With the recent speculation around Michael Jennings’ demotion and ISP and his general play across Season 2018, I wanted to try and identify and understand the key drivers for his recent batch of poor form, and determine whether the road…
Eels Team List Nostalgia – The Unheralded
It’s the bye week, and with the Eels only featuring in lower grade matches I’ve decided to take a sabbatical from the here and now and take a buggy ride down memory lane. And what better way to do so…
From The Stands – Benchmarking For 2019
A loss after being on the brink of victory was not a good feeling. It hurt both the players and fans. Being at the ground maybe made it even worse. It just feels so symptomatic of this season. For Eels supporters,…
Numbers Do Lie – Part 2: Halves and Half Nots
To say that Part 2 of this ongoing analytical series into Rugby League is late would be a significant understatement. Whilst I could blame the delay on the long hours associated with working as an Auditor & Data Analyst or…
The Spotlight – Parramatta’s Joint Venture With Wenty
The Parramatta Eels are currently undertaking a mid-season review of their football operations. Whilst the scope of the review has not been made public, there is a major component of the football program which should definitely come under the microscope.…
From The Stands – When The Elite Lose Form
What a mixed bag I witnessed from the stands last Friday night. From the praiseworthy to the deeply concerning, the balance unfortunately fell into debit and the result was another loss. Firstly, it’s important to praise the resilience, pride and…
From The Stands – Leadership
To win a championship, you’ve got to have a nucleus of five or six real tough, hard competitors. To win anything, the team’s got to think tough and that infiltrates into the individual. You’ve got to have a tough leader.…
From The Stands – Victory Song
A couple of years ago, the Eels players changed the team’s victory song. The words were written to represent their identity. The victory song has special meaning as they own it. In this new age of fan connectivity, vision is…
The Spotlight – Dedication Goes AWOL in 2018
I’ve got a lot of respect for NRL players. They put their body on the line in arguably the toughest collision sport in the world. For many years I’ve watched the Eels team both train and play. Year round. Like…
From The Stands – Integrity and Other Musings
Match Officials Before launching into the following criticism of referees, it’s important to acknowledge that it’s often a thankless task. Without match officials there would be no game. They should be respected and, in the case of young referees in…