FUIFUI_MOIMOI
Juniors
- Messages
- 2,448
SHATTERED Parramatta winger Eric Grothe has vowed to stand himself down from first grade if he ever reproduces his horror performance against the Sea Eagles, declaring: "I reckon I got players' player for Manly."
Grothe took full responsibility for the Eels' fourth loss of the season after gifting their arch rivals two early tries in the heritage round encounter.
"I lost the game for the team, there's nothing else to say really," Grothe told The Sun-Herald. "I played awful and it all turned to sh*t.
"I take full responsibility for it and there are no excuses for costing us the game. I gave them a 10-point head start; I gave them a try and then let a try in.
"We spoke about it all week, not giving teams [a head start] in today's game and that's exactly what I did straight away.
"At the end there, again, [I was responsible] for the end result.
"It wasn't through lack of trying, I just had one of those nights.
"I'm going to ask the guys for another chance to play first grade, but if I ever do anything like that again I'll stand down myself.
"I don't want to be like that to the team, it was ridiculous, just a joke.
"If it wasn't for my stuff-ups we could have won. They didn't lead by much in the end and if not for the 14 points I gave away, we could have easily won the game. I don't expect to [keep my spot].
"If I get dropped, that's fine. I'll ask for another chance and if they give it to me, that's great, if not, that's great for the team, I guess."
Grothe's biggest gaffe occurred in the fifth minute, when he threw a shocking pass to Jarryd Hayne which resulted in a soft try to Eagles winger Michael Bani.
The former Test winger was inconsolable after the match.
Eels coach Michael Hagan, who appeared numb in the post-match press conference after his team plunged to a 2-4 record, offered some comforting words - but to no avail.
"I don't want to mope around but it's hard not to feel bad about it," Grothe said.
"Hages tried to make me feel better with a few words he said but I had to stop him.
"It didn't feel right to blame anything else but me, to be honest.
"I'm sure he'll have more to say on Monday and I'll just be praying for another chance.
"I said thanks to the team after the game for how nice they are to me. When I make a mistake, behind the line they don't criticise me. They probably should get up me a lot more than they do.
"There's no excuses, there's nothing to be said apart from I didn't play like a first-grader.
"Silly mistakes, head starts - it just can't happen, it can't happen.
"It could have been a four-point fortnight if not for me [the Eels have the bye next week].
"I reckon I got players' player for Manly . . . If I get dropped, that will be fine, that's the only change they would need to make.
"I don't see any reason why anyone else should be dropped, everyone ripped in and had a go, it was just my stuff-ups that lost us the two points."
Eels centre Hayne had an off night in Parramatta's previous loss to the Titans, prompting Nathan Hindmarsh to give him a rev-up after that game.
On returning to form against Manly, Hayne revealed he had struggled to get his head right after the infamous Kings Cross shooting incident.
"[Hindmarsh] was disappointed in my effort and the way I played," Hayne said. "If you compare last week to this week there's a big difference. It helped a lot, I took it on board.
"Some people could take it the wrong way because it was pretty embarrassing, the way he said it.
"I took it to heart and got the right meaning, I knew what he was saying.
"When you're upset you say things off the top of your head and he probably didn't word it the best, but he got the message through to me ...
"[The shooting incident] has been vaguely on my mind. I wasn't really focusing on football, I was focusing on things outside of football that were on my mind."
Parramatta were premiership fancies at the start of the season, touted as the biggest obstacles to Melbourne's bid for back-to-back titles.
But after losing halfback Tim Smith during the week and failing to put away a depleted Sea Eagles side, the blue and golds are in serious trouble.
Hayne said the team's form was unacceptable and that their season would go on the line in their next match, against Penrith in a fortnight.
"We need a win, it's simple as that," he said.
"We don't need to build confidence, we don't need to do this and that - we just need a win.
"We need two points. It's only early in the season but it's do or die for our confidence for our team going forward."
Source: The Sun-Herald
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/new...-shocker-grothe/2008/04/19/1208025545844.html
Grothe took full responsibility for the Eels' fourth loss of the season after gifting their arch rivals two early tries in the heritage round encounter.
"I lost the game for the team, there's nothing else to say really," Grothe told The Sun-Herald. "I played awful and it all turned to sh*t.
"I take full responsibility for it and there are no excuses for costing us the game. I gave them a 10-point head start; I gave them a try and then let a try in.
"We spoke about it all week, not giving teams [a head start] in today's game and that's exactly what I did straight away.
"At the end there, again, [I was responsible] for the end result.
"It wasn't through lack of trying, I just had one of those nights.
"I'm going to ask the guys for another chance to play first grade, but if I ever do anything like that again I'll stand down myself.
"I don't want to be like that to the team, it was ridiculous, just a joke.
"If it wasn't for my stuff-ups we could have won. They didn't lead by much in the end and if not for the 14 points I gave away, we could have easily won the game. I don't expect to [keep my spot].
"If I get dropped, that's fine. I'll ask for another chance and if they give it to me, that's great, if not, that's great for the team, I guess."
Grothe's biggest gaffe occurred in the fifth minute, when he threw a shocking pass to Jarryd Hayne which resulted in a soft try to Eagles winger Michael Bani.
The former Test winger was inconsolable after the match.
Eels coach Michael Hagan, who appeared numb in the post-match press conference after his team plunged to a 2-4 record, offered some comforting words - but to no avail.
"I don't want to mope around but it's hard not to feel bad about it," Grothe said.
"Hages tried to make me feel better with a few words he said but I had to stop him.
"It didn't feel right to blame anything else but me, to be honest.
"I'm sure he'll have more to say on Monday and I'll just be praying for another chance.
"I said thanks to the team after the game for how nice they are to me. When I make a mistake, behind the line they don't criticise me. They probably should get up me a lot more than they do.
"There's no excuses, there's nothing to be said apart from I didn't play like a first-grader.
"Silly mistakes, head starts - it just can't happen, it can't happen.
"It could have been a four-point fortnight if not for me [the Eels have the bye next week].
"I reckon I got players' player for Manly . . . If I get dropped, that will be fine, that's the only change they would need to make.
"I don't see any reason why anyone else should be dropped, everyone ripped in and had a go, it was just my stuff-ups that lost us the two points."
Eels centre Hayne had an off night in Parramatta's previous loss to the Titans, prompting Nathan Hindmarsh to give him a rev-up after that game.
On returning to form against Manly, Hayne revealed he had struggled to get his head right after the infamous Kings Cross shooting incident.
"[Hindmarsh] was disappointed in my effort and the way I played," Hayne said. "If you compare last week to this week there's a big difference. It helped a lot, I took it on board.
"Some people could take it the wrong way because it was pretty embarrassing, the way he said it.
"I took it to heart and got the right meaning, I knew what he was saying.
"When you're upset you say things off the top of your head and he probably didn't word it the best, but he got the message through to me ...
"[The shooting incident] has been vaguely on my mind. I wasn't really focusing on football, I was focusing on things outside of football that were on my mind."
Parramatta were premiership fancies at the start of the season, touted as the biggest obstacles to Melbourne's bid for back-to-back titles.
But after losing halfback Tim Smith during the week and failing to put away a depleted Sea Eagles side, the blue and golds are in serious trouble.
Hayne said the team's form was unacceptable and that their season would go on the line in their next match, against Penrith in a fortnight.
"We need a win, it's simple as that," he said.
"We don't need to build confidence, we don't need to do this and that - we just need a win.
"We need two points. It's only early in the season but it's do or die for our confidence for our team going forward."
Source: The Sun-Herald
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/new...-shocker-grothe/2008/04/19/1208025545844.html
