Eels vs Titans Game Thread

[Casper The Ghost]

Round 24 Press Conference

Check out what Pirtek Parramatta Eels coach Brad Arthur and captain Nathan Hindmarsh had to say following their clash with the Gold Coast Titans at Skilled Park.

Link Video: http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/...o-e6frf3ou-1226453634996?subcat=1225914658670

John Cartwright & Scott Prince: http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/...o-e6frf3ou-1226453612599?subcat=1225914658670http://www.parraeels.com.au/news-display/Round-24-Press-Conference/62010

 

[Suitman]

Thank f**k this abortion of a season will soon be over.

Yes.
It makes me sad that this season was so bad. Really sad.

Suity

 

[hineyrulz]

Is the roster really that weak? Sure there's a few nuffies but any side with the likes of Hayne, Willie Tonga, Sandow, Mannah, Poore, Hindmarsh, Maitua, Fui should be good enough to make the finals.

Our pack is just not good enough.

 

[Eels Dude]

Round 24 Press Conference

Check out what Pirtek Parramatta Eels coach Brad Arthur and captain Nathan Hindmarsh had to say following their clash with the Gold Coast Titans at Skilled Park.

Link Video: http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/...o-e6frf3ou-1226453634996?subcat=1225914658670

John Cartwright & Scott Prince: http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/...o-e6frf3ou-1226453612599?subcat=1225914658670http://www.parraeels.com.au/news-display/Round-24-Press-Conference/62010

Thanks for editing your post Casper, I was confused for a minute there watching a press conference from our game two weeks ago.

It'd be great if they got some boom mikes in these press conferences so you can actually hear what the journalists are asking. Simple thing to organize surely.

 

[hineyrulz]

Thanks for editing your post Casper, I was confused for a minute there watching a press conference from our game two weeks ago.

It'd be great if they got some boom mikes in these press conferences so you can actually hear what the journalists are asking. Simple thing to organize surely.

Agreed, waste of time when you can't hear what the questions were.

 

[Casper The Ghost]

Thanks for editing your post Casper, I was confused for a minute there watching a press conference from our game two weeks ago.

It'd be great if they got some boom mikes in these press conferences so you can actually hear what the journalists are asking. Simple thing to organize surely.

Agreed, since we have a media manager, why don't they or organise someone else to mike up the media room so we can hear what's been asked from anywhere/anyone in the room?

Parra Eels website have put up the wrong link so I went to Fox to get it from them.

 

[Eelementary]

Is the roster really that weak? Sure there's a few nuffies but any side with the likes of Hayne, Willie Tonga, Sandow, Mannah, Poore, Hindmarsh, Maitua, Fui should be good enough to make the finals.

Should it?

* Hayne and Tonga have spent most of the year injured;

* Sandow has been in severely average form until late in the season;

* Mannah and Poore have been mostly average all year;

* Hindmarsh and Maitua have done very well;

* Moimoi has been up and down (a sign of his lessening impact due to age).

Outside of a fit and firing Mannah and Poore, our front row is rather average. I include Moimoi in my assessment simply because the guy is old - he's still a good player, but perhaps he's better coming off the bench now. Of course, with our other props struggling, it means we start slower and get dominated...A classic catch-22.

Our back-rowers are either all in the same design (workhorses like Smith and Hindmarsh) or just flat out average (like Horo, Lasalo and, to an extent, Ryan).

We have been unable to settle on a backline and halves combination all season.

But the most important thing to me is that they do not seem to lift when they need to - we had an opportunity to lift ourselves off the bottom of the table and possibly avoid the wooden spoon, and we came out and played insipid football.

I think we have a very ordinary side on paper - we have a few sprinkles of talent in Hayne and Sandow, but our forward pack is well below NRL First Grade standards in my opinion. If they aren't missing soft tackles, they are dropping balls or making uninspired charges.

Darcy Lussick and Daniel Harrison will help - if for nothing else than they will be coming from a winning culture at Manly -, but we have some problems that we will not be able to address unless some young kids are able to step up.

 

[Eels Dude]

Agreed, since we have a media manager, why don't they or organise someone else to mike up the media room so we can hear what's been asked from anywhere/anyone in the room?

Parra Eels website have put up the wrong link so I went to Fox to get it from them.

Yeah not your fault Casper, the Eels website screwed up there. Foxsports is more reliable to to get them anyway as they upload them almost immediately and the club's link just takes them from there anyway.

Don't think the club can be blamed for poor audio, especially at away games. But you'd think the NRL and Foxsports or whoever is in charge of organizing post game press conferences would be able set it up so the journalist's questions are audible.

 

[Eels Dude]

Should it?

* Hayne and Tonga have spent most of the year injured;

* Sandow has been in severely average form until late in the season;

* Mannah and Poore have been mostly average all year;

* Hindmarsh and Maitua have done very well;

* Moimoi has been up and down (a sign of his lessening impact due to age).

Well I think that's his point. The roster isn't that bad but we've been let down by certain players under-performing at times. I think Maitua has been disappointing this season until perhaps the last month or so. And while Tonga has been injured when he has been available he hasn't played to anywhere near his potential.

If those players you've mentioned had played to their potential and the the side itself played more like a team and executed certain things a lot better than we'd be sitting around the fringe of the 8 instead of battling to avoid the spoon.

Outside of a fit and firing Mannah and Poore, our front row is rather average. I include Moimoi in my assessment simply because the guy is old - he's still a good player, but perhaps he's better coming off the bench now. Of course, with our other props struggling, it means we start slower and get dominated...A classic catch-22.

Our back-rowers are either all in the same design (workhorses like Smith and Hindmarsh) or just flat out average (like Horo, Lasalo and, to an extent, Ryan).

We have been unable to settle on a backline and halves combination all season.

But the most important thing to me is that they do not seem to lift when they need to - we had an opportunity to lift ourselves off the bottom of the table and possibly avoid the wooden spoon, and we came out and played insipid football.

I think we have a very ordinary side on paper - we have a few sprinkles of talent in Hayne and Sandow, but our forward pack is well below NRL First Grade standards in my opinion. If they aren't missing soft tackles, they are dropping balls or making uninspired charges.

Darcy Lussick and Daniel Harrison will help - if for nothing else than they will be coming from a winning culture at Manly -, but we have some problems that we will not be able to address unless some young kids are able to step up.

We have one of the better front row rotations in the comp. They just haven't played like it this year. Going into this season Mannah was the most promising young front rower in the game who was about to hit his peak, Allgood was a boom rookie, Fui is still a top player and Poore should be playing well after coming back from injury. We have a great front row rotation who have just been disappointing this year. Going on paper which you base your assessment on, our front row is impressive, but they haven't performed that way.

On the other side of the coin you are right about our backrow, it lacks punch, but every side has their weaknesses but I believe our squad is far from the worst in the comp but it has performed the worst.

 

[Eelementary]

Well I think that's his point. The roster isn't that bad but we've been let down by certain players under-performing at times. I think Maitua has been disappointing this season until perhaps the last month or so. And while Tonga has been injured when he has been available he hasn't played to anywhere near his potential.

If those players you've mentioned had played to their potential and the the side itself played more like a team and executed certain things a lot better than we'd be sitting around the fringe of the 8 instead of battling to avoid the spoon.



We have one of the better front row rotations in the comp. They just haven't played like it this year. Going into this season Mannah was the most promising young front rower in the game who was about to hit his peak, Allgood was a boom rookie, Fui is still a top player and Poore should be playing well after coming back from injury. We have a great front row rotation who have just been disappointing this year. Going on paper which you base your assessment on, our front row is impressive, but they haven't performed that way.

On the other side of the coin you are right about our backrow, it lacks punch, but every side has their weaknesses but I believe our squad is far from the worst in the comp but it has performed the worst.

I'm not entirely sure our front row is all that good. I used to be of the opinion that it was, but looking at it now, I'm not so sure. I mean, Moimoi is great, but old; Mannah lacks aggression; Allgood is a workhorse and not much else; and Poore is hot and cold.

I think Stuart will be good for us, but we are in a bit of a pickle...

 

[jason taylor]

Well that's what years of mismanagement and poor recruiting gets you.

I wish Fui Fui could teach Mannah to be more agressive, Allgood still had time to mature, he's still young for a prop. Poore has been such a disappointment for me, he hardly ever offers much. On their day our props can be good but that day is coming less frequently of late. Lussick and perhaps Terepo might add something.

Our backline is starting to take shape though. With Sio,Hayne,Loko,Roberts,Sandow,Tonga,Blair,Morgan and Kelly all having potential.

I think that our weakest position at the moment is at hooker. Keating doesn't offer much offensively and I doubt Nathan Smith will ever be more than a solid back up option. With no up and coming hooker coming through the grades it has to be one of our top priorities unless Ricky is going to attempt to mold Kelly or Roberts into a hooker.

I agree that our backrow seriously needs a overhaul. Paulo and Reni add much needed punch, our weakness in this area seems to be that we lack a workhorse that will be able to continue Hindmarsh's job. Ben Smith has been very injury prone of late and Horo,Lasalo,Ryan,Tautai are all average at best. Daniel Harrison possible will plug that hole but that is yet to be seen. We missed out big time on Luke Lewis, he would have added so much to our backrow.

Knowing our luck Ricky will recruit Anthony Tupou for 2014 to fill our backrow, or Loko will be turned into a second rower.

 

[lucablight]

Should it?

* Hayne and Tonga have spent most of the year injured;

* Sandow has been in severely average form until late in the season;

* Mannah and Poore have been mostly average all year;

* Hindmarsh and Maitua have done very well;

* Moimoi has been up and down (a sign of his lessening impact due to age).

Outside of a fit and firing Mannah and Poore, our front row is rather average. I include Moimoi in my assessment simply because the guy is old - he's still a good player, but perhaps he's better coming off the bench now. Of course, with our other props struggling, it means we start slower and get dominated...A classic catch-22.

Our back-rowers are either all in the same design (workhorses like Smith and Hindmarsh) or just flat out average (like Horo, Lasalo and, to an extent, Ryan).

We have been unable to settle on a backline and halves combination all season.

But the most important thing to me is that they do not seem to lift when they need to - we had an opportunity to lift ourselves off the bottom of the table and possibly avoid the wooden spoon, and we came out and played insipid football.

I think we have a very ordinary side on paper - we have a few sprinkles of talent in Hayne and Sandow, but our forward pack is well below NRL First Grade standards in my opinion. If they aren't missing soft tackles, they are dropping balls or making uninspired charges.

Darcy Lussick and Daniel Harrison will help - if for nothing else than they will be coming from a winning culture at Manly -, but we have some problems that we will not be able to address unless some young kids are able to step up.

Have to disagree. Based on playing ability the side is not wooden spoon material. Certain players have underperformed. A front row rotation of Mannah, Fui and Poore should be the envy of the competition. In 2009 we had a backrow of Hindmarsh, Smith (who are still here) and Lowrie with Mateo coming off the bench. We obviously don't have Mateo anymore but Maitua can be devastating on his day. Hayne and Sandow are two of the best attacking players in the NRL but the team itself has had one of the worst attacking records. There is obviously a deeper underlying issue than playing talent alone.