That is stating the obvious. No player in the history of the game has gotten over a gf loss. Especially if they don't end up winning one before there career ends.
Within reason. Look at Jamie Lyon - lost it with us in '01, then when he got another chance with Manly he took it with open arms. He was switched on from minute 1 IMO.
Hindy, Burty, Caylo etc. are legends of this club and we all love them dearly. But I fear they have been "traumatised" by the loss of the 2001 Premiership and whenever they play a big game they go out there very tentatively and modestly because they're scared of losing again.
Now, it's just a theory - I reiterate. And I also point out at this point that it doesn't make those blokes losers in my book. They're freaking legends.
But something is not right here...When you get beaten by a better side, so be it. Absolutely. And at the end of the day, both Newcastle and Melbourne did the right things on their respective days to win the titles.
But I look back at both games and I compare the times when we were dominating - in 2001 it was the second half, and in 2009 it was also the second half. In both games when we were on song, we were pretty unstoppable - we were muscling up in defense, making metres at will, scoring some freakish tries...
But coming out and playing a horrible first 40 minutes cost us big time.
Now, it could be argued that that is a Parramatta Eels issue, period - that we have a tendency to play poorly for the first 20 to 40 minutes of any game, not just deciders, and then try to come home with a wet sail. And there is something to that.
But to me, there is one, key difference - in regular club games when we play poorly in the first half, we have a tendency to start well for the first 5 minutes or so and then drift off. I've seen it dozens of times - I watch the first 5 minutes or so and think to myself, "Yep, we've come to play." Then we let in one soft try and next thing you know we're down 18-nil after 20 minutes.
But in Finals games where we've played poorly in the last decade or so, it's been my observation that we have started the game looking poorly.
So what is the difference? If you start looking OK and deteriorate, it's a lack of concentration IMO (and other factors such as errors and penalties and completion rates in general, of course). If you start the game poorly from the get go, it's poor preparation.
Let's focus on preparation for a second. How can you prepare poorly for the biggest match in your life, in this - the day of modern professional rugby league where big bucks are up for grabs? Nerves certainly play a part. But many a star athlete has said before that nerves aren't necessarily a bad thing - I recall Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Andre Agassi all at one point in their lives or another agreeing that nerves are important, because they make you take risks in an "anything to win" attitude.
In the first half of the 2001 GF, we looked meek. We looked scared. Now, it was a young side. It would be foolish not to expect a degree of nerves and timidness to expose itself. But the degree to which it was shown...Newcastle, full credit to them, played a near-perfect 40 minutes. And maybe they had the psychological advantage in the sense that they were the underdogs and few people expected them to win anyway. It must have taken a load of pressure off of them, to the point where they felt they could go out there with a "care-free" attitude - which worked wonders for them.
But at the end of the day, Newcastle did two things that eventually proved successful: (1) they targeted their back-row [and what a back-row it was] at our halves; and (2) they came out with a "we have nothing to lose" attitude. In essence, they were properly prepared mentally for the game.
Consider our boys - missing simple tackles, getting belted, dropping easy catches...Next thing you know we're down 24-nil. And all of a sudden that's the catalyst we need - WE are now the underdogs; nobody now expects US to win this game; the pressure valve has been released from the EELS. And we go out in that second half and almost pull a victory from the jaws of defeat. It wasn't to be, of course.
But I ask you - how can it be that a side can cope so poorly with pressure and expectation? We are not alone, of course. But we are regular exponents of the law of favourites losing regularly. The last time I genuinely remember the Eels being favourites in the regular season and performing to that standard was in 2005. You could argue a few times in 2009, but either way - it's far too few and far between to show any consistency. So it brings me back to the question that puzzles me - how can this team cope so badly with expectation and pressure?
I'm not sure what the answer is - I am sure that the loyal fan base being so hungry for success doesn't help. But what about other sides? What about Cronulla? The Titans? Hell, even the Bulldogs? The Dogs have a loyal fan base. They won a title recently but have not done so since, and before their triumph in 2004 they were waiting, too. But they don't seem to crumble under pressure the same way we do; the infamous "Dogs of war" statement springs to mind, whereby the Dogs having their backs against the wall was the best thing that could happen to them (I recall the Final game a few years ago where they were behind and then blew their opponents off the park in the second half).
I have heard that Brian Smith has a lot to answer for; that he is a master tactician, but a poor motivator. Conversely, Michael Hagan is a poor tactician but a good motivator. Personally, I don't buy into the Hagan explanation - surely when you have blokes like Andrew Johns, Danny Buderus, Ben Kennedy, Steve Simpson and Robbie O'Davis, to name but a few, in your squad, motivation comes naturally anyway? So, then - how about Jason Taylor? Or Daniel Anderson?
Taylor was accused of being too much of a "buddy" with the players, whilst Anderson was seen as an extension of Brian Smith. And much like Brian, Anderson had some success but was unable to extract that special quality needed to win a title. Why, then, do we go back to preparation?
To me, personally, the proof that there is something very strange with my beloved Eels is in the pudding - the two Nathans are two of the most inspirational people you will ever meet on and off the field. Yet somehow that quality has not been enough to spur the side on to greater heights. Watching Hindy make 50 tackles and 20 hit-ups every week should, I would think, inspire every other bloke on that team to give 110%. I know when I played watching our little hooker captain busting a gut was bloody inspirational, and it made the other props and myself want to work even harder just so we could say we did our absolute best. But whereas Joey and BK and Buderus were able to inspire their 14 teammates to work cohesively in 2001 to win the title, the two Nathans have been unable to have the same effect on their club. Why? Obviously the Knights were too good in 2001 in the first half and the Storm too good in 2009. But IMO they weren't dominant the whole match - the first halves of each game was where the tones were set and the games were lost IMO.
Ultimately, all I have managed to do here is write a fairly long essay asking why our squad seemingly has this inability to step up in big games; why they can't nurture their nerves in a positive way to harness that energy to inspire victory. I don't know the answer, but to me the way everything has unfolded points to something not being right. Our lads are just as good as anyone else in the league in terms of skill and love for the club IMO. But do they have the same mental toughness? I can honestly say I am not sure. But to me, this is THE most important ingredient that needs to be put into place before this club can go anywhere. Obviously strong halves and whatnot are key, too. But without the mental toughness, you won't go far.
I dearly hope they prove me wrong. But the impression I have gotten from watching them for the last ten years (and what a magnificent ride it has been) is that they have some demons that need to be exorcised. Maybe it starts with us fans. I don't know. I'm trying to do my part, becoming a member and going to every game I can.
