Stats show the Eels are now more than twice as bad on the road than any other team in the NRL
Nick Walshaw
The Daily Telegraph
April 08, 2015 12:00AM
PARRAMATTA may have to rethink switching games to ANZ Stadium — or any other away venue — with statistics showing they are now more than twice as bad on the road than any other NRL team.
The Daily Telegraph can today reveal that, following Sunday’s loss to Wests Tigers at Homebush, the Eels have slumped to an atrocious away success rate of only 14.6 per cent.
Incredibly, the figure is less than half that of even nearest rivals the New Zealand Warriors, a club forced to deal with international flights, unfamiliar hotels, even currency changes every second week of the year.
Worse, the Eels decision to switch its biggest games to ANZ Stadium for financial gain are also coming at a huge cost, with the club having now lost 17 of its past 18 matches at the Olympic venue.
“And I know the hoodoo or whatever you want to call it, it’s being spoken about,’’ Eels enforcer Anthony Watmough said. “Not by the players as such.
“But we know our record away from home, it’s going to be talked about.
“We just have to stay positive because in a couple of away games this year, against Canterbury and Wests Tigers especially, we were in them up to our eyeballs. We just couldn’t finish it.”
Which, unfortunately, has become the ballad of Parramatta.
According to Fox Sports Statistics, the Eels have won just seven of 48 games away from Pirtek Stadium since 2012.
Even when you include the ‘home’ games played at ANZ Stadium, that figure rises only slightly to 15.8 per cent — which is still almost half that of the Warriors, who have an away success rate of 30.8 per cent.
Then comes Wests Tigers (33.3 per cent), St George Illawarra (33.3 per cent) and Canberra (38 per cent).
“We have to start turning up, no matter where we play,’’ Eels half-back Chris Sandow said. “Against Canterbury away, we should have won that game.
“But I got injured. Then Semi Radradra got injured.
“We just have to turn up with the right attitude. Treat it like any other patch of grass — hold the ball and complete our sets.
“We obviously have a good feeling at Pirtek Stadium ... but it has to be the same no matter where we play.”
Thankfully for Parramatta fans, they face the Gold Coast this Saturday at home. Since 2012, the Eels have won 18 of 29 matches at home for a success rate of 62 per cent.
But as for how they overturn their atrocious run on the road?
“We actually don’t need to change too much,’’ Watmough insists. “I’ve reminded the boys this week that against Canterbury, we were in that up to our eyeballs.
“We played that with the same intensity, the same toughness as against Manly the week before at home. Injuries just got us in the end.
“We couldn’t get any ball and ran out of puff. Then against the Warriors away, we gave up way to much possession. It took it’s toll.
“Then on Monday against Wests Tigers, we were in the grind for 70 minutes. This was despite the fact that, with the injuries we’ve had to start the year, we hardly had a backline.
“We should have won that game too — and done it with backrowers playing in the centres — but the Tigers did some freakish things and it got away from us.”
