to the parra fans

[Knight87]

1) Adam Ritson. Does anyone remember him? Apparently he got hit in a very bad tackle that nearly killed him. I never saw it, but from anyone who does remember the incident (i can only faintly, as i was only 9 yrs old at the time), was the tackle that bad or did it look that bad?
2) Why was Parramatta's form decrease a lot after their 1986 premiership success? (to the point where they only won 3 games in 1995)
3) What was Parra's tv coverage like before Super League? (and tv coverage in general)

 

[yy_cheng]

I think that tackle saved him. He got hit in a bad tackle went to hospital and I think they found a growth in his head. If he did not get hit and never went to hospital, that growth could've killed him.

 

[El Diablo]

http://forums.leagueunlimited.com/showthread.php?t=169238

 

[Ron Jeremy]

Adam Ritson is probably the nicest league player i've ever met.

As for Parra's slide? well many reasons. Apart from 2 great retiring, injuries played a huge part, aswell as some poor recruitment ( apart from Bob Linder) aswell as signing many of our youngsters to good deals for long periods just from showing potential in our lower grades. The list is endless of how many juniors we had that didn't deliver yet we kept resigning them. Well that's just my opinion anyway of what happened, also the league club going bust wouldn't of helped.

 

[Knight87]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Ritson

It says: "After his career was effectively over at such a young age a lawsuit was filed by Ritson first against Lomax for the high tackle but was then shifted towards his club the Raiders instead. Eventually the case was settled out of court with Ritson being given a six-figure sum"

Also, http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/...441304481.html

Which ineffectively doesnt make sense what daz the eel said, because if the cyst existed before the tackle by Lomax and the tackle by Lomax wasnt the cause of it (and if the tackle didnt occur, the cyst wouldnt have been picked up), then why did Ritson take legal action against him and the Raiders? (which is very ironic, considering the situation)

 

[Nikki]

Oh man, dont get me started on this topic.. :lol: I seem to go into a rant EVERY time. He should never have sued Lomax. Potenially, Lomax saved his life. I understand his quality of life had changed dramatically due to the operation but as far as I am concerned suing Lomax was, to a certain degree, greed. When players sign contracts, they do so knowing the danger they are placing their bodies into. Considering what he was diagnosed with was not a cause of playing Rugby League then no one in the Rugby League community should have been held accountable. I really think these players need to take out some insurance on themselves. May sound a bit pedantic, but you just never know what is gunna happen from one game to another.

 

[Stagger eel]

Adam Ritson is probably the nicest league player i've ever met.

As for Parra's slide? well many reasons. Apart from 2 great retiring, injuries played a huge part, aswell as some poor recruitment ( apart from Bob Linder) aswell as signing many of our youngsters to good deals for long periods just from showing potential in our lower grades. The list is endless of how many juniors we had that didn't deliver yet we kept resigning them. Well that's just my opinion anyway of what happened, also the league club going bust wouldn't of helped.

when did that happen??? :?

I think MITS will touch on this a bit further once he has a bit more time but apart from what you the side itself it appears that during that era [86-95] the leagues club consciously cut back funding to the football team to concentrate on the re-furbishment of the leagues club and part of Dennis's grand plan was to build a cash box big enough to make the football team competative again the mid to late 90's, it was just a coincidence that super league stepped in and made it easier for us to effectively to put a competative side on paper in 96 due the money generated from the pokie boom.

 

[parra pete]

I know Adam well. He was on the NRL Road Train with my son, Michael. He's a funny big bloke.
He told Mick the memory tablets he was prescribed worked well when he was on them...but..... he kept forgetting to take them.
Adam told me the Parramatta Club was fantastic to him during his recovery and helped him considerably during his medical treatment.
He is a lovely bloke..and was set to be an international prop before struck down with his illness.

 

[Eels Fanatic]

1) Adam Ritson. Does anyone remember him? Apparently he got hit in a very bad tackle that nearly killed him. I never saw it, but from anyone who does remember the incident (i can only faintly, as i was only 9 yrs old at the time), was the tackle that bad or did it look that bad?
2) Why was Parramatta's form decrease a lot after their 1986 premiership success? (to the point where they only won 3 games in 1995)
3) What was Parra's tv coverage like before Super League?

1) Adam Ritson came from the shire and just like Lang his front row partner at the time was targeted for many high tackles regardless of which team they played. When Ritson came to Parra (a godsend at the time) he wasn't given any leverage and found himself each and every game copping some head highs (due to the calibre of his go forward). The tackle was not worse or better then any other mug shots he had copped, but pretty much put him out of the game forever (a great loss to the eels and the leauge itself)

This ploy (usually instructed by coaches) was definately common around this time aka Parra V Norths Semi where Jason Taylor almost had his head decapitated (we won that one as a result of Taylor's presence being removed from the field as well as his remaining body parts).

Hence why when Lomax targeted his head yet again, Ritson's legal councel took them to task to ensure players in the future would not have to put up with shortened careers because of rough and illegal plays. The so called tuma/brain scan story seems to be something of a new story to me, although I remember him appearing on the late night tele ads sprouting the benefits of memory pills.

2) Simple answer = Denis Fitzgerald (took over the reigns in 1986). The pokie club has gotten bigger and better but the Leagues Club aka Eels suffered for many years under Fitzy's control of the coin. Funny that we had to put up with so much heartbreak in this period only to learn we could afford 5 Canterbury players who were ineligible to play for Super League due to thier ARL contracts for a measly $9,000,000.00. Our coach at the time (unnamed but who is still on the board with DF's cronies) promised us a new era in 1996 and delivered us more disappointment, only to be replaced with the best but unluckiest coach any sport has seen in Brian Smith (1997-2006).

Sterlo, Price, Cronin etc all from the 80's golden era still maintain that DF raped the Footy Club for his own power and benefit. We could have had a much more successful run of things if DF was not in control at the time. Any wonder we still haven't won a grand final with him still at the healm? Karma does some pretty amazing things I believe.

3) Our coverage was determined by how well we played. As a general rule this was ordinary, and tv games were few and far between delivering mostly disappointment. There was one game though that made every Eels fan cheer. We beat Great Britain in a warm up match after the Aussies had beaten them earlier in the first of three tests. The Brits then went onto beat the Aussies to square the series at one a piece. We sent them packing with a series loss in the end, but it was one silver lining on an era that made most Eels sick.

 

[Parra Guru]

1) Adam Ritson. Does anyone remember him? Apparently he got hit in a very bad tackle that nearly killed him. I never saw it, but from anyone who does remember the incident (i can only faintly, as i was only 9 yrs old at the time), was the tackle that bad or did it look that bad?
2) Why was Parramatta's form decrease a lot after their 1986 premiership success? (to the point where they only won 3 games in 1995)
3) What was Parra's tv coverage like before Super League? (and tv coverage in general)

1. Tackle potentially saved his life. He recently made a cameo appearance in the movie 'Footy Legends'
2. We lost everyone
3. Non existant. We were rat sh*t and barely deserved to make the radio broadcast, let alone TV

....But I still loved them :lol:

 

[JOB 3:14]

why is the sky blue?

 

[JOB 3:14]

In answer to Parra's decline. Just look at the way the Bulldogs conducted their affairs after 86 in contrast to the Eels. Our board sat on their hands for years thinking we would continue to produce superstars like Kenny, Sterling, Ella and Grothe every year. The board did not look to supplement these players who emerged in the late 70's with quality players and coaches. Instead believing in everything parramatta. Even those superstar youngsters of the early 80's were supplemented by quality professionals such as Edge, Price, Cronin and Gibson. Management even recycled some of these players to continue coaching the top side!! By the time our talent pool was drained with Grothe, Sterling, Ella gone and Kenny on the way out, we were left with scraps. At this time management woke up but it was tooo late. Which professional players and coaches wanted to come to a club that was now considered a minnow in the premiership? Who would want to play with or coach the likes of Erickson, Crnkovitch, Galbraith and Greentree etc ??
Why did it take a proven pro like Brian Smith to change things around???
There is only one constant at the club that has remained since our glory years. You be the judge.

 

[PARRA_FAN]

well Parramatta barely got a look in TV coverage in the early 90s, but I do remember one year, mightve been 1993, every club was on Ch 9. (even the Gold Coast Seagulls) But that year Parramatta had a pretty good start, for some reason Parramatta was to play Brisbane in their opening game at ANZ stadium. Good thing we upset the premiers that day, cause Parramatta were on TV for the next few weeks. They played the Dragons next week and only just got beat, I was on the hill at Parramatta stadium, how good wouldve it been to beat the Grand Finalists in consecutive weeks. Then it was Manly at Brookvale, I remember this game, how did we win it?? Manly threw everything at them, the likes of Lyons, Toovey, Roberts, Hasler. Parra managed to win 12-10, but after we got thrashed by Canterbury on Easter Monday, I dont think Parramatta won a game on Ch 9.

1992, the only two games I can think of that were on Ch9, were vs Great Britain and Canterbury at Perth. They mightve been on ABC a few times.

1991, not much at all, although I do have Parramatta V Cronulla at Perth (mustve been a favourite at Perth) on tape. Friday night footy on Ch 9 with Graham Hughes, Wayne Pearce and Billy Anderson.

Parramatta didnt really produce great players between 1986-1995, there were a few that had potential but were just first graders, not up to rep level, the likes of Dave Penna, Michael Buettner, David Woods. Then you had Scott Mahon, Jason Bell, Joe Bartolo, Danny Crnkovich, Robert Muchmore, Stu Gailbraith.

Then bought players from other clubs, Michael Speechly, Peter McPhail, Paul Dunn.

1994-95, Parra worse years. They only won 3 games in 1995, cause they had no-one. We tried to improve buying fringe first graders like Luke Goodwin and Russell Wyer, but it hardly did anything for Parramatta. Thank christ for SL and the Canterbury 4 all signed with Parramatta the following year, cause who knows what woudlve happened if they didnt.

 

[MarkInTheStands]

2) Simple answer = Denis Fitzgerald (took over the reigns in 1986). The pokie club has gotten bigger and better but the Leagues Club aka Eels suffered for many years under Fitzy's control of the coin. Funny that we had to put up with so much heartbreak in this period only to learn we could afford 5 Canterbury players who were ineligible to play for Super League due to thier ARL contracts for a measly $9,000,000.00. Our coach at the time (unnamed but who is still on the board with DF's cronies) promised us a new era in 1996 and delivered us more disappointment, only to be replaced with the best but unluckiest coach any sport has seen in Brian Smith (1997-2006).

Sterlo, Price, Cronin etc all from the 80's golden era still maintain that DF raped the Footy Club for his own power and benefit. We could have had a much more successful run of things if DF was not in control at the time. Any wonder we still haven't won a grand final with him still at the healm? Karma does some pretty amazing things I believe.

Okay time to pull you up sparky just on this answer.

First things first the Pokie club as you call it is the Leagues club, The Football club is the operation that ran the First grade side until 2001.

Denis was the Secretary at the club from 1980 on wards. He was in control of the club. Denis was part of the group that got Jack Gibson to the club.
Denis was part of the sponsorship committee with Alan Overton (Sponsorship Manager for Hardies) and they ran for the board of the Leagues club in 1985, Denis was elected Chairman in 1986 and stood down to become the CEO of the club in 1987 Alan Overton Was elected to the chair.

In 1986, Denis said the now famous lines, that the Football Club would never have to rely on the leagues club again for money with the Football club making a whopping $555,333 in profit from the 1986 premiership year.

Unfortunately the year after the Club did need a grant (it didn't make a profit and needed help from the leagues club). It was around this time that the leagues club started to refurbish to allow for more Pokies and a legit safety concern to be addressed.

The Club in it old configuration had a Door on O'Connell street under where the Promotional Screen now stands. This was the Main entrance and had the Box Office (ticketek) and bar inside. The Rear Entrance lead directly to the Pokies as far as I am told. I am two young to remember. The problem was, Patrons were coming out or being ejected from the club directly on O'Connell street and this was quite dangerous.

Because of the refurbishments the income of the club was significantly effected so much so that the club could no secure a loan with the Bank to allow them to finish the renovations, it was at this time that, Murry Wilson (I think) a Canadian who had a finance business in Parramatta steeped up to the plate and provided the club with an unsecured loan to finish the works.

During the Early 90's a Friend of my fathers worked in the Poker Machine industry. When the 9,000,000 dollar side was announced he said to my father and I, that he didn't know how they were doing it as they had problems signing the cheques to the Poker Machine Company. But by 1995 when the works were finalised at the leagues club and open it to the public and finally fully paid for, we had a bit of money to start throwing at players.

In reality the $ 9,000,000 team was for 7 players over 3 or 4 years. But no one ever thinks about that, and seem to think that the 4 Canterbury stars cost us 9,000,000 a year. The 9,000,000 was for
Dymock
McCracken
Jason Smith,
Pay
Ritson
Freeman and someone else I can't remember.
This Money came almost solely from Optus and the ARL, with notional Values paid by the clubs and the majority of money coming from the league or its sponsors. Fox for Super League and Optus from the ARL.

Also just on your Point that they were ineligible to play for Super League. They Signed SL contracts but went to court to get out of them feeling that they had not been given the full information on what they were doing. The Court agreed with them, and the players signed with the ARL to play in the ARL competition.

Lastly, the Idea that the eels was a cash cow in the late 1980s but had money syphoned of it for the leagues club is the Biggest joke I have ever heard in my life. There are 2 years, 2, where the club made a profit.

1986 - $555,333 (without leagues club grant)
2007 - $89 (after leagues club grant)

 

[V1er]

Aaron raper i think was the 7th player that you might be thinking of.

 

[sportive cupid]

Why was the Football Club formed n the first place Mark?

 

[Stagger eel]

Aaron raper i think was the 7th player that you might be thinking of.

there was also Nathan Barnes, Peter Johnston and Rod Maybon.

 

[emjaycee]

The Club in it old configuration had a Door on O'Connell street under where the Promotional Screen now stands. This was the Main entrance and had the Box Office (ticketek) and bar inside. The Rear Entrance lead directly to the Pokies as far as I am told. I am two young to remember. The problem was, Patrons were coming out or being ejected from the club directly on O'Connell street and this was quite dangerous.

MITS, are you talking about me here?

I have vague memories of getting plastered five nights a week (excluding Tuesdays and Sundays for some reason) in Eelectrics every week for about 3 years (between 1985-1988) and getting tossed out onto O'Connell Street on more than one occasion.

Eelectrics was the old nightclub/bar downstairs that had a dance floor, a long bar and pillars covered with silver aluminium sheeting all over the place with table and stools around them... ahhh the '80s. :crazy:

The changes to the Club were necessary but IMHO it lost a lot of the flavour that clubs (leagues and RSL's) had in those days, where pokies subsidised cheap drinks, live bands played to packed auditoriums (the one upstairs at Parra used to have a wooden floor that would shake so much with the 1000 people packed in to see the Angels, Radiators, Choir Boys, etc that you could see the downstairs roof moving) and you get smashed on $30 cause it would buy you 15 Johnnie Walker and cokes...

 

[Parra Guru]

i liked aaron raper

 

[sportive cupid]

MITS, are you talking about me here?

I have vague memories of getting plastered five nights a week (excluding Tuesdays and Sundays for some reason) in Eelectrics every week for about 3 years (between 1985-1988) and getting tossed out onto O'Connell Street on more than one occasion.

Eelectrics was the old nightclub/bar downstairs that had a dance floor, a long bar and pillars covered with silver aluminium sheeting all over the place with table and stools around them... ahhh the '80s. :crazy:

The changes to the Club were necessary but IMHO it lost a lot of the flavour that clubs (leagues and RSL's) had in those days, where pokies subsidised cheap drinks, live bands played to packed auditoriums (the one upstairs at Parra used to have a wooden floor that would shake so much with the 1000 people packed in to see the Angels, Radiators, Choir Boys, etc that you could see the downstairs roof moving) and you get smashed on $30 cause it would buy you 15 Johnnie Walker and cokes...

Lol ..yes we were thrown out onto O'Connell Street.But as I recall there was a footpath
I think the danger MArk is referring to was the danger to passing pedestrians:lol:

There was also a highly dangerous ledge on the wall which seperated the poker machines from the nightclub "snakepit".I applauded the club sucuring a loan to rectify that problem:lol: