Stephen Kearney walks a tightrope, but when will he be pushed?

Yep - those All Blacks sure are great at Rugby League...???

Worlds Biggest Jeff is spot on. J Hayne played out of his skin and almost single handedly got them into the GF. You cant keep doing it. NZ played Mnaly last year and the reason why I declared the Sea Eagles was they has an organiser (DCE) and the Warriors did not. We saw how DCE made the Warriors 6 and 7 look sick.

Kearney is no Gibson but, he should learn from Jack. Recently Kearney was asked if he required or would like the assistance of extra coaching staff to assist him (namely but not solely Jason Taylor). SK refused any assistance yet when Gibson arrived at Parra he bought an entourage of outstanding support staff with him, surely SK must have good assistance when coaching NZ. If he is going to survive he needs to think outside the square and when thinking outside the square he should have started with Cooper-Cronk. There is no excuse for Kearney not to have known about Cronk coming off contract and no matter what was in his contract it should of been made clear by him what was to happen and that was stop the $500K for Sandow add the $220K Daniel Mortimer to that and offer the $720K to Cronk and if he would not accept that then find the money from somewhere else (the loss of Joel Reddy must have freed up some cash). The point is if SK did not have the foresight to see this coming then he is not a first grade coach. He has another season with the Eels (or the $460,000 payment must be made to him), he is a useful coach but not a head coach. The question now is will the board take the tough decision or will they simply be voted out.

Sorry Simo but I think you're way off there otherwise the New Zealand All Blacks with their strong sprinkling of Polynesian and Maori playing staff would not have been dominating Rugby Union so long. The problem starts with your administration, the culture they encourage and your coach. And if you are going to pay a young half a fortune and he doesnt perform, while others get lean pickings, you can imagine the culture it promotes. Parramatta is a club with too much wealth in talent coming through its junior ranks and has got lazy in how to handle such a glut of talent. They arent taking the time to effectively develop what they've got and give them a good sense of comradery. Why did Froan and DCE stay at Manly despite bigger offers elsewhere. Because, despite the Administrations failings, they felt part of a strong team together and that comes from the coaching of Hasler before and now Toovey and a support structure they benefit from. Parramatta keep letting go their better players, and the question has to be why do they leave. They spend huge money on players often worth no more than their local players who are often offered much less. Little wonder they leave. Of course the exception may be the Hopoate boys, who have outstanding potential. But they are the exception. Parramatta has to start creating a sense of family in their club like they had during Gibson's time. Get a new adminstration, new coach, forget recruitment and establish a serious development program for the outstanding glut of juniors you have and make them feel part of a family that cares for their welfare.

I believe it comes back to the old saying, too much pepper and not enough salt. Quite a few of these polynesian featured Eels lack the intestional fortitude to appy themselves to 80mins of an NRL match. I also suspect that mr niceguy Kearney doesnt have the mettle to give these 10 minute wonders a verbal barrage or drop them to NSW cup.

I hate to be 'that guy' but Kearney isn't the youngest of the NRL coaches. Steve Price is only 34, not that it makes a major difference.

Sad to say Scott, but, I thought that Kearney would have had a good off season and created a team of hard workers as opposed to one where a few played their hearts out and a few tried for Glory!. I was terribly wrong by thinking that way and my prediction for a good year cannot have been further from reality.

In the back end of that year Eels were playing 'luck rugby' -- the style that Mr Hayne wants to return to. Once a team starts unloading the ball at all times without even looking, there are two things that can happen 1/. The pass can find a target in which case it is good play, OR 2/. The pass can go to ground, and your team lose possession. For ten games their luck HELD out, the next ten games their luck RAN out. It was bound to happen.. Unfortunately it seems to have left a belief with players and fans that tis is the way to success. NOT SO, the only way to success is effort and structure. look back the last ten years and ask yourself if the Champions won with 'luck Rugby' or 'Structured Rugby'. Tigers have played a brand of fast flowing Rugby, BUT, it is structured, thought out and practiced. Eels is NOTHING!.

Scott, The Eels made the GF in 09 with a halves pairing of Jeff Robson & Daniel Mortimer while Kevin Kingston was the hooker from memory. All solid but not " class " players. This may have been the difference in that game however Daniel Anderson didn't get anywhere near enough credit for taking the Eels as far as he did. Agree the recruitment has been abysmal and need a top notch recruiter.

"when Jack Gibson coached the Eels to three successive premierships in as many years" Would have been more impressive if he coached them to three successive premierships in five years...

Agree. It doesn't matter how many good players you have if the spine is weak.

Worlds Biggest No team goes anywhere without a class spine and Hayne is the one and only they have. I will give them some free advice: buy a 9 a 6 and 7 and stop spending crazy money on borderline ist graders. Thats easy sais and they have been trying since Sterlo and Kenny left but they have always had poor recruitment. They should hire the best recruiter first.

Surely recruitment is the responsibility or part there of the Head Coach. Scott in regards to the lack of cattle I'm not sure if I agree with you, Mannah - Origin FuiFui - Internatuinal Poore - Origin Hindmarsh - Origin and International Matuia - International Roberts - International W Tonga - Origin & International Hayne - Origin & International Plus some good first graders in the squad so they have enough to be competitive.

It was a clear indication that they didn't think they could do much before then. It's definitely a huge risk because he may not come back the same player. 2 years is a long time out of the game, especially for a kid. Obviously they expect the salary cap to go up quite substantially, which it will if the TV deal is what everybody is hoping for, so the amount of money that they've thrown at Hopoate won't look so great if the cap rises. Though what happens if it doesn't? If, hypothetically, they've factored in young Hoppa's salary for a $7 million salary cap, and the cap only goes up to $5 million then they're in serious trouble. You would imagine that there would be a clause in the contract so that the amount would change depending on the cap limit, but given parra's recruiting of late it wouldn't surprise many of us if they left that out!

Scott/Ryan I think having massive amount of your salary cap for 2014 already spent on Hoppa junior is a problem because it precludes you from participating in going after topline players now eg DCE and Foran. These players want contracts not just for this and next season but 4 plus years. Thoughts ?

yes Ryan you are so spot on !!!!

David, I rated Parramatta last in my eBook prior to the season which tells you that Kearney had no cattle, and importantly a poor spine with the exception of Hayne. I rate Sandow a $200k player and they paid 550k, go figure. The have finally put Ben Roberts where he is best suited - park football. Anyone that studies footy would laugh at what the front office has done. It not the coaches fault.

The whole joint stinks at the moment. The issues at Parra go a lot deeper than just the coach.

"Kiwis don’t understand the Australian culture." Jesus don't go there Lord, you just can't help yourself but try to be inflammatory, you should go and work for News Ltd. The other comments have nailed it, Kearney was on a hiding to nothing. Parra need an experienced coach to give the club culture a complete make over. Someone tough enough to make the really hard decisions, cut the dead wood at start a fresh. After seeing yet another heartless performance, that begins and ends with Jarred Hayne. Seeing him dog it in attempts to stop potential try scorers would completely deflate your entire team. Compare that to someone like Brett Stewart, imagine playing on his team and seeing him take on front rowers head on 2 metres out and stop them in their tracks. Who would you rather have playing with and for you?

Matt you are right, it's not all on Kearney as the Eels Administration / Board is a shambles and must also be addressed asap. The Fish rots from the head so they need a quality CEO in addition to a quality coach. The big winners out of this is most definitely the Rabbitohs who probably saved about 200 k letting Sandow go. They are winning and the young halfback is going pretty well.