Eels in the media

[Poupou Escobar]

Because the quality of the opposition was even worse gash and we made Manly look like they were at full strength and we were the team that was coming into the game with multiple loses due to injury issues.

Sure we had injuries, but we were still the better team going into that game by a long shot, but they came to play and we came to giggle and lose.

Well that was their grand final and it wasn't ours. They had everything to play for and we had good reason to be looking to next week.

The premiers each year average between 6 and 7 losses through the season. That means they're losing games they're expected to win.

 

[TheRam]

I'm not sure we can call this 2020 Eels side "mentally weak", or any other variation of that phrase; against Manly, we played like crap, absolutely NOTHING went our way...and we still lost on goal-kicking.

I believe that a mentally weak side would have thrown in the towel shortly after half-time, but we threatened to pull a win out of the fire the whole second half.

I do agree that our application in the first 20 minutes of the game is a real concern - but, frankly, I put that down to the fact we have played at a fairly, and consistently, high level for 9 weeks, and playing footy at that level is very rarely feasible over a long period of time.

Pou showed us stats regarding who beat the Roosters in 2018 - and they lost to some average teams.

We have a young, and inexperienced, side - but this loss to Manly was the best thing that could have happened to us, imo. It will reset the squad, and refocus our attention to where it needs to be.

It's very exciting!

I agree the loss could be a good thing for us.

 

[Eelementary]

And while I am in a criticising mood, Dillon Brown had better stop being a so 21st century casual f**ker real fast and start to pay attention to the finer points in the game.

For far to many games he has stuffed up great or scoring opportunities. I as most people love a running half and unless a half has that in his game he will never truly be a great 6 or 7, but really?

His ability to ignore his support players especially on the outside and run instead only to get caught or pass to late is ridiculous. His defense is obviously a standout, but his lack of awareness in his passing is painful on so many levels. As a glaring example of his immaturity at this point in time as a player when he made that massive break against the Knights, he looked to his left which had two unmarked players in support and then went to his right instead because he left it to late to pass to them and went straight into traffic which blew the try completely.

That type of thing is bread and butter stuff for a very good play maker like him. So it is either he can't pass well right to left, therefore panicked, but it is obviously not the case. Or he just is a ball hog who thought he could over play his hand again and do the impossible all on his own. At this stage of his development I choose the later.

Just a little thing again, but when he put up that bomb to Ponga and then ran through and tackled him in the air and conceded a penalty, the manner in which he attacked Ponga was indicative of a player not thinking deeply of his game and just reacting for a big play. There are so many times he has stuffed up with the ball in hand or foot.

What saves him is his defense and the occasional great play, which of course are great signs and he is young and will build on them hopefully. My fear though is his attitude and blasé approach to everything can end up being life long if he doesn't sort it out fast. I know it is good to be relaxed before games, that is not what I am referring to here. He is too chilled and needs to be working on the little things with ball in hand better.

Against Manly he should of stepped up. Yes I know he is very young still, but Manly weren't an intimidating team on the weekend, at times they were so busted and out on their feet and the opportunities were screaming at him to isolate and work certain players over. But he failed terribly. Those are the types of games he should be salivating to take control of, instead he couldn't shovel the ball away quick enough without purpose or just took the line on without affect. It didn't look like a player wanting to own the result and failing, but a guy that was looking around and not sure of what to do.

Why am I on his case since he is basically still only a junior rookie? Because of his immense talent and bad habits are hard to break, especially without a great mentor and your own desire to learn, learn, learn.

He doesn't strike me as a player that lacks any confidence and things have come fairly easily and naturally for him, so add his I'm so cool approach to life, and I don't think he will really knuckle down to develop his game further for at least another 2-3 years. I just don't want to see him go by the way of Shaun Johnson. Bad habits are hard to break. Look how long it has taken Moses and he still isn't out of the woods totally yet.

Oh as for his and Lane's defense being ordinary on the weekend, yes and no. Really mostly the whole team were ordinary against Manly and the damage was done further on the inside and by the time Manly ran at them two, we were already shot to pieces. The majority of the team were woeful on the weekend and wherever Manly scored they made those players directly involved look crappy, but the real damage was done with all the woeful defense and lack of intensity in the lead up work.

In the Knights game, Brown opted to go right, rather than left, because he most likely saw Pearce moving to cover Sivo/Jennings, and he felt that passing it to a player that was going to have a defender on them in quick time was not a smart play.

I agree that he has learning to do - but he has barely turned 20, and - let's be honest - Jai Field is no help to Brown whatsoever.

Against Manly, the player that I would have expected to stand up, and make a difference, was Gutherson - in my opinion, Gutherson's first half was ordinary, and he only took control in the final 20 minutes or so (and that's not a criticism of Gutho - he is my favourite player).

 

[Eelementary]

I agree the loss could be a good thing for us.

I hope so, mate - I hope it gives us a chance to "reboot".

 

[Poupou Escobar]

And while I am in a criticising mood, Dillon Brown had better stop being a so 21st century casual f**ker real fast and start to pay attention to the finer points in the game.

For far to many games he has stuffed up great or scoring opportunities. I as most people love a running half and unless a half has that in his game he will never truly be a great 6 or 7, but really?

His ability to ignore his support players especially on the outside and run instead only to get caught or pass to late is ridiculous. His defense is obviously a standout, but his lack of awareness in his passing is painful on so many levels. As a glaring example of his immaturity at this point in time as a player when he made that massive break against the Knights, he looked to his left which had two unmarked players in support and then went to his right instead because he left it to late to pass to them and went straight into traffic which blew the try completely.

That type of thing is bread and butter stuff for a very good play maker like him. So it is either he can't pass well right to left, therefore panicked, but it is obviously not the case. Or he just is a ball hog who thought he could over play his hand again and do the impossible all on his own. At this stage of his development I choose the later.

Just a little thing again, but when he put up that bomb to Ponga and then ran through and tackled him in the air and conceded a penalty, the manner in which he attacked Ponga was indicative of a player not thinking deeply of his game and just reacting for a big play. There are so many times he has stuffed up with the ball in hand or foot.

What saves him is his defense and the occasional great play, which of course are great signs and he is young and will build on them hopefully. My fear though is his attitude and blasé approach to everything can end up being life long if he doesn't sort it out fast. I know it is good to be relaxed before games, that is not what I am referring to here. He is too chilled and needs to be working on the little things with ball in hand better.

Against Manly he should of stepped up. Yes I know he is very young still, but Manly weren't an intimidating team on the weekend, at times they were so busted and out on their feet and the opportunities were screaming at him to isolate and work certain players over. But he failed terribly. Those are the types of games he should be salivating to take control of, instead he couldn't shovel the ball away quick enough without purpose or just took the line on without affect. It didn't look like a player wanting to own the result and failing, but a guy that was looking around and not sure of what to do.

Why am I on his case since he is basically still only a junior rookie? Because of his immense talent and bad habits are hard to break, especially without a great mentor and your own desire to learn, learn, learn.

He doesn't strike me as a player that lacks any confidence and things have come fairly easily and naturally for him, so add his I'm so cool approach to life, and I don't think he will really knuckle down to develop his game further for at least another 2-3 years. I just don't want to see him go by the way of Shaun Johnson. Bad habits are hard to break. Look how long it has taken Moses and he still isn't out of the woods totally yet.

Oh as for his and Lane's defense being ordinary on the weekend, yes and no. Really mostly the whole team were ordinary against Manly and the damage was done further on the inside and by the time Manly ran at them two, we were already shot to pieces. The majority of the team were woeful on the weekend and wherever Manly scored they made those players directly involved look crappy, but the real damage was done with all the woeful defense and lack of intensity in the lead up work.

Drown ran for 160 metres against Manly. The reason we weren't able to capitalise was lack of support play, which goes hand in hand with our lack of effort in defence.

 

[TheRam]

In the Knights game, Brown opted to go right, rather than left, because he most likely saw Pearce moving to cover Sivo/Jennings, and he felt that passing it to a player that was going to have a defender on them in quick time was not a smart play.

I agree that he has learning to do - but he has barely turned 20, and - let's be honest - Jai Field is no help to Brown whatsoever.

Against Manly, the player that I would have expected to stand up, and make a difference, was Gutherson - in my opinion, Gutherson's first half was ordinary, and he only took control in the final 20 minutes or so (and that's not a criticism of Gutho - he is my favourite player).

Well if that was his reasoning he was WRONG and should have assessed and drawn the defenders accordingly. Pearce couldn't have gotten to either let alone both defenders if Brown had done his job well. He blew it no matter how you look at it.

Yes, that is my point, he has a heap and I mean a heap of learning to do. He has all the talent in the world, but so do many players that never quite fulfil their potential. My point is I hope he doesn't go the same way due to attitude and not having the right mentor at the club that he actually really listens to.

And yes again, Gutho should have been more present earlier on in the game, but hey the guys is the last person I would be having a snipe at(I know you're not) considering his Herculean efforts in most games for us. He is entitled to be a little quiet here and there, especially since he has been playing with a busted peg the last few weeks. He probably thought he could chill a little in this game, but the rest of the team blew it and he had to eventually step up again. But all to late in the end.

 

[parra pete]

I agree the loss could be a good thing for us.

A loss is NEVER A GOOD THING...NEVER...

 

[TheRam]

Drown ran for 160 metres against Manly. The reason we weren't able to capitalise was lack of support play, which goes hand in hand with our lack of effort in defence.

And how did his 160m help us? Break down his game a little bit and you will see that his positional play and lack of control is the issue, not that he can't run mate. Like I have already said, he has all the skills, but his application at critical times is off.

Was he the sole reason we lost or looked clunky during the last couple of games? No, but he has been average in many games this year at critical times no matter what all the back slapping media keep saying.

Remember, you and those back slappers were praising Tepai Moeroa early on until the last season or so when it was ridiculous to keep supporting him. Oh wait, you kept praising him till his last game. My bad.

In any case I am not saying that Brown will go the way of Tepai by the way. I am just pointing out that he is not by any stretch playing to his potential at present because his head is not focused as well as it should be. He is still thinking that it will all just happen easily and naturally. And as we know that just doesn't happen in the NRL.

Look at the the Roosters rookie number 7, a player that I don't believe has all the natural ability that Brown has, but looking at both of them, I think that Kyle Flanagan is better prepared for games and totally focused and getting better with every game. Brown seems a little lost out there, even when Moses is there.

I hope he just knuckles down and start so really work hard on his game, it will show if he does.

 

[Angry_eel]

A loss is NEVER A GOOD THING...NEVER...

What about when we got St George cocky after beating us in 2009? The next week we beat them.

 

[Eelementary]

Well if that was his reasoning he was WRONG and should have assessed and drawn the defenders accordingly. Pearce couldn't have gotten to either let alone both defenders if Brown had done his job well. He blew it no matter how you look at it.

Yes, that is my point, he has a heap and I mean a heap of learning to do. He has all the talent in the world, but so do many players that never quite fulfil their potential. My point is I hope he doesn't go the same way due to attitude and not having the right mentor at the club that he actually really listens to.

And yes again, Gutho should have been more present earlier on in the game, but hey the guys is the last person I would be having a snipe at(I know you're not) considering his Herculean efforts in most games for us. He is entitled to be a little quiet here and there, especially since he has been playing with a busted peg the last few weeks. He probably thought he could chill a little in this game, but the rest of the team blew it and he had to eventually step up again. But all to late in the end.

I do agree with you, mate - I am a huge, huge Dylan Brown fan, but he made some poor choices lately.

But I know he will learn from it - the man is just too damn talented not to.

 

[Eelementary]

And how did his 160m help us? Break down his game a little bit and you will see that his positional play and lack of control is the issue, not that he can't run mate. Like I have already said, he has all the skills, but his application at critical times is off.

Was he the sole reason we lost or looked clunky during the last couple of games? No, but he has been average in many games this year at critical times no matter what all the back slapping media keep saying.

Remember, you and those back slappers were praising Tepai Moeroa early on until the last season or so when it was ridiculous to keep supporting him. Oh wait, you kept praising him till his last game. My bad.

In any case I am not saying that Brown will go the way of Tepai by the way. I am just pointing out that he is not by any stretch playing to his potential at present because his head is not focused as well as it should be. He is still thinking that it will all just happen easily and naturally. And as we know that just doesn't happen in the NRL.

Look at the the Roosters rookie number 7, a player that I don't believe has all the natural ability that Brown has, but looking at both of them, I think that Kyle Flanagan is better prepared for games and totally focused and getting better with every game. Brown seems a little lost out there, even when Moses is there.

I hope he just knuckles down and start so really work hard on his game, it will show if he does.

To be fair to Brown, though, he doesn't have the advantage of playing with the best fullback on the planet, an experienced hooker, and arguably the best half in the game in Luke Keary.

I see what you're saying, though, mate, and I agree - Brown has some fine tuning to perform on his game.

I reckon he will perfect his game in no time, though - he's only young, and he's already proven to be a level above an average First Grader.

 

[TheRam]

Well that was their grand final and it wasn't ours. They had everything to play for and we had good reason to be looking to next week.

The premiers each year average between 6 and 7 losses through the season. That means they're losing games they're expected to win.

It isn't about winning or losing mate and you know it or at least you should. It is about how you go about your business. In other words, what you stand for in a game and how you apply those beliefs in practice.

We are yet to cement our game down and how it looks and feels to ourselves(the club and plays that is) and to the general public.

If you were to ask any RL fan that follows the game how they would describe the way the Roosters or Storm play, there wouldn't be any shortage of superlatives that they could spew out about them. The same can't be said about the Eels just yet. Most would still say unproven and soft under belly.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

And how did his 160m help us?

Well we scored four tries. Every metre contributes to that. With a player so dangerous to run it commits defenders, creating space elsewhere.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Remember, you and those back slappers were praising Tepai Moeroa early on until the last season or so when it was ridiculous to keep supporting him. Oh wait, you kept praising him till his last game. My bad.

In his last game everyone was bad. But in his second last game Moeroa was massive for us.

 

[Gary Gutful]

I agree the loss could be a good thing for us.

I disagree. It is the worst thing ever. Worse than syphilis and COVID-19 combined.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Look at the the Roosters rookie number 7, a player that I don't believe has all the natural ability that Brown has, but looking at both of them, I think that Kyle Flanagan is better prepared for games and totally focused and getting better with every game. Brown seems a little lost out there, even when Moses is there.

Flanagan is two years older and has played every game this year with a three time premiership winner as his dominant playmaker. Only once (vs Dragons) has Flanagan had more touches than Keary. Against Parra Keary handled the ball more than 1.5 times as often as Flanagan. Dylan Brown doesn't have that luxury. For the last three weeks his halves partner has been Jai Field ffs.

 

[Gary Gutful]

...and even when he gets Moses back he'll be playing with a 3 times nothing winner.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

It isn't about winning or losing mate and you know it or at least you should. It is about how you go about your business. In other words, what you stand for in a game and how you apply those beliefs in practice.

We are yet to cement our game down and how it looks and feels to ourselves(the club and plays that is) and to the general public.

If you were to ask any RL fan that follows the game how they would describe the way the Roosters or Storm play, there wouldn't be any shortage of superlatives that they could spew out about them. The same can't be said about the Eels just yet. Most would still say unproven and soft under belly.

That's because they're thinking about previous years and ignoring the evidence of 2020. We still have the best defence and have won the equal most games. If we lose to the Tigers I'll concede we've come back to the field, but at the moment we're flying. Brookvale was a speed bump.

 

[Noise]

...and even when he gets Moses back he'll be playing with a 3 times nothing winner.

*1 time Dally M Halfback of the Year Winner

 

[Poupou Escobar]

...and even when he gets Moses back he'll be playing with a 3 times nothing winner.

He's won five eighths of F**K ALL!