Hey Parra fans,
Commiserations on what has been a tough few days of justified disappointment and reflection for many of us. Welcome to this week’s issue of TCT Golden Point: an “in the news” focused weekly column about all things Parramatta Eels and Rugby league in general. I hope it helps to take your mind off the catastrophe of Thursday night and promotes healthy discussions.
The Good Old Days
Let’s start by going right back to 30 March 1980, Round 1, Balmain v Parramatta at Leichhardt Oval. You know, the one where the passionate female Parra fan jumped the fence to give referee Greg Hartley a piece of her mind before being politely but assertively escorted back into the crowd by a couple of Eels players. If not you can view it here. Depending on who you ask, it was potentially the only Eels related moment of Hartley’s career that was handled pragmatically. The fan was in the wrong, but her intentions were not violent, no-one on the field was hurt and the game continued with little disruption. It was a different time, but it was a proportionate punishment from a 1980’s perspective; remembering that in 1980 you could take esky’s full of beer into games, there was still corporal punishment in schools, you could smoke inside-everywhere, fish from the Circular Quay docks while waiting for your ferry, buy fireworks at the supermarket and pick up a rifle to go with your tin of lead paint at Kmart.
Hartley vs Eels fan
Similarly in the mid 90’s, I remember being at a Norths v Manly game with my late father, when there was an impromptu pitch invasion instigated by Greg Florimo after an unexpected Bears upset. The excitement was in the moment, the Norths fans were too shocked by the result to show any kind of aggression even for their arch rivals, and if it were planned it would have lost its impact and legacy. The only authoritative measure present was the ground announcer asking people not to litter or drop smoke butts on the field and after 10 minutes everyone jumped back over the picket fence and got on with life. It’s a situation that wouldn’t hold up in 2026, because the world was a very different place back then.
Fans-on-the-Field
Now back to 2026, and unless you’ve been living under a rock you will be aware that Souths winger Alex Johnston is on the verge of breaking Rugby Leagues all-time try-scoring record. There is a lot of debate regarding whether an old school pitch invasion should be allowed. The NRL & the Rabbitohs are upping the ante on warnings about enforcing punishments and increased security, and fans are getting riled up like it’s a right of passage to infiltrate their way onto the field at Allianz. Without meaning to sound like a killjoy, a planned pitch invasion in today’s world is a terrible idea, and its not just because I don’t have $5,500 spare, or the coordination to hoist myself over a fence like I could at Bear Park in 1997. I get that for some fans the mere thought of a celebratory pitch invasion might induce reminiscent memories of simpler times. But if you can’t follow your pitch invasion by wheeling your BYO esky home via Iron Cove to drop a hand-line and set off some penny bungers is it really reminiscing? That aside, I think a more relevant discussion is being overlooked here.
Alex Johnston
A Different Perspective
While I have found the AJ-Fans-on-the-field debate somewhat compelling, I am old school even for a Gen-X and believe that the more pertinent debate we should be having right now is whether NRL era records should be aligned with those of previous iterations of the game that are substantially dissimilar to the current competition. Ken Irvine’s career spanned 25 years (1958-1973) during a time where the game for the most part had little regard for health-safety, unlimited tackles, a two-man bench, no 10-metre rule, a leather ball with no grip and a player cohort with low paying physically demanding jobs, Nutrition limitations, and at times military commitments. While I admire and commend AJ’s achievement, I think it is a blight on the legacy and foundations of Rugby League to have him supersede the achievements of a player who managed to achieve 212 tries while under a ruleset that would be considered unsafe, unhealthy and untenable by today’s standards.
Ken Irvine
So…About Last Thursday Night…
I sent two family members to Melbourne for the Round 1 abomination. Their post-game disappointment was as painful for me to hear as it was for me to watch the game without requiring medical sedation. But both were made tolerable as I didn’t have to share the couch and had adequate, reasonably priced coping mechanisms at hand. Though I was left feeling a little empty for my two representatives when they told me the players didn’t acknowledge the fans at all post game. Although to their credit, they were more disappointed for the Melbourne based Parra fans who won’t get to go to 11 home games this year like they will. The club needs to do better with managing these situations and set behavioural standards that accommodate reasonable fan expectations on match days. They are a young squad with big responsibilities on their shoulders, but they are paid accordingly and disappointment is not an excuse to disregard your loyal and faithful fans. It doesn’t take much to say thanks, and it doesn’t have to be a big show. A walk in their general direction along with a nod and a clap at the very least would have sufficed and maybe a high-five for the kids who barely get to see them and didn’t leave before the end.
Sean Russell can’t quite stop this Storm try
The Dual Responsibility of Appreciation and Respect
Can I play devil’s advocate for just a paragraph? Is there anything we as fans could do better? I know as a collective there are no bounds to our loyalty and commitment to the badge. Most sporting clubs with long premiership droughts struggle to retain crowds and members, but for the most part, Parra is able to retain impressive numbers all-round regardless of the scoreboard and the ladder.
It feels like the social media age has brought with it a new layer of nastiness from fans that used to end when the gates shut after the siren, and it just isn’t commensurate with the squad’s “crimes” on or off the field. In addition, I have consistently observed and heard about fan behaviour and expectations of players that are unrealistic, entitled, and just plain rude. Like the propensity for people to constantly be asking for their clothes and shoes, approaching them in shops with their families when they’re off duty and just simply forgetting any form of manners during interactions. Sometimes it might feel warranted, but we have to remember that some of these men are barely adults and as they are so often placed on a pedestal, I think we forget sometimes that they are also human.
I get the feeling that the squad and staff are sometimes overwhelmed by our 24/7 online feedback, and materialistic expectations, and I believe if we collectively backed off a little at times it might help the situation. We are long-suffering and loyal, but nobody forces us to do this. We choose to support this club and as much as they can be the bane of my emotional health at times, I couldn’t live without them.
Onwards and upwards.
Roly-Poly Parra
Really liking this article.
As for the players not going up to the fans, that’s something that really frustrates me. There are some people, especially children, who absolutely idolise these players. A simple acknowledgment would go a long way to those fans.
When incidents like this happen, I always think back to a commonly-told story about Sir Alex Ferguson, who forced the Man United players back off the team bus to speak to the fans and sign autographs for hours. He told off the players, telling them words to the effect of “get back out there, these fans are the reason you get paid”.
Some observation’s on Roly-Poly Golden Point. His humanisation of his feelings both home and away were very good and emphasises his empathy. Empathy is an emotion the world could most certainly use more of.
I loved his legal piece on the Lomax case and I assume he is a lawyer or at least legally retained in some manner.
I also noticed his defence of Gol on the ratings segment (personally I was highly critical of his ratings), I think Roly saw humour in them.
I then read about his social media views.
He was quiet defensive about our players being young guys/players and rhetorically speaking about their need to aknowledge the home and away fans.
At the risk of being hippocritical of myself, it needs to be understood when reading comments like Gol’s, who is for all intent and purposes as rusted on as I am with our team.
I would like to say something neither of you recognised in your commentaries.
Some of those young guys were given massive failures and reflect back to them as players (if they read them, I’m sure family members do).
Now a number of players received “F’s, DMinus and D’s.
Now that suited Gol to do that and I am thinking he was trying not to discrimanate but he did so by default, I also think in many cases he was correct. Its the message being sent rather than some of it being correct!
BUT using some loose examples, Russell was our best player, deserving of at least a B and Hopgood made 48 tackles with no misses, underservingly sent to the bin and cops a week suspension and does not appeal as it appears the view was the reaction of the MRC was unlikely to uphold an appeal given the current love for all things Parra. That alone deserves more commentary after the “Cleary Debacle”
I am not going to subjectively put out my choices over Gol’s, he maybe a better judge than me….the mistake’s he made were that he was not fair to the players who deserved better…..there were mitigating circumstances….we all know them and they were not deserved……we had two players put in the bin and they were both unfair.
Using Roly Poly’s venacular he thought fans were hard done by at the game, his two said so. But what about the fans Gol addressed which will be probably fed back to the players in some manner…….do you think that it had a role in the “us and them” aspects that those young impressionable players may have ingrained in them when reflecting on “fan loyalty” seeing they get written up individually. For the old hard heads it will be water off the ducks back….but the younger ones maybe not so easy to get over.
Please don’t take this as a slight on the ratings, I enjoy them as much as anything I read on TCT but maybe some more thoughts on the messages and “Hey” don’t hold back when someone has a horror but don’t go looking for things that create an inequality amongst the one’s that had a go!
I agree with your Ken Irvine sentiments, the best running style I’ve seen in the game. In and away with the perfect swerve and then sheer speed. He and big Guru are the best I’ve seen in my many decades. Also if some of our players want to laugh and joke with Storm players after they just lapped us with 50 plus , do it in the sheds . Don’t slap your fans in the face twice on one day.