Parramatta Eels 16
Wests Tigers 17
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Given it is Easter this weekend, let’s get biblical. A team was walking down the beach with their halfback, except instead of seeing two sets of footprints when they turned around, they saw crutch marks on one side and a long, brown smear down the beach on the other. My dog had diarrhoea for most of this week and it still wasn’t as disgusting as that performance from the Eels today. Just in case the first poo comparison went by you.
There is no excuse for an effort like that. You know the Tigers are going to show up with a bit of grit about them, so how do you go through the motions like this is a training run? They were a tough opponent, but they were hardly a good one today. They didn’t surprise us with exceptional execution or brilliant attack. They just wanted it more. It was almost boring in its predictability.
I don’t care who is missing from your team, when you dominate possession and metres like the Eels did today, when you have your opponent on the ropes and then they lose a man to the sin bin, when you win a penalty count 10-3, and when it all happens in front of a packed out home crowd, there are absolutely no excuses for losing. In a season where the race to the eight is going to come down to single wins, leaving this one on the table could be a fatal blow, one you can’t just shake off as “oh it is early in the year”. If we can’t beat the Tigers without Mitch Moses when posting these numbers, how are we going to win any of the next 8-10 games we play without him?
Nobody wearing Blue and Gold, that’s for sure. Here’s some numbers, that we lost while posting them is embarrassing.
Possession: Eels 53%, Tigers 47%
Completions: Eels 31/39 (79%), Tigers 30/37 (81%)
Run metres: Eels 1,829, Tigers 1,602
Post contact metres: Eels 727, Tigers 669
Tackle breaks: Eels 30, Tigers 24
Offloads: Eels 13, Tigers 8
Tackles: Eels 316, Tigers 330
Errors: Eels 13, Tigers 10
Penalties conceded: Eels 3, Tigers 10
Clint Gutherson remains the King of Parramatta and the King of winning MVP awards in terrible losses. Certainly can’t hold missing that buzzer beating kick against him, I reckon Moses is only a 50/50 from that distance, and the rest of his game was a level above anybody else in a Blue and Gold jersey.
Clint Gutherson
1 – Fullback
Gutho got nearly as many touches as Dylan Brown today, a fair indicator of both the Parramatta gameplan and how much our captain realised he needed to steer this sinking ship because nobody else would be doing it. He wasn’t perfect, but he was further from terrible than anybody else in the side. Lovely skyhook for the Sivo try, too.
Maika Sivo
2 – Left Wing
Sivo v Staines should be like watching one of those lion v gazelle nature documentaries, except very few of those end with the lion limping back to his den while the gazelle kicks him in the rump. He didn’t do a lot wrong really, but he’s paid to be a steamroller and I did not see many Tiger shaped divots in the CommBank turf today.
Will Penisini
3 – Right Centre
Will Penisini looked pretty good with the ball, but every Tiger try was run in down his side of the field and he missed five tackles. Maybe if he was a better soccer player we’d have scored early and gone on with it, but after deep consideration I haven’t docked his grade for that.
Morgan Harper
4 – Left Centre
Errors just seem to follow Morgan Harper around. The final count is unfair to him, at least two of his four credited errors were passed into his arms as he tried to make tackles, but he also coughed up an ugly one and didn’t have the finesse to get back into the field on an early try attempt. I’m trying really hard to like the guy, but he also managed less than half the run metres of his centre partner with more carries, so I’m clutching at straws for positives here.
Sean Russell
5 – Right Wing
If Sean Russell thought he was catching a cold outside of Mitchell Moses, he’s going to need long sleeves and skins now without him. My struggles to say anything much at all about Rusty continue into 2024, it seems.
Blaize Talagi
6 – Five Eighth
He’s two games into his first grade career, I’ll forgive what was a pretty ordinary attempt at tackle on the Bula try, but his defensive numbers were awful and we got beaten by the Tigers, so he isn’t getting any sympathy either. Times like these I wish a bunch of scumbags didn’t boo our perfectly serviceable backup halfback out of the club.
Dylan Brown
7 – Halfback
If Dylan Brown says he’ll pick up dinner on the way home then you’d better be looking for frozen pies at the back of the freezer, because if every promise he’s ever made about it being time to step up is to be trusted, you’ll be getting your Big Mac about the same time as Leichhardt Oval gets a new grandstand. His running was great and his teammates let him down by never being on his shoulder, but this was a game that needed a halfback, and instead we had two five eighths.
RCG
8 – Front Row
One of the few who earned his “triers medal” today, but the loss was hardly a positive omen for his moustache-free future.
Joey Lussick
9 – Hooker
I was at the game and would sooner gargle Drano than watch the replay, so having not noticed Joey Lussick at all out there I have little more to say. Maybe try and miss fewer tackles?
Junior Paulo
10 – Prop
Some of this grade belongs to Brad Arthur, who went against what has worked for the first three weeks of the season and in doing so turned Junior Paulo into a pumpkin. If wanting to start is an ego thing then Junior needs to suck it up and walk it off because as a bench forward he was the best prop in the game for three weeks, in his start today he looked like the Alex Twal you buy off of Wish.
Shaun Lane
11 – Second Row
I don’t think Shaun Lane has been very effective this year, but he at least worked hard today and has improved his tackling. I’m waiting for magic from Lane, just getting good metres and defensive efficiency isn’t what I’m after.
Kelma Tuilagi
17 – Second Row
Kelma Tuilagi reminded me of a guy that was saving his energy for a later on that never came, like he was playing within himself in his first start to make sure he didn’t get worn down. We may have been denied a big finale by a hip drop tackle, but for the time he was out there, Tuilagi didn’t exactly pull off a Bryce Cartwright impersonation.
Ryan Matterson
15 – Lock
Another where BA messed with the program and now his homepage is locked to an adult site and a Bonzi Buddy is loading on startup. Ryan Matterson wasn’t effective with the ball, made three errors and added no attacking extracurriculars. Hopefully he just needs to be turned off then back on again.
Luca Moretti
14 – Interchange
Luca Moretti broke five tackles on four runs. For a guy who might not have five tackle breaks in his career to this point, that’s some impressive numbers. He didn’t get much time, some would say he didn’t get enough time considering it was a million degrees out there in the sun, but he sure made it count. Every time Luca has made the squad, I’ve been happy he’s there.
J’maine Hopgood
13 – Interchange
The break for the try was very nice, the kind of play he seems to come up with every few weeks just from running hard at the right angle. It always looks easy, but if it was, Shaun Lane would be doing it too. The dropping it cold? Not so much a fan of that.
Joe Ofahengaue
16 – Interchange
Maybe it is something about coming off the Eels bench, or maybe he just had something to prove against his old team, but Joe Ofahengaue had a pretty solid game today. 12 metres per run, tackle breaks, no defensive miscues, and after all that I’m still wishing he’d started.
Brendan Hands
20 – Interchange
On a hot day it made sense to give Joey Lussick a spell, so I can’t fault Brad Arthur for including Hands on the bench, and spell Joey Lussick he did. His game doesn’t really scream “impact hooker” to me, but he’s probably our best utility option right now.
Quick Hits
- I joked about it in the preview, but please, no more afternoon games before daylight savings. The bus home tonight smelled like a year 9 classroom after lunch, and I’m sure not all of that was because of me. I love a day game, but us schmucks on the “poor side” of the stadium spend 60 minutes of the game baking when these are played in March (or the first day of April, if you have to be specific).
- The “away end” at the south of CommBank was certainly loud with Tigers fans, if they got out to Campbelltown in these kinds of numbers maybe they wouldn’t need to have the cap out for more funding for Leichhardt every other year. My dream is one day to have a full season ticketholder membership for the stadium, though knowing my luck I’d still end up with a mouthy away fan behind me every week anyway.
I don’t want to think much more about this one. Maybe I shouldn’t have expected much from playing in a retro jersey commemorating the greatest choke job in grand final history, at least until last year’s Broncos. It’s like having Paul Carige night at the stadium. Some nostalgia just shouldn’t be mined.
Anyway, next week we’re down to the nation’s capital for the Sunday night late shift. A win down at Canberra is always a tough ask, especially when they get a sniff of weakness. I’m not confident, but it can’t be worse than this week. Until then, you can always count on the grades to carry you along the beach when times are tough.
Stay slippery Eels fans.
Gol
Stats and images provided by NRL / Eels media
This is Chief and he’s banned.
The person responsible for ensuring there are back up in the top 30 and depth is down to Mark ONeil and the recruitment committee.For about the last 3/4 years we have lacked depth and that’s their basic job.
Still reeling from the change to the starting lineup which has worked so well this season, and how does it seem impossible for BA to get the message to the team on the field to move the ball wider . Especially when they were down a man. Getting outcoached after 11 years by Benji in his 3rd game should spell trouble for the coach and HOF. The game had an air of predictability from seeing that starting line up, just dumb.
Big crowds and big membership number are on the line, the club can’t afford to stand still and let things stagnate. That’s the most numb I have felt since the halcyon days of Hagan and further back.
Once again Chief. Give it a rest Chief.
Youve changed your call sign but not your backstabbing , we all know who you are , hows junior supercoach going ?
We’d have a good one, if some “supporters” hadn’t bullied him out. Put that responsibility where it belongs.
You’re right to be upset about recruitment, but direct it at the right person: Mark O’Neill. As head of footy this is his domain and ultimately his responsibility. Brad is just one part of a recruitment committee, and I’m pretty sure he wasn’t the part that wanted to give a Ron Massey forward a top 30 contract or sign one outside back in two years.
I actually think it’s well overdue that we direct the displeasure ABOVE Mark O’Neill. Our R&R has been shockingly bad for years now. If you have a poor performing employee for 1 year, you can blame that employee – if you have a poor performing employee for more than 1 year, it’s time to blame their boss.
Mark should have been shown the door years and years ago. If you tolerate poor performance off the field, how can you demand high performance on the field?
If brad isn’t given the top 30 he wants it shows he has a weak backbone as he will be rissoled when the proverbial hits the fan
Haha good read as always Gol, thanks.
I was not a happy camper at the end of the game. Threw my toys out of the pram something fierce.
Sivo needs to go in my opinion. He’s just not doing enough work. Why does a 110kg winger (or whatever he weighs) jump into contact to get bullied by people my size? He’s just got no interest in working for metres.
Harper, I also want to give a shot. He tries, but he gets dominated in attack with not enough speed or strength. The pass Dylan threw him was a shocker, and I saw that error coming a mile away. Can’t pin it on Harper. All being said, I’d rather see the Harper-Simonsson combo from here on in.
I thought Tualagi was decent. Looked the most threatening in attack. Moretti i also thought was good.
Yep, toy throwing for me too, I was filthy at that putrid effort. We looked like a team of better players, but not a better team.
Harper just gets belted carrying the ball up. Sivo doesn’t know what to do if running straight at someone doesn’t work. Russell at similar/smaller size (respectively) is more effective than either of them – he’s been solid but unspectacular, which I’m sadly quite willing to accept from our three quarter line at this point.
I’m not hating Tuilagi as a second rower. It feels like Lane has dropped as many passes as he’s caught, but I’m largely blaming the hospital passes he’s copped, where he’s being hit simultaneously. Matto was much more effective off the bench.
Brown really didn’t seem to understand his role today, or else failed to follow the instructions he’d been given (though he could hardly have been on his Pat Malone there – I’m looking at you Junz).
Have to agree on Paulo’s grade – very costly errors from him, and just dumb ones.
Can we please go back to the low-error Parra of the past three weeks? That team would have kicked the Tigers butts, even without Moses. This one, that thought they suddenly needed to play a different game, sucked balls.
And for those giving it to the coach – you really think that’s what he instructed them to do? I don’t agree with some of his calls, but I’m afraid this one is on the players. The question is now how he and they respond to the failure to follow the plan. I don’t advocate dropping players for one terrible game, but there needs to be some serious mirror-gazing from a few blokes tonight, and some standards set down by the coach and the captain.
Though Sivo should be graded an F, doubt he run further than 10 metres per run plus collapsed whenever a defender came near him. Didn’t look healthy to me as gasping for air or maybe the heat got to him. You know Fijians, can’t stand the heat. Lane also not firing and maybe a stint in lower grades could help him find his mojo.
Also Blaize needs to learn to tackle before being promoted to NRL. His mate Galvin appeared ok in that department. Maybe Blaize was absent when that was taught at school RL and also in the preseason. Does BA even practice defence? Hard to tell from that game.
Tks Gol, carry me along the beach in a stretcher, there’s just too much s..t on the sand this week. The grades reflect the mood of the game. We just kept shooting ourselves in the foot. Some of those errors were diabolical. A first tackle pass over the sideline, a pass that wasn’t on with Wests real estate beckoning for a pressure finish at 16-16, high risk crash balls with no room etc etc. At half time I thought Junior and RCG to return, we should start to roll through them…think again, didn’t look like it.
I’m gutted and feeling like our season is over after that crap effort. BA has to take alotvof the blame. Changed a successful bench rotation for no apparent reason. Poor tactics – the same old bash and barge techniques with little or no variation. Poor recruitment and retention. Morgan and Sivo are the slowest outside backs in the competition.
BA has been great for the club but it’s time for him to go.
G’day
As supporters we need to learn to take it on the chin a little more. It will be good for our own personal character. And ward off supporter depression. No pill will do that.
With one of the missed goals kicked most of those players would be getting a B ! And the comments very different. We are more than a bit fickle.
That said, my take is that the tactics were somewhat wrong for both the team yesterday and as we have said, for the Club for a number of years (recruited numbers).
I saw what the stats said yesterday but it didn’t look like we had much off loading happening. I recall about 3. Given that’s what our attack gets sparked by this was a deficiency yesterday. The other thing missing in my view was the short kick. Grubbers etc.
On Maika’s lack of busts from the backfield, I think it is a technique (possibly a confidence) thing. He almost inevitably turns backward (or nearly so) in those runs. He cannot be hitting that line full bore unless he is facing forward. If he is going to turn, he needs to stand and drag people (or off load). Easy for me to say. I’m heading toward the same age but at 66, I’m no replacement.
TCT is great most of the time. But is life more about other things than just the footie ? Oh, and surprise surprise I disagree with some of the comments and grades … some !
I can’t agree with your assessment Brelogail St Boy.
We won basically every statistic and lost the game. More possession. More runs. More metres. More PCM. More tackle breaks. More offloads. Less tackles. Less missed tackles. Less ineffective tackles. Conceded far less penalties. Didn’t have a sin bin.
And. We. Lost.
With those numbers we should have won by 10+. It’s one thing to be beaten by a better team, but we weren’t. We were beaten by a worse team who put in more effort. If Gutho had kicked those 2 points we would have been undeserving and insanely lucky winners and I dare say we all should have been just as let down by the performances.
I’m not by any means an emotional footy fan – I am a big Eels fan but I don’t let football impact my life, it’s just a fun thing to watch on the weekend for me. But this performance was just yuck.
Terribly terribly disappointing. Back in the day we had a saying at Toongabbie for someone who’d been around for a whle and knew where to be where the action wasn’t – too old and too rich. That’s how several of our boys looked. Two on the big money have made little contribution at all this year. On that form we wouldn,
‘t be expected to make the eight.
In the end it was just shit.
Sivo I’d happily see if the Drangons want him in exchange for Lomax.
Paulo is great from the bench useless when he starts
It was poor from start to finish.
The last 3 years Mitch or Dylan have been injured or suspended and we have never had a decent back up option how?
We have a 30 man squad but hardly any 1st graders it’s a joke season will slip away very quickly
Agree, Sivo is finished! Sivo for Lomax has to happen today.
Look at Panthers they signed O’Sullivan’s, Cogger and Schneider. They know football over there and they know they will use the backups. We just hope for the best as our management plan.
Panthers also signed Alomoti who is killing it in centre position we have Cini ?
From the top down nobody understands football at Parra. We need depth in every position and we need a decent reserve grade coach…
I always thought that you replaced like for like. Dylan is a class 5/8, not a halfback. The skill set is different.
I don’t know how the young fellah in reserves has been playing but I’d be playing him, regardless.
He’s a halfback.
The team looked leaderless today.
Agree Darryl, we had two number 6’s out there. Dylan is our Luke Brooks. He cannot run a team.
It’s easy to blame the players, even Harper, but we have had more than 10 different players in the outside backs since the 22 grand final and none of them have been able to set up communication and a structure that isn’t broken easily.
It’s the coaching.
Remember the early days of Brian Smith where the line used to put their arms out and check the man either side of them in the line?
These days you can guarantee the missed tackle will be from the player who rushed behind the attacking teams passer missing a tackle on the way.
The Bula try was an example of Penisini and Brown with seemingly no idea who should have made the tackle.
But, the tackles have to be made and responsibility taken.
56, I think it was Talagi who Galvin ran around for the Bula try. Galvin dummied to the outside and Talagi seemed to hang off him for one stride but enough to turn the tackle into an arm reach rather than body contact. Penisini had committed to the next man. We had actually numbered up correctly but managed to execute poorly.
Brown and Talagi look similar at a distance.
We let Galvin, Stefano, Papalii go and we failed to sign Olam. Something tells me our recruitment team is clueless.
Paulo is not a starting prop. Matterson is not a starting anything. Hopgood was wasted off the bench.
Why didn’t we have Saunders play at No 7? Brown is not a 7 it’s like having Luke Brooks running the Tigers.
Galvin is obviously better than Blaize and we let him go??
how many clubs don’t let the head coach recruit?
it’s crazy to expect to have the right players to play the style of football you coach if you don’t get the main say in who you get to coach.
Can’t blame BA and say this is his team we he can’t recruit who he wants.
Do you think Bennett, Bellamy etc don’t get full say on who they recruit?
BA has been head coach for 10 years so ethier the club n eeds to back him and let him control recruitment or sack him.
But good luck getting a top line coach if they have to work under the same conditions BA does.
That’s me complaining about our depth without complaining about our depth.
I think there should only be two grades this week, D for Dumb and S for Stupid.
I can’t understand why the successful Matto & Jnr bench rotations were changed. We got nothing out of that switch. Even that first break from Gutho resulted in a high risk finish and they ended up with back to back penalties and the first early try. The poor kicking, the up the middle approach when they were a man down was just dumb and stupid. I’ve not seen much of the Cup games but Sanders does have a kicking game at least. Only 3 and 4 weeks in and we’re stretched on depth. What a comeback game by Sivo, a man mountain that moves at glacier pace. Interesting though that both manly and parra were very ordinary this week, maybe last weeks game in the heat was more telling than it seemed. Raiders off a loss at home this week won’t be at all easy and makes the loss yesterday even more disappointing.
Still can’t believe we lost that one. We even had the referee on our side for once. You can have a great side but as the dogs are finding you first must have a great conductor on the field. We didn’t have one yesterday and so they ran around like headless chooks. We don’t have long to sort this. Do we try Ethan Sanders (who is a conductor) for 3 or 4 weeks? Will his defence be up to first grade? I have a feeling BA will stick to his plan and only change it if we cop a few thrashings. Can Brown organise and lead the team around? Probably not, but he sure can break defences open. Let’s put it down to a bad day. A really bad day and hope a new Paulo, Sivo, Harper and co run out next week 😤
Silver lining is that the last time Tigers beat us by 1 on Easter Monday we played the grand final that year.
I really can’t cop these comments suggesting that BA doesn’t control who we recruit. Brad decides who he want and the dope who’s pretending to be head of football does the negotiating. They are both to blame in equal measure.
How many clubs go into a season with literally no back up halves, one back up hooker and 6 outside backs.
Also our junior development is pathetic. You can count on one hand the genuine first graders the club has developed that have become a quality NRL player.
Compare us to the Panthers and it’s laughable.
I used to get annoyed with the club but I’m at a stage where I just expect this type of garbage. Nothing changes, mediocrity rules and occasionally we get lucky enough to fool us into thinking we are a chance of fluking a GF.
This sounds like that Chief bloke from the other joke of a site where probably 90% of the posters know nothing about footy judging by their comments after a loss (of course they’re not seen after a win!!!). I see The Captain posted a couple of sensible comments in this thread and he’s one of the probably 10 posters on the other site that know what they’re talking about. The rest make Eels fans look like an embarrassment.
OK, so to delve into your post, Chief, if Brad asks for who he wants, then O’Neill negotiates it and doesn’t get the player – which was reported a while ago about them butting heads over exactly that – then how exactly is the blame proportioned 50/50? I’d say that would clearly be 100% the fault of O’Neill, no?
No back up halves – well what do you class Talagi, Sanders and Asi as?
6 outside backs – yeah, nah, another total fabrication in true Chief style!!!
Junior Development – didn’t they have a relatively successful year last year winning a GF in one grade? aren’t they going very well this year and most, if not all, knocked off the Panthers recently? How’s that laughing going when comparing them to the Panthers now, Chief? Ohh and you’ve clearly forgotten Brown, Penisini, Dunster (before his injury), Talagi, Russell in the current team, let alone the number of players Arthur developed into quality players from other clubs that are still here and have left – and funnily enough are not performing as well as they did at the Eels!!!
Nice try Chief, as you say, we just expect this type of garbage from you!!!
Careful Stubbyholder, these guys get really annoyed when you present them with actual facts instead of histrionic the-sky-is-falling cos of one poor match (where we still came within a whisker of winning). It doesn’t suit their agenda and black/white thinking – they’re a nuance-free zone.
Dear Wilhelmina,
Some great points you raised.
But. One thing I believe you got wrong.
It is a Nuisance Free Zone. Not Nuance Free!
I largely agree
I think if you do a little research you would most likely find I have been posting here longer than you. Given not much lately but that is largely due to the fact most on here wear blue and gold glasses and can’t cop when someone is critical of the club.
Now to address your individual points.
There are not too many experienced coaches who don’t have final say on who the clubs recruit. They just won’t stand for it because their job depends on getting the style of player they like.
O’Neil is a hopeless negotiator who thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room whilst everyone else in the room runs rings around him. Quite like yourself when if you think about it.
Now to the halves. Talagi and Sanders are kids with basically no reserve grade experience at all so I stand by my previous statement. Asi is average at best and it was proven last year that he can’t defend anywhere near a first grade level. So again I stand by what I said previously.
The club went into this season with Sivo, Harper, Simonson, Russell, Penisini, Dunster, Talagi and Zac Cini.
When you consider Talagi’s age and experience and Cini’s incompetence I’m comfortable with my figure of 6 NRL quality backs. Although with Dunsters recent Injuries and Harper’s track record I think one could argue if they are of NRL quality.
Now to your Rambling about Development. This is where you really prove yourself to be a dope. You actually list a lower grade premiership as proof that our system works. To be fair thats hilarious. Lower grade success means zero in development. It’s how many juniors make it into our NRL team and actually perform at a high standard that counts.
Now in the current team we have debuted Brown and Penisini which I would consider quality first graders. The rest you have mentioned are unproven and are just as likely to fail as they are to reach any great heights. Again your idea of quality is of a far lower standard than mine.
In round 1 we had 5 local Juniors in our team list. For a “development club” that’s pathetic but again the standard you hold the club to is obviously as low as your footy iq.
In comparison The Panthers had 12 junior development players in their starting 13. They are the benchmark that we are failing so miserably to match.
So lower grades mean nothing in development and I’m a dope for suggesting same? Do you remember there was a review only a few short years ago identifying the Eels wanted to be a Development Club? To start quoting numbers graduating from Panthers Junior development into the NRL to Eels given that simple fact is comparing apples to oranges. They’ve been getting their juniors in order for ages, the Eels for a couple of years – I’d suggest the results in a relatively short timeframe are pretty impressive, no?
Yep, coaches careers are reliant upon results, but that does not dispute the fact that there is evidence Arthur hasn’t been provided who he wants (that’s through the review and through the story about butting heads with O’Neill on recruitment) but ohhh, let’s just bow to the assumption of one bloke that thinks he gets everything he wants – what was that you were carrying on about trying to be the smartest bloke in the room?
Now all of a sudden there’s 6 “NRL quality” backs, whereas you originally stated just 6 backs – bit of a backflip there, but that’s what happens when you get called out for stating things in black and white in a ridiculous statement without qualifying it – sort of something an A Grad Dope would do, no?
Instead of calling me a dope, low IQ and so inferior to you maybe you should actually consider some facts that have been raised which prove you wrong, it’s not hard to admit it rather than a long winded verbal assault, while all the while digging your hole deeper, which proves your ignorance!!!
Your “facts” basically mean what you read in the paper. BA and O”Neil butting heads was most likely a little story to muddy the waters after another recruitment bungle.
Comparing Penrith and Zparra isn’t comparing Apples to Oranges. They are the closest team in the NRL to us in most metrics.
BA has been here a decade and the junior development is still a mess. Just because there are some promising players coming through doesn’t mean they will end up being NRL quality. Apparently Sanders is struggling in Cup so I wouldn’t be betting the house on his future.
I didn’t include Cini and Talagi in my outside backs equation because realistically they shouldn’t be playing NRL this year unless we had 3 or 4 injuries.
I don’t need a review to tell me we wanted to be a development club and if the club had any idea they wouldn’t either. We have a huge nursery in the League heartland and can’t come up with NRL quality on a consistent basis.
If you were born cast your mind back to the Brian Smith and Crusher Cleal days. Those guys developed more great Eels players in 2 seasons than Brad has in a decade.
You can huff and puff all you like
Your “facts” basically mean what you read in the paper. BA and O”Neil butting heads was most likely a little story to muddy the waters after another recruitment bungle.
Comparing Penrith and Zparra isn’t comparing Apples to Oranges. They are the closest team in the NRL to us in most metrics.
BA has been here a decade and the junior development is still a mess. Just because there are some promising players coming through doesn’t mean they will end up being NRL quality. Apparently Sanders is struggling in Cup so I wouldn’t be betting the house on his future.
I didn’t include Cini and Talagi in my outside backs equation because realistically they shouldn’t be playing NRL this year unless we had 3 or 4 injuries.
I don’t need a review to tell me we wanted to be a development club and if the club had any idea they wouldn’t either. We have a huge nursery in the League heartland and can’t come up with NRL quality on a consistent basis.
If you were born cast your mind back to the Brian Smith and Crusher Cleal days. Those guys developed more great Eels players in 2 seasons than Brad has in a decade.
You can huff and puff all you like and claim to present all these “facts” but at the end of the day it’s just your opinion.
Fellas
How about we agre to disagree on some matters, agree that we all love The Eels, that Monday was a devastating disapppintment and that we hope for better on Sunday in The ACT. We can all take great satisfaction on what a great pick up Joe has been and how well Lucca has performed.
Clive ,is that you or somebody called chief. But seriously good to see you commenting again with your common sense and perception of the game. Do you reckon a Wayne Bennet led group could resurrect this club from its present stagnation and lack of footy nous. Change is needed.
Mate to be honest I’m not sure on Bennett. I don’t think we need massive changes to be a powerhouse but our Pathways need work and O’Neil needs to go asap.
I know I will cop flack but Brian Smith would be a good head of junior pathways. He couldn’t work out how to win a comp but the amount of talent he and crusher unearthed was fantastic.
I’m also still a fan of BA but he needs to have assistant coaches that can influence change. Our edge defence has been awful for years yet nothing changes. Brad gets set in his ways and is too stubborn to change.
His “Chase the collision” game plan works in local footy but it won’t cut it consistently at NRL level. If it worked every player would look like Nelson Asofa Solomona.
We can’t wrestle and slow the play the ball down and his reliance on middle forwards isn’t sustainable over an entire NRL season.
The suggestion of Brian Smith as head of football is the most constructive I’ve seen in years. A real RL intelligence. Last I heard he was driving a Uber in Brisbane.
Clive I don’t know how you can say your still a fan of Arthur when in the next two and a half paragraphs you point out why you shouldn’t be. If we don’t change what we get now that’s what we’ll get ad infinitum. The nous to alter failings in the team is not there. If your not as ruthless as Penrith across the park you won’t beat them when it counts.
Mate I like BA and the fact that he is an Eels man. He obviously has some great qualities as a coach and some areas he needs to address.
The other thing is there isn’t really anyone out there that is better for the job.
Obviously if Bellamy or Cleary were available I’d take them in a heartbeat but there isn’t anyone that I’d consider a step up.
Chief, give it a rest
There were some horrendous play-making choices by gifted players unsuited to their self appointed role. For example, a very talented prop threw a long ball over the sideline on the first tackle. There were some other brain explosions involving dropped balls and poor choices. A rookie 5/8 got caught out twice in defence. That was costly. It was a mistake ridden display but the Eels still only lost by one. If Moses was playing the Eels win easily. We lacked finesse in their red zone. Let’s hope it was a learning experience for most of the team. There were players who went pretty well, chief of whom was Gutho. Russell and Penisini were solid. Moretti looked good. Reg needs to regrow the mo.
Disappointed like many here – not that we lost but it’s how we lost.
Junior starting? Surely we stick with what worked and I assume BA wanted to steamroll them…
We play a simple brand of footy – play in the middle /earn the right to shift etc. we lacked on field leadership here to get us back on track…
Brown for me went ok but like some here he’s not a halfback. But is Sanders ready?? Think BA thinks not..,but like for like would be good.
No NRL type back up halves?
Our experienced pack need to take accountability from yesterday- they train all bloody off season – play North to South. It’s simple.
Wests showed that they wanted it more. The warm up we looked sluggish and played like it.
Tough month or so ahead
Well said Milo. I was gobsmacked when I seen the Paulo pass. Doomed from the moment it left his hand.
Sivo was infield, right or wrong, but he was never in a position to receive the pass. Should not have been thrown.
Hi John, you are spot on, it was terrible to watch. After watching them warm up I was not confident, we did not warm up as a unit and it was vastly different to Wests.
In hindsight I also feel Brown and Talagi are too similar in their style; and maybe BA should / cuold blood Sanders. I know he is young but all we need is a half to kick / talk / tackle; but I assume Sanders defensively is not ready.
It is another issue with our Retention / Recruitment.
Walking back from the Stadium to the train I was thinking maybe he might pick Sanders and move Talagi back to centre.
I haven’t seen a replay yet, so after that I may have a different view
Sivo was limping and hopping on one leg about 10 minutes before 1/2 time. I was not expecting him back after the break…I don’t know how or why the Tigers didn’t send more traffic his way because if they did they would’ve won by plenty.
Did no one else see that?
Yes Jon Boy I watched this too.
Jon I was prepared to make excuses for Maika based on that injury. But then I recalled that his yardage efforts were the same before he was struck by injury