood
14 – Interchange
Remember a month ago when he was buy of the millennium? The new car smell has well and truly worn off.
Wiremu Greig
16 – Interchange
I don’t know what is more surprising, that Greig played his second longest minutes of the year in the Darwin sauna, or that he seemed to handle it okay.
Brendan Hands
15 – Interchange
Too many mistakes, but how much better did we look once he came onto the field?
Like somebody who only posts in the comments section after a loss, this is a game that is easy to ignore. Short turnaround, long distance travel, crazy bounces of the ball and a second half hurricane, and with all of that we came out of the sheds and sort of made a game of it in the second half. The Eels were well beaten, but come oranges I was prepared for a lot worse.
Unfortunately this effort will only exacerbate plenty of narratives around the club that can only be solved by a decent stretch of good footy. Resolute defence, outside backs who don’t soil themselves under a bomb, maybe some individual brilliance here or there to shut up the talk about factors related to crosses.
It’s a good week to be playing early, sure my weekend is ruined but by the time Monday comes there’ll not only be two games of footy to still look forward to, but plenty else to talk about. Next week we host the Knights in the Friday early special, if we don’t win that one then these grades will look incredibly generous by comparison.
Until then, stay slippery Eels fans.
Gol
Stats and images provided by NRL / Eels media
Short, sharp and to the point – with a seething undertone while the ‘feels’ are still raw … At least this made me laugh, particularly the SImonsson analogy.
News this morning about RCG is not good – some saying 8-12 weeks.
Funny read Gol, some great lines in this … almost makes the loss worthwhile.
Our inept start to the season fumbling around and not putting teams away has cost us. Knights, Magic Round Titans and Bunnies…. you’d be forgiven for thinking a 3W – 8L start to the season is a probable outcome.
Gee it’d be nice for us to put a squad together for once with 17 people who actually look like they belong in first grade and not have to carry a couple of people who just heap immense pressure on the rest of the team.
Also very kind of Haas to help Freddie deal with his prop selection conundrum in justifying why RCG shouldn’t be picked too ….
Hopefully we can turn it around, buoyed by some good recruitment news which would be very welcome!
From my untrained eye the Haas tackle was absolutely a hip drop and deserving of a sin bin and some weeks off. We were well in the game if the Donks had 11 men. It was a game we were predestined to lose. 5 day turnaround, ladder leaders as opposition who enjoyed 90% crowd support and Klein with bunker support.
Hodson should never be picked again. I was yelling at the tv screen at the 18th minute mark to have him taken off. He then missed two tackles badly and one led to a try. BA then kept him on for some time. Bad read by the coach.
The injury to RCG has possibly crueled our season. I extolled the virtues of Russell and Dunster but they are nowhere near NRL standard. We need to buy a winger now. In the meantime Blake has to be recalled to the wing where he should have been all the time.
Here’s hoping for redemption on Friday night but we are playing a team that is rolling along nicely with a ton of confidence. Pessimism is gripping this long time Parra supporter who is usually glass half full but who’s glass is presently.almost empty.
You waited till the 18th minute ?
As the author of those preseason reports that praised him, I was yelling to get him off before then. He did have a great preseason but he’s had a shocker in defence in the matches and looks totally devoid of confidence at dummy half which is the complete opposite of the training track form.
There’s a lesson there. Stop bloody praising blokes for how they train during the summer & judge them in the heat of battle. Over the years the way you have talked up guys like Hodgson, Ogden, Jirah M & Peni Terepo is embarrassing.
Hahaha , look in sixties defence, he can only report what he sees ! – not his fault that those players can’t handle it.
Cheers Spark. The real test is always producing the form in the season proper but Hodgo’s rank failure to do so has me stunned.
This take ain’t it Danny. Why don’t we just have no reporting until October and judge the season once we we know the premiership outcome …..
No lesson here and no criticism, you should be thanking 60s for the effort put in for our benefit.
Absolutely, anyone can look good in opposed training sessions and other fans read this and joke about how we have so many superstars but they never eventuate
Peni Terepo – where the hell are you dragging that up from?
I report on what is happening in preseason. I also reckon I was the first to put the spotlight on Ice when he arrived. I own my comments. Just like I’ll own them on Hodgo – both the standard of his preseason and my disappointment at how badly he has measured up. Anyone witnessing both his preseason form and his matches since would have said the same. Anyway, I know they did because there were always others seeing what I saw too. But the facts are he has been terrific in one, awful in the other.
By the way, in relation to Momoisea I observed that he had edged up to competing with Doorey which was a fact based on opposed session team selections and trial selections. But he has fallen off a cliff for whatever reason and quite bluntly his form doesn’t warrant NSW Cup selection.
I could tell from the first two minutes of the trial at Gosford v the Knights that he wasn’t up to it. As for Peni Terepo, I couldn’t bring myself to read this website for a couple of years after you made the comment (I think it was 2017 or 19) that Peni Terepo had a ‘breakout season’.
Geez, that some sort of issue you had with me for praising Peni. So besides Hodgo, are there any others that I should steer clear of?
BA’s stubbornness getting in the way again
What is truly alarming is the complete lack of penetration we are getting out of the back field this year. It’s such a vital aspect of the modern game, and once again BA is behind the curve. When has BA ever set the trend ?
Thank you for having your grades up this morning. Reading all of your comments and grades gave me a much needed laugh. I could actually feel your anger, but I think you did do a good job.
I really felt for Bailey last night, he really was putting in the effort, and trying to make a difference and I also felt for Clint too. It really wasn’t our night and that try, really just proved it.
I am not giving excuses for the boys, but when will we feel like we are actually getting a fair go by the NRL the referees and the bunker. I have got to the stage where I think I will have to turn the sound off, I can’t stand listening to any more drivel coming from the so called commentators., they are so annoying.
II too am over the Darwin experiment, I don’t see how it is worth loosing another game at home each year, I think Parra have done their share at trying to promote the game up there.
The grades are fair enough. I had no idea Hodson could be such an awful liability in defence. We deserved to lose big time with that many missed tackles and errors. Sivo was OK in parts. Matterson and Cartright were OK in parts. What a dreadful night
Does BA have eyes painted on? Hodgson was gassed by 20min mark &then proceeded to miss 2 vital tackles that lead to tries. Has to go. We need to start shopping immediately for next year. This year is gone already. Is that hooker in SL any good? If so sign him up, that young winger from Tigers who played well against us, or a goodin’ with speed, and a decent centre.
Btw why wasn’t Hass also sent off for hip drop on RCG where he was injured? Drop didn’t cause injury,that was second tacklers knee hitting RCGs knee.
Mate, spot on. A good coach anylises their matches, Hodgson is always gassed at that point. Other clubs have identified this and they attack him 2-3 times and he always cracks. BA cant see this, Hands should start and hodgo come on 10 minutes either side of the break
Jake Simpkins from the tigers is keen to play at the eels and can’t get a start at the tigers yet we have Mitch rein and Hodgson combined age near 70 as our 2 squad hookers
Simkins would be be great pick up
Mitch Rein is pretty ordinary too along with Rsnkin. We need some fresh blood. I was very sceptical of Hodgsons signing and unfortunately I’m being proved right.
At least our Journos are top notch…something to look forward to after a wallowing:) Nice read mate
When the footy turns bad, there is always “The Cumberland Throw”. Thanks, Gol. Funny.
😂😂 Gol, you really have the dirts don’t you !
“ I’m never trusting a Sixties pre season report again “ – classic !
I thought you were a little hard on a few of them.
Gutho tried his backside off as usual.
Russell is having trouble with the high kicks but his ceiling isn’t very high- reserve grade player at best.
Sivo was good.
Dylan is a space cadet.
Moses is cracking the shits with all the dumb asses around him.
I need to speak to Gol on that and/or exercise more editorial control.
Haha
Lol good call on those sixties reports.. maybe he needs new glasses
I just bought some new ones. Looking forward to watching next preseason already
Does that mean you believe this season is a write off at this early stage 60s?
Hey Gol, great read and I agree with most of your gradings but I thought Hopgood had a real crack when he was on the park. Gutho busted his backside all night. Moses is not a mud runner but tried hard in tough conditions. Hats off to Matto on a Hugh effort in a defeated team.
Plenty to work on for next week v the Knights. 😁
I sat pondering at the keyboard for far too long trying to put into words the absolute shitshow the team is turning into. We have no depth for the edges. BA said there was still space in the 30…well why is that and why haven’t we filled it. Thus far I’d been happy with Hodgson, defensively it hadn’t been that bad but last night was done. Was he fully recovered from last week? At some point some hard calls need to be made and players need to be moved on or made accountable for the shite that gets delivered up. Completion rate was a joke last night. It’s not so much the losses, more the way in which we do it. Mostly by looking like a bunch of blokes that got picked at 7pm to run on and play at 8pm, not a team that has been training and playing for months now. Newcastle will be a battle.
Hodgson defence has been shit all year.
Tks Gol,good read, tough on Hopgood,he is far from our problem, and Lane turned the clock back (I think he threw 2 poor offloads), surely he will snap out of it, we know he can.
I have a soft spot for the Territory I lived there for a bit I like that we go there but why in April at the end of the wet season where it’s those conditions why not in the dry of June/July get up there during the origin period?
Overall a shit game we lost the field position game again because our pack is over rated and now with no Reg we are stuffed because BA doesn’t have another big guy to run into the ground like Reg.
Yeah must agree, don’t understand why this game not scheduled for later in the season
Our pack is overrated and are also being let down by piss weak outside backs who make errors and can’t carry the ball with any venom into the opposition defensive line. Defensively the middles and edge forwards are piss poor compared to other packs. The whole year ba has been challenging the pack to play with more physicality and harden up but they haven’t really responded for a consistent run of games. Last night they were soft as butter in the first half and that starts with our two “big name” props. Junior and reg are so slow in the play the ball and so slow laterally when we are on the back foot. This is exacerbated by ba who leaves them on for far too long at a time. I haven’t liked the make up of the pack nor the outside backs all year. But I feel like a broken record pointing at the same things whether we win or lose. This team seems like it just does not trust their own game plans consistently enough and, defensively, are routinely found out by oppositions. Very frustrating to watch and support as I feel like the team has regressed a lot (not just because of players leaving) in areas where they were giving lip service in pre season about seeking to improve (defence, control of games, patience etc l)
Also, these comments by ba and others about spots left in top 30 are a joke. It shows we are playing at a disadvantage compared to other teams and didn’t address holes in squad in offseason when we could. No good saying “yea we have a few spots and will look” when the problem re: no good middle forward depth note outside back depth could be picked by my niece. Mark O’Neil and the rest of the recruitment retention team as so shit are being agile in the market place and getting players to sign or resign. I know there’s more to it than what we see but everything about parras recruitment/retention team is slow and drawn out or doesn’t materialise. Isaako backflipped last year, couldn’t get Jaxon Paulo, ice leaves for a messily sum more as O’Neil butchered negotiations, tapau wasn’t signed mid year last year, tapau back flips at end of last year, lodge wasnt signed mid year last year, Klemmer wasn’t signed mid year last year. Moses contract dragged on for ages and still isn’t announced? NRLW players are being signed by other clubs left right and centre but parra twirling their thumbs?
The problem is the squad isn’t good enough not one player who isn’t in the team is pushing for a spot. We have screwed up our recruitment and retention and our junior pathways are producing nothing
As I said earlier the year, we were treading towards the bulldogs after their last gf. The signs were there that, notwithstanding they made the gf, they would need to improve and adapt their squad to continue to compete and as bulldogs didn’t do that they tumbled down the ladder drastically. We are risking the same if things don’t change over the course of this season and next (albeit less drastically then the bulldogs).
Everyone bagging sixties but as someone said can only report on what’s in front of him. It’s a bit like the coach he can pick a team and put players in certain spots and he won’t always get it right but you can’t blame the coach for some of the stupid and lazy shit that these players are doing on the field. Totally agree hodgson has to go , the experiment has failed. I think Russell needs to go back to reserve grade and Waqa needs to come back on the wing.
We do have a winger that can catch a high ball too problem is he’s on the other wing SIVO!!!!
can we turn things around? Yes we can , will we turned it around? Not as confident in answering that one but time will tell
Exactly right about Sixties. Just be grateful we have someone giving his time so we can have content to read off-season.
Hi mate. Thanks for your support. You may have missed a reply I wrote to you a week or so ago. You use a name that is the same as the nickname for an Eels staff member. You haven’t written anything that would concern him but he’s been asked if he’s commenting here. Would you be able to make a change to the name you use?
Yes mate, no worries. Missed your other reply you mentioned. I’ll post under another name next time.
Cheers Dave. There was plenty wrong with our performance, some individuals had poor games and our line speed in the first half was non existent. Why we are having games where, to quote BA, we dip our toes in the water, is not good enough. What happened to chasing the collision?
And those conditions – the players in both teams had sweat pouring off them in the pre match ceremony. Throw in the five day turn around and lack of regular match preparation for what is a home game, and there was no shortage of things to be upset about.
And yet, with all of that, the Eels got back into the contest only to have a weak-willed refereeing non-call prevent us from applying serious pressure.
Everything about this match was ugly.
Mr Sixties, did this game remind you of the first broncos game last year when they had all the luck. It was the same again last night – they had it all. It is very hard to beat football luck and the pinnacle of that luck was Haas staying on the field. He is getting one week for that horror tackle. Ricky Stuart’s slur against Salmon comes to mind for the referee, the bunker and the MCR.
Just the same they did try to get back into the game but boy did the Broncos get the rub of the green. BA is somewhat blind when using the bench. Hodgson after missing that tackle in 18th minute should gone off then. Hand played well, we should remember this is new to him as with Hopgood. They were Reggie’s last year and getting up to NRL speed takes a little extra effort and adjustment.
I think Gols disappointment reflects his grading. I wish Silvo would run like Semi in bringing the ball back. Is he afraid of hurting someone? With RCG out who have we got? It’s not a good look – I believe we should chase TPJ.
And, Mr Sixties thanks for your training reports – they carry us over during the preseason. As for Hodgson – well he had twelve months off – his timing is out. This comes down to BA being more, much more insightful with his bench usage. And, quite frankly I think it’s beyond him to do so.
We press on with hope because we are rusted on fans who live through the good and the bad. Mr Sixties enjoy the weekend although it has been spoiled already. And I still believe Klein and Sutton are substandard referees.
agree there about sivo scared of hurting someone Send him over to spud carrols gym for some toughening up sessions!
Hodgson is not an experiment. He has a 2 year deal. We are stuck with him this year and next. Momisea on the bench for reserves, not a first grade footballer. More inspired recruiting, Looking for wingers have a look at Warbrick from the Storm or Thompson from Souths. Last nights loss wasn’t entirely unexpected but what was disappointing was the way we lost was so predictable.
It’s actually a 1 year deal with club and player deciding on the second year , Norman a club option or player option but we seem to have done something different, I’d be surprised if he is hear next year either way
My old mate Rick from Newy said when we signed momoisea he will be about as good as Lee moss op or Billy Rogers.As he had watched him play for Newy a number of times.
I should clarify that was a joke, not a dig. No doubt Hodgson had a great pre-season but sometimes that form carries through, sometimes it doesn’t. Not blaming myself or anybody else for getting excited about Hodgson, it’s a shame we got the “old man off three knee reco’s” instead of the “old head fresh and ready to lead”, but if we aren’t getting excited in the pre-season then why are we even supporters at all?
I very much appreciate sixities training reports. Sure he may have been seduced by Hodgson like the coaching staff no doubt were but that’s okay. We have now seek a run or games which demonstrates Hodgson should be benched and come on 10-15 mins each side of half time in my opinion.
Cheers Ron. I reckon anybody watching the preseason would have been “seduced”. It wasn’t a bold call based on what was happening, but that form has so far proven to be a poor indicator of what has unfolded.
Maybe he looked good because he was training with and against Parramatta players and he looked good amongst that company but up against decent NRL players his short commings are highlighted he will probably look good in NSW cup.
My thoughts exactly. Maybe we are at a level that looks great internally but when compared to other clubs we are not quite as good as we think.
I would like new
Recruitment manager of Football
Conditioning and sprint coach
Defence coach (massive issues here)
Mind and sport psychology coach
Bring in some inspirational speakers
Bring some winners in!!
Pete I’ve said it before they should’ve brought back Matt Cameron! Simple and he’s ex Parra
Always appreciate the reports from Sixties!
Gutho tried his bum off, as usual..This bloke never gives anything less than 100%…I don’t agree with your mark…
Haha great post. Very disappointing game.
How far would blaze Talagi be away from first grade you think? He could fill a centre roll
Well he is still in SG ball and only played a handful of games cause he was injured to start the year. So I assume he would only be pushing for NSW Cup this year.
I would be looking at maybe Asi at centre next week, although I do like Simmo at centre once he returns. We still need to find a winger.
Russel for a fullback his whole juniors look so bad under a high ball.
Dunster needs the full year in reserve grade to continue his recovery from his injury.
I would be looking at Skelton from the dogs. Kayal Iro from the sharks is also a gun centre who deserves to be in the NRL.
I can’t believe that Lumelume may be our second best winger at the club.
Bleak, ain’t it?
Very sad
Better then Dunster and Russell, prob on parr with with Waqa, cant do any worse. At least he has some pace and has a go.
Russell needs to go and play jersey flegg and dominate first. Way out of his league here. Especially with top 8 teams.
Hey sorry, but I can’t agree with a lot of things being written this time.
The bounce of the ball and some pretty dubious referring calls cost us dearly here.
It’s footy! And speaking of this, I really reckon the penalising of “hip drops” needs to go or be severely modified. Which player is launching in to a tackle saying …. if I get a chance I’ll do a hip drop? And conversely which coach is instructing his players “if you get wrong footed or feel your feet are going somewhere near being in the air, just fall off the tackle”! Come on it’s a contact sport. Injuries will happen.
I think it’s a joke. A poor one.
The stat i can’t see from Gol is which team had the ball more.
I think most of the Parra team did well considering the starvation they were living under from ref decisions and bounce of ball and having to regularly kick off.
Sure I have some criticisms … and I was yelling at the screen. But guys get a life … in all seriousness.
If you think they were the only issues….. You really have rose coloured glasses….I counted 3 times turning over the ball on first tackle…… Not by the opposition doing anything special……. Our players trying to pass the ball for no apparent reason. Yes those other things conspired against us…… But we did the damage
We up grade Hands after 2 games and and his performance was ordinary.
Hookers don’t make those simple mistakes, he needs more time as a hooker instead of playing lock or in the halves for NSW cup..
Gutho loves himself to much, selfish player.
Moses up grades and is now back to the Moses we all know .
Players need to go as does the coach
Hands only made one really bad pass in a monsoonal downpour.
Bronx scored no further tries when he came on.
He needs more time to ain confidence.
He is doing fine.
What an excellent sentence.
“The Eels were uncreative early, out-enthused in the middle and then victims of some well-earned Broncos flukes.”
Thanks for the clarity of insights.
Martin
Cheers Martin, really feel I nailed the vibes that game gave me with “well earned flukes”.
Your a master at summary of the game. Kudos to you. Therapy for us
The only thing I look forward to after a loss is your grades Gol. Thanks as always
From the club who brought you the signings of Watmough, Whatuira and Justin Poore, O’Neill keeps the tradition alive with the signing of Hodgson. We are still welcoming people on the bus of this stinky signing though given we started the bus 15 months ago based on the strategic failing that brought him to the blue and gold, so with 15 tackles and 5 misses last night, tickets are going out the door. He should never have played in the NT humidity if he was too sick 6 days ago and his fitness was already questionable. But to have Cobbo fend him off twice in one play, then one tackle later that effort on Mann which was pathetic for a 10 year old much less a veteran, should be the last time he plays first grade.
O’Neil has a lot to answer for.
All the bungles and low balling.
Why can’t we attract players?
Why do our promising juniors leave?
Have we actually signed Moses or is he going to Roosters? With Keary?
Watmough was OK in patches. Try Shane Whereat, Chris Walker, Craig Stapleton, Ian Gately
A 31 year old Watmough was signed on a 4 year deal with a known knee issue. He was never going to see the length of that contract out. How long did he last? Being “ok in patches” doesn’t cut it.
Absolutely agree, Joe. The signing was a failure for sure. I was a huge fan of his when he was at his peak. So I got a bit excited when we signed him. He WAS OK in patches. But it is always heart breaking when Eels sign once great players with not much more to give. Because there is always the memory of a fantastic past to tease us. It’s a rubbish feeling, to realise it’s in the past
And Carl Webb
Bingo…C Webb. That has to win. And don’t forget Foran for a squillion. Look there been some avg ones.
My main concern is lack of depth and defence – attitude. This season will show either way.
I go back to Canberra when they had that GF loss which was tough; different roster etc but they are still doing ok; but both clubs seem to have different roster issues.
We needed a decent back up prop…and now Reg is out for a long time…and Hands is a rookie so we need to be patient.
Ogden/ Rodwell / Moretti etc. they either need a chance on bench now or we bring in others. I think Moretti will get a shot
Over the years I have watched a lot of eels games, many losses and not as many wins though.
From my terrible seat in watching those games, this years efforts so far, seem to have dragged us back in a big way after watching lasting last night, I could have readily tossed in my support for the eels, & I am not sure whether I could sit through another night that was an overall abomination in disguise.
Some time before hand, I walked out on some pathetic game jn years past but in general I stayed solid with the team, much however over the last few years the way the NRL game has taken on different roles/rules that in the end is destroying the game in a big way. Much of that destruction has come as a result of how clubs/teams have changed, & certainly not for the better.
Where is the blame? While its a bit hard to point fingers out against the game, and especially with the eels. It could be easy with the finger pointing but where does one point to?? If I went back in time to the refs of the past, the likes of come to mind, Keith Page being one of them & at the top of the list, but as I look at those over the years, I for one am over the game especially with those who ref the matches, last night in Darwin, perhaps the worst of them was on show,
With that display and one-sided merit badges being handed out from him, was a demonstration of one sighted side of how to kill off many others who are look away from supporting the game of NRL. In these years, the ineptness that was & has been on display from the imported ref for all to see. If he and some others are the best we have, then there is going to be a lot of supporters handing in their membership as the game is not worth it anymore.
Colin I feel your pain mate.
We are having massive trouble recruiting the players we want.
The place is beginning to have a stench of familiarity about it and even the best of coaches do use up their welcome.
BA operates on a very simple game plan and unfortunately it does have a end date. The players just stop listening.
He could go to the tigers and help them immensely but we will and have plateaued.
The one thing the refs can’t use these days is common sense as they are scrutinised to the enth degree so they have to conform to the current edicts.
Mate my advice, and this is from me who has supported them for over 60 years – they are an addiction that sometimes just has to be turned off.
I’ve done it a few times and it’s great !
I know a heap of old teammates and others who played NRL and reps who no longer even watch the game, let alone get upset by the missteps of their team !
In all likelihood, the dolphins will probably have three premierships before we win another one so we just have to accept the inevitable – and laugh about it 😂
Don’t give up Col. Remember the Parra Motto – “illic ‘semper proximo anno” – There’s always next year.
Classic
Gold.
I agree with you rating of Hodgson and your comment about 60’s pre season reports. 60’s must have spent the preseason looking through Rose colour glasses. After reading his reports about how well Hodgson was going I was excited to see him in the blue and gold but he has been a huge let down ….. and not just last night. His defence is very poor and he just doesn’t have the fitness or stamina to keep pace with the game. I hope BA drops him back to the NSW Cup. Our season will be well and truly over if he persists with Hodgson at hooker.
Sixties @ eels pre season
There’s NO need for that!!
We are all Parra supporters here.
Gol,
A few more D’s would not be out of place.
Our tackling technique and effort stinks. Just basic tackling is non existent. We grab high first and are pushed off too easily. Poor attitude. Played in our Anzac jersey without pride!
We are too unfit. We are soft and exposed in our middle constantly. Our effort on effort is non existent.
We were outplayed.
Haas decision is just plain Corruption. There is no way they didn’t see it for what it was. It was a deliberate decision not to sin bin him. If Hopgood is sent for that and Haas is not?? It’s not an error it was a deliberate decision. Annersley will just say whatever because he’s got zero credibility.
Broncos have focussed on fitness because of the way they faded out last year. It showed last night. Eventhough both teams were struggling in the conditions only one team pushed through it and had the foot on the throat and it wasn’t us. Broncos showed they were mentally tougher.
Junior has been average compared to what he can do.
Reg started well but faded. Then hip dropped.
Lane and Brown are terrible.
Russell has butter fingers.
Cartwright has lost his form and reverted back to last year.
Hodgo – who I was a fan is missing too many tackles. He has been too unfit despite having a full preseason. Needs reserve grade refresh.
Gutho brain explosion captains challenge?? Just sums up the gap between our reality v expectations.
We need to start winning before the season gets away…
Did we sign Hodgson before he did his 3rd ACL?
Yeah I think we had him locked in before the knee injury happened. I imagine it probably would have changed our decision, or at the least the price we paid!
Everyone scoulded Jake Arthur last year for the loss up there and all the nepotism bullshit…. meanhwhile the Eels look horrible this year and he’s the top Performer in NSW cup….. the only points scored in that GF performance were when he was on the field… watch what happens this year with him…. always be careful what you wish for.
Jake has more GF tries than most self described experts. His treatment last year by these self described experts was irrational and wrong. Jake will be a good footballer for years to come.
Did he score any tries today against the warriors in reserve grade?
Ridiculous grading this week. Can we not have a sook but a grown up write them next week.
Totally agree
About time some correct ratings were given. Good stuff.
There are far better players in other teams knock on effect cup than we have in our 17.
I feel Hopgood ranking was a bit harsh, not as good as first fortnight but was decent despite the sin bin.
Cartwright was dreadful and deserved a lower ranking.
Carty dreadful?? He was one of the better players don’t now what you watched
2 weeks in a row of losing it under the high ball and validating the otherwise stupid play (at least when we do it) of short dropouts.
We need a rhs defence. Nothing else will get us back into the GF.
The Knights were a rabble last year but are competitive this year on the back of 2 hard running wingers giving them a good start to their sets.
If the flat pass was not called forward and the try converted we are 26-22 with plenty of time to go. As bad as we played we still could have won it if just one piece of luck went our way.
Haas gets charged for a hip drop after the game? Gutless reffing.