Rumours and Stuff

[Soren Lorenson]

ffs I can't believe some of you awesome gentlemen are trying to defend our 2001 loss on the basis that we were unlucky to come up against a Newcastle who was a better team.

Consider this

1. We lost 4 times in the year (yes I think one of those was Newcastle)
2. Minor premiers with the best attack AND defence
3. record point scoring (still stands)
4. We were in super form leading in to the GF. We put 50 on the Warriors week 1.

I'm not saying Newcastle weren't good, but we should have won that one.

 

[Legal Eel]

Can we get Scott Pryde the author of this article to have a catchup with Pou.

So Pou can educate Scott on the main reason we use POs and what it means.

Clearly there is a massive gap of education that is missing from what Pou thinks to what 90% of the Rugby League following people think when it comes to the positives & negatives are POs.

Quite a measured article actually.

It will no doubt be derided by some on here, but all in all it's a fair summation of how this has hamstrung us.

The interesting thing to take from it is the assertion that "Parramatta have close to half the players in the competition with options in their favour - or partially in their favour - on their books for 2026."

Are we that smarter and more innovative than the rest of the competition? Or has this course been undertaken in error?

The results are there for all to see and for mine the article highlights the poor course undertaken by the club - but I suppose it's a matter of perspective because for some on here the 2022 Grand Final and the current roster state are proof that this course was exactly right.

 

[T.S Quint]

ffs I can't believe some of you awesome gentlemen are trying to defend our 2001 loss on the basis that we were unlucky to come up against a Newcastle who was a better team.

Consider this

1. We lost 4 times in the year (yes I think one of those was Newcastle)
2. Minor premiers with the best attack AND defence
3. record point scoring (still stands)
4. We were in super form leading in to the GF. We put 50 on the Warriors week 1.

I'm not saying Newcastle weren't good, but we should have won that one.

If you look at that one season, yes we look like the better team. We performed better throughout the regular season and broke records. We were awesome.

In hindsight you can look back at the two squads the teams had and the Knights had a number of representative players (who had played rep footy previously) vs a very young team who hadn't had much representative experience. The rep players that Parra did eventually have didn't last long in the rep arena for long (Hodgson, Marsh, Moodie, Vella, Wagon). We had a few rep mainstays like Ryan, Hindmarsh and Lyon, but compare that to Johns, Kennedy, Gidley, Tahu, O'Davis, Buderus, Simpson, MacDougall. These Knight players played heaps of rep footy. Most of those Eels players were found to be one-hit wonders.

 

[hineyrulz]

I will maintain if Andrew Ryan scores that try at 18-0 we go onto to win that game.

18-6 instead of 24 nil they scored almost straight after and it’s a total different ball game. Newcastle front loaded their efforts areas that game and didn’t have a lot left in the tank that second half.

 

[Soren Lorenson]

I will maintain if Andrew Ryan scores that try at 18-0 we go onto to win that game.

18-6 instead of 24 nil they scored almost straight after and it’s a total different ball game. Newcastle front loaded their efforts areas that game and didn’t have a lot left in the tank that second half.

I've always maintained that too. I have only recently watched the highlights actually, talk about being traumatised as a young man.

 

[T.S Quint]

The results are there for all to see and for mine the article highlights the poor course undertaken by the club - but I suppose it's a matter of perspective because for some on here the 2022 Grand Final and the current roster state are proof that this course was exactly right.

Well, not really.
We won't see the results of these POs until they have been either been activated or not activated by the player.

So far, how have most of these POs hurt the club?
We have Dunster who kept himself on the books despite being shithouse, but apart from that?

The 2022 GF can possibly show us that the options are a good thing because we were able to put together a GF side by using them. Would we have been able to put together such a side withouth them?

How does our current roster state have us view these options? Have we missed out on signing any players due to these options?

 

[T.S Quint]

I will maintain if Andrew Ryan scores that try at 18-0 we go onto to win that game.

18-6 instead of 24 nil they scored almost straight after and it’s a total different ball game. Newcastle front loaded their efforts areas that game and didn’t have a lot left in the tank that second half.

You're probably right.
It may have sparked the team out of their funk and we could get momentum back from the Knights.
Alas.....

 

[Happy MEel]

Well, not really.
We won't see the results of these POs until they have been either been activated or not activated by the player.

So far, how have most of these POs hurt the club?
We have Dunster who kept himself on the books despite being shithouse, but apart from that?

The 2022 GF can possibly show us that the options are a good thing because we were able to put together a GF side by using them. Would we have been able to put together such a side withouth them?

How does our current roster state have us view these options? Have we missed out on signing any players due to these options?

Didn’t we try to shop Matto around but there were no takers so he took up his option. That would indicate we’ve been forced to keep a player that we would prefer not to.

 

[Eelementary]

They weren't so much better than us though. I've always been able to cop 09 and even 22 but 2001 was a massive choke, I don't think anyone can deny that. At worst it could have been one of the best GF's between 2 evenly matched teams but that first half....fmd.

It was a choke, true.

Don't forget, though - they beat us handily in Newcastle, while Joey was fit.

 

[T.S Quint]

Didn’t we try to shop Matto around but there were no takers so he took up his option. That would indicate we’ve been forced to keep a player that we would prefer not to.

Sure, that may be the case.
He's still a quality player though, just probably on a bit too much money.

We re-signed Matto in 2022 when he was playing Origin-level footy. Would we have been able to re-sign him without the PO? Maybe not.

We included these options obviously to try and open up a Premiership window. Worry about the options later.
It almost worked.

Still, I don't think they have created a situation that has inhibited us to put a quality side together. In fact, it's probably enabled us to keep Moses and Brown at the club, which is great.

 

[King-Gutho94]

Didn’t we try to shop Matto around but there were no takers so he took up his option. That would indicate we’ve been forced to keep a player that we would prefer not to.

Matto activated that PO quicker then when he said I am taking the 3 match ban instead of a 4k fine

 

[Soren Lorenson]

they beat us handily in Newcastle,

Normally means it's been a good weekend

 

[Tiger5150]

2005 was worse then 2001 on a multitude of levels.

1 - It allowed the Wests Tigers to win the premiership
2 - Losing to an interstate side from Townsville that had to travel to Sydney 3 weeks in a row in the leadup while we had a week off and hadn't left Sydney for nearly 6 weeks.
3 - We just didn't get beat we got walloped in probably the most embarrassing preliminary final performance a minor premier has dished up in the past 25 years.
4 - We had more finals experience then the Cowboys side who had Thurston who wasn't at his peak but not much else outside of Matt Bowen they were actually missing Carl Webb there physical enforcer who was suspended.
5 - We flogged them by 50 in the regular season with an inferior backline that we had on prelim final day.

6. Cowboys had 50 put on them 2 weeks earlier in the first week of finals. Everyone talks of Tigers being “lucky” and overachieving. Cowboys playing in that GF was ridiculous

 

[Gronk]

So we have now signed Jack Hudson? he is 19 years old and a couple years off?

That means we now have 4 rakes on the books? Lussick, Hands, Smith and Hudson?

It seems we have opted against an experienced 9. How does all that work out...

What about Aus Schoolboy and Rouse Hill Rhino Lachlan Coinakis ?

 

[T.S Quint]

6. Cowboys had 50 put on them 2 weeks earlier in the first week of finals. Everyone talks of Tigers being “lucky” and overachieving. Cowboys playing in that GF was ridiculous

Tigers were great towards the end of that season. They were playing fantastic footy, especially their defence which often gets overlooked because their attack was so entertaining.

Still, they did get lucky to play the Cowboys in the big game. Tigers may well have beaten any other team, who knows, but It's not like they were going up against the 2009 Storm or 2022 Panthers. We couldn't do the job against an overachieving Cowboys team. Good on the Tigers for doing what we couldn't.


Now f**k off.

 

[Eelementary]

Our second try (the no-try)...has there ever been a more Wawa Blake moment, than that?

 

[T.S Quint]

Our second try (the no-try)...has there ever been a more Wawa Blake moment, than that?

Lol, passed it into his own hand.

Also, that no-try to Sivo at 2.20 is a f**king disgrace.

 

[Eelementary]

Who are some ex-Eels you'd have back, in a hypothetical world?

For me, they'd be Niukore, and Mahoney.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

With all due respect, almost all clubs are required to make available their financials in one way or another, and so with a modicum of effort one can find out the $income of each. The most common use of "resources" is in reference to financial strength and facilities (ie physical resources).

How many clubs had higher income than the Eels in 2023?
Which clubs have better facilities?

If you want to argue that personnel has been holding us back from success, that's a different rhetoric. My impression is that many here feel that has been a factor - whether management or coaching or roster.
It seems odd that a well-off club would struggle, but then again, perhaps in-fighting causes greater overall instability than we would want it to...

The pool of people willing and able to make decisions at the very top of the organisation, and their relationships, is a significant resource. I’m not talking about coaches, general managers or even CEOs. This is why the constitution change of about five years ago was such a game changer for us. Winning seven games after five straight years of winning half our games or more doesn’t mean we ‘struggle’. The only club that never has seasons like that is the Storm.

 

[T.S Quint]

@Eelementary
I'd take Niukore back, even though he often seemed to be injured or suspended.
I was a big fan of Manu Ma'u.

Mahoney can f**k off though.