Finch: 'We were disgusting'
By James Phelps | April 19, 2008 12:00am
The dejected No. 7 declared his side "woeful" with the Eels throwing away a late lead against a heavily depleted Sea Eagles side.
"The pathetic tries we are letting teams score, we are just letting teams stroll over the line," Finch said.
"Their first two tries were awful. We just can't let them do it. We are just having to crawl our way back into games. We did a great job to get back into the game."
After a dramatic week at Parramatta, Finch took aim at those who criticised Tim Smith last week. Smith stood down from the club on Monday, revealing he was struggling to cope with bipolar disorder.
"The thing that s . . . . me is we had a No. 7 who got hammered from pillar to post because we were not winning," Finch said.
"He got driven out of the game but with defence like we had tonight how can you attack? Especially in wet weather against a team like Manly.
"We worked our arses off to get back in front in terrible weather and then tossed up absolute rubbish in the last seven or eight minutes."
The Saturday Daily Telegraph can reveal some Eels players were privately fuming with the defensive effort of Test centre Jarryd Hayne. The No. 4 missed two crucial tackles during the match.
Coach Michael Hagan was a shattered man when he fronted the press after the club's fourth loss of the year.
"I don't think I could face up to it next week if we didn't have the bye," Hagan said.
"Based on some of the things we are tossing up at the moment, I can't explain and I certainly can't understand it.
"It is probably hard to know how to react to that one. I think the game was there to be won at the end and I think we lost it more then they won it, to be fair. I don't think the importance of the match was lost on anyone. I am sure Manly would be thankful for the two points. They needed the win, as we did. In the context of the loss, I am extremely disappointed."
Finch said the Eels would work hard to come up with a fix for the team's defensive lapses.
"It is just attention to detail," Finch said.
"We watched footage on that all week. It is just very disappointing. We worked so hard to claw ourselves back in and we just gave it up. I hate losing and this is as bad as it gets. I think our effort and attitude is better. There is no easy way out of it. We just have to put our heads down and work hard."
Hagan said he would refrain from making mass changes in the wake of the loss.
"I think there is some decent effort in that team," Hagan said.
"We were good enough to fight our way back into the lead so you can't be too disappointed with the effort. I think we are running with the players who we think can get the job done. We knew it would take some time for the team to settle down with the week we have had. But then again, that is not an excuse."
