Eels under pressure to turn around recruitment policies

[Tony Bongo]

We've won 3 games by round 7 - same as last year, although we did hold more hope of a turnaround last year because the players we had available were much better.

Kearney deserves time because of the shit squad he's inherited. He's also shown his ability coaching the Kiwis, and he served a fair apprenticeship at a club that's renown for developing juniors. Cheating aside, you can't take that away from them.

We also had lost to Cronulla by round 7 last year and have won away in Auckland (a hard away gig for any team) as well as twice at Parra Stadium. We may be on the same amount of points but I for one am a whole lot happier than I was this time last year.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I am too but I'm sure diminished expectation is a big part of that.

 

[Kornstar]

We also had lost to Cronulla by round 7 last year and have won away in Auckland (a hard away gig for any team) as well as twice at Parra Stadium. We may be on the same amount of points but I for one am a whole lot happier than I was this time last year.

Tahu catches that ball and we probably beat the Sharks! Just saying.......

I am as unpleased this year as I was last year at this time, actually maybe even more so! We'll see how tomorrow goes I guess.....

 

[Joshuatheeel]

I am too but I'm sure diminished expectation is a big part of that.

Having a closer look at our results our form has been better then we make our;

Warriors - are on 6 points like us we got a win against them
Penrith - no excuse just weren't good enough
Souths - Got some unlucky ref decisions, if they went our way we would have won then Fui went to the bin . One of those games where a decent halfback would have helped
Cowboys - good win and they are in top four
Storm - they were just to good, but the result look worse then it was. This year the storm have smashed Titans, Manly, Newcastle and dogs so we aren't the only ones.
Dogs - We would have won if it wasn't for Hayne stupid head butt, they are on 10 points
Titans - tough win.

Consider we defeated the cowboys and should have go on with it against the dogs, with both these sides in top 6 we aren't going to bad.

With a bit of luck (or if Fui or Hayne used their brain ) we could be on 8 or 10 points.

What makes use look bad is points blow outs against dogs and souths.

Overall I they with a bit of luck we could go on a little winning streak during the season. We really need to work on our goal line defence and our ball handling

 

[strider]

dude i think u r sugar coating things a bit there ... a bit less luck and no last minute wins over cowboys and titans and we are on how many wins? 1

 

[jono]

dude i think u r sugar coating things a bit there ... a bit less luck and no last minute wins over cowboys and titans and we are on how many wins? 1

I still prefer to look at things glass half-full though!

 

[Joshuatheeel]

dude i think u r sugar coating things a bit there ... a bit less luck and no last minute wins over cowboys and titans and we are on how many wins? 1

Yeah fair enough, but it works both ways, last year we were whinging we couldn't win he close ones, but this year we have been able to.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

dude i think u r sugar coating things a bit there ... a bit less luck and no last minute wins over cowboys and titans and we are on how many wins? 1

So you don't count our good luck but you will count our bad luck?

Both the Dogs and Souths losses were due to bad luck. Even Penrith - it was bad luck for us we faced them coming off the back of an absolute belting while our youngsters were still celebrating the win in NZ.

And if you want more bad luck, how about 2005's Dally M Rookie of the Year developing a mental illness and learning to cope with it through drinking? That idiot could've been anything.

How about 2007 rookie superstars Mateo and Inu deciding they would become players who didn't have to care about anyone's opinions, including their coaches and teammates?

How about the bad luck of Melbourne's salary cap rort not being discovered until after the 2009 grand final?

We've had loads of bad luck. We deserve any good luck we get.

 

[Joshuatheeel]

I still prefer to look at things glass half-full though!

so do I - expecially when you consider the squad we have

 

[Joshuatheeel]

So you don't count our good luck but you will count our bad luck?

Both the Dogs and Souths losses were due to bad luck. Even Penrith - it was bad luck for us we faced them coming off the back of an absolute belting while our youngsters were still celebrating the win in NZ.

And if you want more bad luck, how about 2005's Dally M Rookie of the Year developing a mental illness and learning to cope with it through drinking? That idiot could've been anything.

How about 2007 rookie superstars Mateo and Inu deciding they would become players who didn't have to care about anyone's opinions, including their coaches and teammates?

How about the bad luck of Melbourne's salary cap rort not being discovered until after the 2009 grand final?

We've had loads of bad luck. We deserve any good luck we get.

Also are the wins against the cowboys and Titan just good luck or a sign of a side that just won't give up and fights to the end. When the dragons and Storm win games like this, normally the comments are something like they never give up and the opposition must be on their game for the whole 80 minutes.

My opinion is a good side compared to a great side like the storm / dragons is the ability to win games like we did against the cowboys and titans

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Also are the wins against the cowboys and Titan just good luck or a sign of a side that just won't give up and fights to the end. When the dragons and Storm win games like this, normally the comments are something like they never give up and the opposition must be on their game for the whole 80 minutes.

My opinion is a good side compared to a great side like the storm / dragons is the ability to win games like we did against the cowboys and titans

I agree totally. Winning the close ones is always a good sign.

As for luck, beside the fact it all comes out in the wash, you also make your own luck to some extent - however much luck was involved in the winning plays against the Cowboys and Titans, we got into those winning positions by not giving up. We made our luck and then we took our luck.

That kind of thing is great for confidence and I'm almost looking forward to tomorrow's game.

 

[The Colonel]

Winning the close ones is one thing. Getting pantsed in the others is completly different.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Winning the close ones is one thing. Getting pantsed in the others is completly different.

I think it just shows our lack of quality.

With our lack of attacking spark, we need to get in front and stay there. If we find ourselves behind on the scoreboard (like if the opposition score first) then we don't really have the firepower to create opportunities unless we take risks or hope for an opposition error.

That's why we play so poorly against grindy teams.

 

[Ratchy]

Our club has a bit of money too since the new board took over. And the new coach might have learnt where to spend it.

Melbourne had alot more money than any other team in the comp when it came to identifying & developing young talent.

Some of the colts teams they had running around in the Brisbane comp winning the comp year after year were mind boggling. The money that was apparently invested in signing them was even more mind boggling.

The challenge for them will now be how they manage without an unlimited supply of money.

 

[Bigfella]

Yep I agree with that.

The talent they "nurtured" was basically that they paid massive overs to the same talent everyone else identtified.

Greg inglis for example was a known talent and plenty of scouts were after him.

Melbourne were basically the second Brisbane team that news didn't want in Brisbane to affect the broncos. The

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Well we can only hope our coaching staff is putting these same structures in place.

The extra money the club is bringing in can't hurt our junior recruitment and development.

 

[MrT]

Just watching Tom Symonds tonight, I'm glad we didn't waste money on him. He has the build of Billy Rogers and that's not what we need in a backrower. We need a big strong running backrower. To me, O'Hanlon and Eisenhuth have potential to be just as good if not better, however they are perhaps 2 years away from being ready. We can always wait next year for a decent backrower but we need a good half now

 

[Ratchy]

Yep I agree with that.

The talent they "nurtured" was basically that they paid massive overs to the same talent everyone else identtified.

Greg inglis for example was a known talent and plenty of scouts were after him.

Melbourne were basically the second Brisbane team that news didn't want in Brisbane to affect the broncos. The

Spot on. Some of the Norths colts teams that lined up were just plain scary but it was still a great effort by the storm to develop the amount of players they did, it's just they had a massive headstart.