[Resurrected] Lol @ Parra

[SeaEagleRock8]

They do have a lot of good quality forwards.
If they have a bad patch the squad morale might cruel them, otherwise a fair chance at top 4.

 

[Shoe1]

Peaking at the right time.

 

[Shoe1]

Ukrainians all in parra colours, weird.

 

[lsz]

Their issue is never the start of the season

 

[47MVEagle]

Can't think of a better result, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if Ivan told his blokes to go soft just to mess with Parra's heads before the season starts LOL

 

[Captain Moondog]

Blake Ferguson on doing it hard in prison....

Blake Ferguson opens up on arrest nightmare and 29 nights in Japanese prison​

Footy star Blake Ferguson has revealed the torment of 29 lonely nights inside a Japanese prison where no one spoke English and he couldn’t contact his family or manager.
The 31-year-old winger had his phone and passport confiscated by Japanese police and a $1.5 million contract torn up by NEC Green Rockets after a shock arrest in January over an alleged restaurant assault and being caught in possession of cocaine.
The former Origin winger is still stranded in Japan awaiting a court appearance on March 3 at which he will plead guilty. His sentence will be handed down 10 days later.
Ferguson has become used to trouble and controversy during a colourful decade-long career in the NRL at the Cronulla Sharks, Canberra Raiders, Sydney Roosters and Parramatta Eels.
But nothing compared to the nightmare of being locked up for a month in the cells at Azabu Police station in Roppongi, a district in Tokyo known for its night-life entertainment where the fallen NRL star found trouble.

Blake Ferguson is still stranded in Japan awaiting a court appearance. Picture: Getty Images
“It’s been really lonely and boring,” Ferguson said in his first interview since the arrest.
“Time goes really slow when you’re locked up for a month.
“I didn’t hear anything from Australia because I didn’t have access to a phone.
“No contact with my family and no contact with my manager.
“It was just me and some Japanese guys who couldn’t speak English. I read a few books but that was about it. The food was pretty ordinary and I got a really bad back.
“Seriously, the mattress would have been a centimetre thick. I could hardly stand up for a few days. I certainly wouldn’t want to go back.”

 

[Ron E. Gibbs]

“Seriously, the mattress would have been a centimetre thick. I could hardly stand up for a few days. I certainly wouldn’t want to go back.”

Well then, don't get on the gear and bash blokes in a foreign land, Blake. You should never be trying to ingest coke through that hooter anyway. Waste of money, mate - how much of it would even make its way through those bent pipes?

 

[tookey]

Pre season premiers once again.

 

[Shoe1]

It’s called a futon, Blake.

 

[The Who]

It looks to me on a quick analysis that Doesn'tmatta has an easy draw this year. Can someone who has studied the draw closely confirm this, or not?

 

[Waz13]

It looks to me on a quick analysis that Doesn'tmatta has an easy draw this year. Can someone who has studied the draw closely confirm this, or not?

It won’t matter, they’ll find a way to f$&@ it up.

 

[40 nil]

It looks to me on a quick analysis that Doesn'tmatta has an easy draw this year.

If you look at this chart, the Eels have one of the harder draws with 8 games against top 4 sides. In comparison, we have an easier draw with just 4 games against top 4 games. (This analysis doesn't take home & away games into consideration.)

 

[Will on the hill]

If you look at this chart, the Eels have one of the harder draws with 8 games against top 4 sides. In comparison, we have an easier draw with just 4 games against top 4 games. (This analysis doesn't take home & away games into consideration.)

View attachment 20457

They have a nice start but overall playing last years entire top 5 twice is a hell of a mountain to climb.

 

[Brookie Bob]

Blake Ferguson on doing it hard in prison....

Blake Ferguson opens up on arrest nightmare and 29 nights in Japanese prison​

Footy star Blake Ferguson has revealed the torment of 29 lonely nights inside a Japanese prison where no one spoke English and he couldn’t contact his family or manager.
The 31-year-old winger had his phone and passport confiscated by Japanese police and a $1.5 million contract torn up by NEC Green Rockets after a shock arrest in January over an alleged restaurant assault and being caught in possession of cocaine.
The former Origin winger is still stranded in Japan awaiting a court appearance on March 3 at which he will plead guilty. His sentence will be handed down 10 days later.
Ferguson has become used to trouble and controversy during a colourful decade-long career in the NRL at the Cronulla Sharks, Canberra Raiders, Sydney Roosters and Parramatta Eels.
But nothing compared to the nightmare of being locked up for a month in the cells at Azabu Police station in Roppongi, a district in Tokyo known for its night-life entertainment where the fallen NRL star found trouble.

Blake Ferguson is still stranded in Japan awaiting a court appearance. Picture: Getty Images
“It’s been really lonely and boring,” Ferguson said in his first interview since the arrest.
“Time goes really slow when you’re locked up for a month.
“I didn’t hear anything from Australia because I didn’t have access to a phone.
“No contact with my family and no contact with my manager.
“It was just me and some Japanese guys who couldn’t speak English. I read a few books but that was about it. The food was pretty ordinary and I got a really bad back.
“Seriously, the mattress would have been a centimetre thick. I could hardly stand up for a few days. I certainly wouldn’t want to go back.”

Probably better than being in a Turkish Prison

 

[Woodsie]

The king eyes a future as a stand up comedian...

 

[Brookie Bob]

The king eyes a future as a stand up comedian...

The king of man-buns.

Eels should be more concerned about making the 8; with so many of their squad signed for other teams next year, that has to be mentally distracting. Most players probably want out of the joint.

 

[Rackets]

The king eyes a future as a stand up comedian...

Nothing wrong with that Woodsie. Everyone has a dream until the alarm ⏰ goes off, then they wake up! 😱😫

 

[Chip and Chase]

They never learn out Parra way. Already dreaming that this is the year the drought breaks. If they don't win this year then the window shuts for another few seasons. ​

​

‘We blew it’: Inside Parramatta’s 35-year premiership drought​

By Adrian Proszenko​

John Monie has lost count of the number of people who have asked him about Parramatta’s premiership drought during the past 35 years or so.
“I think the only ones who don’t want to see them win another one is my kids,” Monie says with a laugh. “They’re just hanging in because I was the last one to win it.”
https://silvertails.net/javascript:void(0);
Monie was at the helm on that blue and golden day on September 28, 1986, when Ray Price and Mick Cronin were chaired off the SCG as winners. The Eels have come close a couple of times since, most notably their grand final losses in 2001 (to Newcastle) and 2009 (to Melbourne), but the agonising wait continues for long-suffering fans.
Every year has begun with promise – and ended in pain, with the realisation that the next Sterlo isn’t as good as the original one. There are hopes that this year, Parramatta’s 75th in the competition, will be different.

Whether that happens remains to be seen but, for a club with a proud history, a large junior nursery, a rusted-on following and a shiny new home stadium, anything less than a premiership isn’t good enough.
Much of the suffering has been self-inflicted: wasted finals chances, poor recruiting and political infighting have all contributed to the barren run. There was a period where the club churned through seven chief executives, four head coaches and 30 directors in just seven years.
Scott Seward was one of the many chief executives that went through the revolving door. A comment he made during his volatile stint about factionalism – Denis Fitzgerald, Roy Spagnolo and Steve Sharp headed three groups jostling for power – resonates: “They all say they love the club, but they are loving it to death.”
In 2009, despite themselves, the Eels progressed to an unlikely decider. They got there on the back of Jarryd Hayne, who produced the type of football not seen again until Tom Trbojevic caught fire last year.

The Eels haven't won a competition since the late Bob Hawke was prime minister.Credit:Getty

They fell short against Melbourne, a team subsequently busted rorting the salary cap. It should have been a warning that cheaters never prosper; instead, the Eels were pinged for doing likewise seven years later. They forfeited the only trophy they had collected during their drought, the 2016 sevens title, and lost enough competition points and players to set them back just as they appeared to be emerging from the darkness.
Those years between Hayne’s breakout season and the governance failings were the toughest. At one point, the Eels chased the signatures of Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk and Greg Inglis. An internal report later concluded that the decision to instead sign Chris Walker, Chris Hicks, Paul Whatuira, Casey McGuire and Carl Webb set the club back further still.
One rebuild followed another. The Eels sacked Daniel Anderson as coach and hired Stephen Kearney, a man who wanted to play with structure. So, it made little sense to partner him with flamboyant halfback Chris Sandow.
When they were both gone, Parramatta signed a broken Anthony Watmough in the belief his signature would bring that of Kieran Foran. The latter signed only after a clause was inserted into his contract that allowed him to walk away at any time of his choosing – and be rewarded with a $1 million payout.
The club finished 14th, 16th and 16th before Brad Arthur stopped the bleeding. One can only wonder how they would have fared during that period had they actually been under the salary cap.

The years under Brian Smith were the best and worst. Perhaps unfairly, Smith will be remembered as the “nearly man” of rugby league; capable of getting teams to big games but unable to win them.

“We blew it.”
Nathan Hindmarsh on the 2001 grand final.

Of all Parramatta’s many disappointments – Darryl Halligan’s sideline conversion in 1989 for Canterbury, the implosion against the Cowboys in the 2005 preliminary final and all the subsequent finals fade-outs – nothing hurt more than the 2001 grand final against Newcastle.
The Eels dominated the competition like no other that year before going into the “unlosable″⁣ grand final.
Which they lost.

“We blew 2001,” Nathan Hindmarsh recalls. “We blew it, we did. I think every player who played in that team would tell you the same thing.
“I’m not taking anything away from Newcastle, they had a good side with Joey [Andrew Johns] and BK [Ben Kennedy] and Billy Peden and all of those guys. But we blew it.”
The Eels are now a regular finals contender, but anything less than a lap of honour on the big day isn’t good enough.
“Unfortunately, grand finals just don’t cut it,” Monie says. “It’s hard to make grand finals and you can’t go to sleep on the job. It’s even harder to come up with a performance to win you one.
“As a coach, you try not to leave any stone unturned.”

Parramatta lost the ‘unlosable’ grand final in 2001.Credit:Nick Wilson

Now that man is Arthur. He has the support of a back office now in good order and a capable roster that will begin to be dismantled at the end of the year.
On the eve of their opening match against Gold Coast at home on Sunday, breaking the hoodoo was the theme of Arthur’s pre-match press conference.
“This current group right now, it’s not their fault that it’s a 36-year [it is a little more than 35 years since they last won] drought,” Arthur said.
“Someone at some stage has got to break it. We’ve just got to embrace that it’s going to be talked about, but all we can do is take control of what we do in the 80 minutes each week.

“If they continue to train hard, stay neutral in how they’re thinking and get on with the job. I’m sure we will give ourselves as good an opportunity as everyone else in the comp.”
So, is this finally their year?
“We can’t get consumed with those questions,” Arthur said. “It’s going to happen and that’s all part of it. We’re as good a chance as anyone else in the competition.
“We can’t hide it, this is the best squad we’ve had. The boys haven’t talked about it; I’m sure they want to. I’m sure as a group they know they are good enough.
“But we need a lot to go right, we need to do a lot of things right. Really, it’s in our control. We can’t be consumed by what might be at the end of the year.”

Reed Mahoney, Isaiah Papali’i, Marata Niukore and Ray Stone will depart after the current campaign. Moves are already afoot to replace them, including the tabling of a two-year deal for Dragons star Jack Bird.
However, there’s still a pervading now-or-never feel about 2022.
“Now is as good a year as ever, but we’ve been saying that for 36 years,” Hindmarsh says. “With all the **** that’s been going on in the world at the moment, the Eels winning the comp would be something great.”

‘We blew it’: Inside Parramatta’s 35-year premiership drought

Much of Parramatta’s suffering since they last won a premiership in 1986 has been self-inflicted. The last coach to guide the Eels to glory hopes they finally get it right in 2022.

www.smh.com.au

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

The king of man-buns.

Eels should be more concerned about making the 8; with so many of their squad signed for other teams next year, that has to be mentally distracting. Most players probably want out of the joint.

I rate them a chance this year, but agree the number of players bailing out may hurt their mentality if things get tough. If either half goes down they are in trouble because I don't think Arthur Jnr is the answer... but he'll be picked anyway.

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

If Clinton married Brad, would that make him King Arthur?