Eels in the media

[Poupou Escobar]

Chicken and egg mate.

Sure but it's a lot quicker changing your style to suit your players than rebuilding your roster to suit a particular style. Arthur had us playing this style because it was what worked best in 2018 and 2019 when we decided we needed to spend so much on powerful forwards (the Broncos were another club who did this). Prior to that we played a very different style, attacking the edges, which was nullified in 2018 with teams getting up quickly after slow play-the-balls. The best teams were all attacking through the middle and we needed to adapt. So we brought in Paulo and Ferguson (and then RCG) and shortly after the f**ken rules changed again. It reminds me of the 2002 ruck interpretation that killed our small, speedy pack.

 

[Twizzle]

I don't think even our loyal fans see us as premiership material, it's hardly breaking news from Kenty, we are just an easy target for lazy journos at the moment

 

[Gazzamatta]

I don't think even our loyal fans see us as premiership material, it's hardly breaking news from Kenty, we are just an easy target for lazy journos at the moment

I currently dont see our Eels as premiership material but I steadfastly believe our players, given the right systems and direction are certainly capable of much more.

 

[Happy MEel]

Holy shit…surely they’re taking the piss now. Even Junior’s on the Front loading bandwagon

“We know we’ve got some tough opponents coming up, but as long as we’re going out there front loading our energy, we’ll put ourselves in a good position for winning.”

A letter from Junior Paulo to Eels' supporters

The last few weeks have been tough.

www.parraeels.com.au

 

[Gazzamatta]

Holy shit…surely they’re taking the piss now. Even Junior’s on the Front loading bandwagon

“We know we’ve got some tough opponents coming up, but as long as we’re going out there front loading our energy, we’ll put ourselves in a good position for winning.”

A letter from Junior Paulo to Eels' supporters

The last few weeks have been tough.

www.parraeels.com.au

Pretty good otherwise. Time for talk is over boys.

 

[Eelementary]

Holy shit…surely they’re taking the piss now. Even Junior’s on the Front loading bandwagon

“We know we’ve got some tough opponents coming up, but as long as we’re going out there front loading our energy, we’ll put ourselves in a good position for winning.”

A letter from Junior Paulo to Eels' supporters

The last few weeks have been tough.

www.parraeels.com.au

I suppose it shows unity - the coach is banging on about front loading effort areas, and the players are buying into it.

But talking the talk is totally different to walking the walk.

 

[King-Gutho94]

Why is junior writing a letter plus shouldn't it come from the captain. Talk is cheap anyway. I want to see action on the field. This is stuff timmy mannah always use to say.

I think its quite clear we haven't handled the move up there very well. We seem to be imploding by the week and the bubble has quite clearly burst. I assume living with your teammates every day as well isn't helping things where back home you can escape away from it to your private sanctuary

 

[lucablight]

Sterling destroys theory about Eels roster

'I'd put a few of them in that class'

wwos.nine.com.au

 

[Angry_eel]

Why is junior writing a letter plus shouldn't it come from the captain. Talk is cheap anyway. I want to see action on the field. This is stuff timmy mannah always use to say.

I think its quite clear we haven't handled the move up there very well. We seem to be imploding by the week and the bubble has quite clearly burst. I assume living with your teammates every day as well isn't helping things where back home you can escape away from it to your private sanctuary

I agree with the Tim Mannah comparison. With a crap squad, this is all we used to say every year.

 

[JokerEel]

Sterling destroys theory about Eels roster

'I'd put a few of them in that class'

wwos.nine.com.au

Why isn't Sterlo the Story of a Champion, involved in our club more than he is now ...

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Of course there's "a few of them in that class". The question is whether there's enough of them to win the comp. Sterlo admits there probably aren't.

 

[lucablight]

Of course there's "a few of them in that class". The question is whether there's enough of them to win the comp. Sterlo admits there probably aren't.

Remember when Matt Orford was considered a serial choker and not capable of winning a premiership? How many state of origin players did Manly have in 2008? They had Brett Stewart for 2 games. They also had a lot of fringe origin players who weren’t quite elite but they ended up performing to their potential and won the competition. If Manly fans acted like some of the Eels fans here they would have said well we have Brett Stewart who is a good player but he’s not elite like Billy Slater so we aren’t good enough anyway.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Remember when Matt Orford was considered a serial choker and not capable of winning a premiership?

No. I don't remember that perception at all. Either way, I don't think it's true about any player. The only merkins who aren't capable of winning a premiership are the ones who never play in a good enough team.

 

[lucablight]

No. I don't remember that perception at all. Either way, I don't think it's true about any player. The only merkins who aren't capable of winning a premiership are the ones who never play in a good enough team.

He most certainly had the perception about him that he was a choker who didn’t get up for big games. He was also a fringe origin player throughout his career. In fact he never played a single origin match. Manly didn’t seem to mind that they lacked origin players when they won their title that season.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Well it's interesting you had to go back 13 years to find such an exception. It certainly proves the rule.

It also proves anything is possible, which is why our club shouldn't give up on this year. Neither should the fans, but we need to realise the odds are stacked against us and have been all year. To win finals matches (at least three of them) against better teams (at least three of those plus another couple at least as good) we will need some luck. Losing Reed Mahoney for the year is the opposite of that. Either way, we shouldn't be looking for scapegoats if we don't win this year. If we somehow face two of Melbourne, Penrith or Souths at full strength and lose both games we won't have failed. We need to hope we hit any of these three teams understrength in an elimination game. Or get every bounce of the ball.

 

[lucablight]

If the Eels were playing better than we would have a lot of our players on the cusp of origin selection playing instead of other teams. In 2014 Souths had Inglis, Te’o and McQueen as their only origin players that season. I would hardly call Te’o and McQueen elite players. It was only 9 months ago we had Paulo, Brown and Gutherson play origin which is the same number as Souths that season. So the question has to be asked. Do we not have more origin players because they are not talented enough or because the team is not playing well enough?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

If the Eels were playing better than we would have a lot of our players on the cusp of origin selection playing instead of other teams. In 2014 Souths had Inglis, Te’o and McQueen as their only origin players that season. I would hardly call Te’o and McQueen elite players. It was only 9 months ago we had Paulo, Brown and Gutherson play origin which is the same number as Souths that season. So the question has to be asked. Do we not have more origin players because they are not talented enough or because the team is not playing well enough?

Souths had six blokes picked after conceding over 100 points in the month leading up to Origin. Maybe that's why former Origin players Mansour, Reynolds and Cody Walker missed out.

 

[lucablight]

Souths had six blokes picked after conceding over 100 points in the month leading up to Origin. Maybe that's why former Origin players Mansour, Reynolds and Cody Walker missed out.

South’s also had a great finish to the season last year. Alot of origin players are picked based on what they did in the previous season. A couple of games isn’t going to undo all that good will.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Souths had six players picked last year while Penrith only had three. The fact is players are picked based on their proven ability over a long time. Selectors don't care how their teams have carried them. They want players who carry their teams. Tedesco played four Origins before he ever played a finals match. Meanwhile they dropped Latrell Mitchell despite having won a premiership the year before.

 

[lucablight]

Souths had six players picked last year while Penrith only had three. The fact is players are picked based on their proven ability over a long time. Selectors don't care how their teams have carried them. They want players who carry their teams. Tedesco played four Origins before he ever played a finals match. Meanwhile they dropped Latrell Mitchell despite having won a premiership the year before.

Where did South finish on the ladder and in the finals series in 2019 and where did Penrith? You’re literally proving my point.