Out of fear of being labelled small minded, I preface what I’m about to say with both Parramatta and Ricky Stuart will receive criticism in this article.
However first things first, Ricky Stuart has been disloyal and duplicitous to Parramatta. He waltzed into the Eels to ‘best signing since Jack Gibson’ praise and we all danced the coco cabana in excitement.
We (Parramatta supporters) nodded in approval when he expressed disappointment with Josh Papalli and Israel Folau for reneging on deals with the club.
We welcomed his tough-line stance in telling some 12 players that they weren’t welcome at the club past this season, including the man he named co-captain.
Here was Ricky Stuart making the hard decisions needed to improve the culture of one of the competitions real potential clubs.
The on-field performance didn’t improve, rather it seemed to regress; repeated 50 point losses hurt, but Ricky claimed it was all to be expected, the club had a young playing roster, this was bound to happen.
We accepted Ricky’s assertions, more in hope that they were true, held our bated breath, in our desperate hope that he knew what he was doing.
Yet the moment a new offer is put to him, Ricky packs his things up and leaves.
Off to Canberra he goes, where I’m sure he’ll be welcomed with open arms, with an infinitely more talented roster than he had at Parramatta, needing only to canvass discipline to take Canberra the next step forward.
Again as a supporter I feel as if Ricky has played us, that we’ve wasted an entire season, because now as Peter Sterling said, we have to start again from scratch.
Having said that, Parramatta cannot afford to retreat into its mediocrity. It cannot wallow in its misery and blame everybody but itself for its current predicament.
It has to wake up to the reality of its situation. It is about to hire its seventh coach since 2006, searching for its fifth CEO and has had three different chairmen in that time.
Surely there is a link between Parramatta’s administrative instability and their increasingly poor on-field performance.
Daniel Anderson being sacked twelve months after he lead Parramatta to the grand final, the poor recruitment decisions that year which saw Feleti Mateo and Krisnan Inu leave for what became known as the Nursing Home for players.
The decision to sack Anderson reeked of the problem with the Parramatta board. The new board wanted to plant its imprimatur on the club and needed any reason to sack Anderson.
They couldn’t bare the thought of the previous board being credited for any future club success. All the credit had to be there’s.
It was a gamble that failed miserably; Stephen Kearney inherited an awful roster and in two seasons couldn’t prove his coaching credentials, leading Parramatta to the wooden spoon.
This current board hasn’t shown itself likely to alter from this path. With-in weeks of taking over, CEO Ken Edwards were shown the door. Apparently it was because they had a different strategic vision for the club.
Edward’s Five-Year Plan to increase the club’s membership to 40,000, re-develop Parramatta Stadium, build a centre of excellence, and focus on junior development, was something the new board couldn’t agree with.
Edwards had his flaws, but rather than compromise, negotiate; he was sacked, forced out.
More instability, more uncertainty, no direction.
In the AFL, Peter Jackson appointed by the AFL to fix the rabble at the Melbourne Demons has more than delivered thus far. Negotiated a bail-out and hired Paul Roos to coach. All of a sudden there is a different feel about where Melbourne is headed. Parramatta needs somebody like Peter Jackson, a none-sense hard-nosed operator, somebody to run this Football Club as a business in the 21st Century.
So now we wait, waiting for the next bloke to fill us with hope, the next bloke to promise us the world, and hopefully just hopefully, he won’t disappoint us.
GW
Roar Pro
john bs - what did little Johnny do wrong? He was a great leader. I think you were trying to say triumvirate, although triumphant is a word commonly used when talking about Rupert, Howard and Ricky..
barfly
Guest
Mate ur kidding urself u goose if Parramatta are a blight on the competition. One they are not drug cheats, two they are not salary cap cheats, three they don't cover up women bashers in anyform. Four they have one of the biggest junior bases in league. Five check and see how many of these juniors have come through Parramatta and are now playing for all NRL clubs. Mate give urself a uppercut and think if Parramatta Penrith or Campbelltown I say Campbelltown because I believe West Tigers do nothing for this area I no this because I grew up in Campbelltown , anyway if these areas fold the very foundation of rugby league in Sydney is finished.............................
Pot Stirrer
Guest
I doubt the new coach would reinstate any of the players stuart cut. It just seems to be getting worse at the eels and i cant see why any half decent player would want to go there and if the Bulldogs are succesful in getting hayne (which would be better for Haynes career) then what happens to the Eels
C O
Guest
Really it is time to sack the entire front office and ban them and Fitzgerald from entering the club and any ground that the Eels play at. Also any new staffers should have no relationship or receive any influence from the old staffers or they will be removed. With the purge on Hayne and others sniffing around Fui and Mannah they could easily end up being the central coast eels if radical action is not taken
Doug Graves
Guest
I think it's time for Parra to bite the bullet, sack the board and bring back Dennis "The Emperor" Fitzgerald and Daniel Anderson!
johnno
Guest
I love Parramatta and I always will no matter what! They will re emerge and they will be successful again . I know it has been the worst year ever and things look bad but we will have our day in the sun so all you fans out there please keep the faith .Parra is a great club and has amazing fans and I can vouch for that as I have been to every home game this year and saw how loyal and devoted they can be even under difficult circumstances. We will rise again just keep the faith and instead of knocking the club get behind it and show your support.
SuperEel22
Roar Guru
Edwards left because he wanted to move to ANZ Stadium. The new board, as an election promise, said they wanted to remain at Parramatta Stadium. When you look at Parramatta's win/loss record in recent years, they've won practically all their games at Parramatta.
BULLDOGS 4EVER
Guest
Super League was the best thing to happen to Rugby League at the time.so johnbadseed do you know about Super League days
smithha
Roar Pro
Yea agree, great analogy. Since leaving the Roosters Stuart's coaching record is miserable, and I'm not sure the Raiders have done themselves any favors. Dunneman was well liked by senior Raiders, and Stuart and Brett Kimmorley (Raiders assistant) have a tainted relationship. He has got plenty of work ahead of him. And as for Parra, well, good luck to them.....
john badseed
Guest
Ricky first to jump to super league and give rupert something to write about this destructive period of the game. lowest form of humanity and along with rupert and john howard completes the triumphant of australian treachery. to use his child now as an excuse... the term "to be a sticky" should become a part of aussie slang as in 'to be as low as a sticky'.
Xnowmann
Guest
Oh dont get me wrong, I have plenty of special needs friends who follow the Eels, but your club is a blight on the competion and makes the NRL look like a laughing stock..the board is a joke, the club is a joke, and you guys cannot see any light at the end of the tunnel.
des right hand
Guest
And now the shame train could be leaving this sinking ship too... Wooden spoons for all parra fans!!!! For the next couple years atleast...
Allan
Guest
The AFL isn't laughing, they're struggling.
Raymond Nassif
Roar Rookie
Along with St George, Souths and Canterbury, Parramatta has one of the biggest support bases in Sydney. It would be delusional to suggest otherwise.
Xnowmann
Guest
I stopped reading after 'one of the competitions real potential clubs.' You guys are seriously delusional.. Just relocate or merge for the love of God.
Steve
Guest
Correct Marldon, the Eels have all sorts of problems, but getting rid of Sticky has at least got fixed one of them.
The eye
Guest
The only decent player they bought was Hoppa who has been a long time out of it and will be surrounded by B graders..who else could you be referring to Peats,can't make the top 20 at the Rabbits..Norman ? nah..the untried in the NRL Pommie forward?
Marldon
Guest
+1
Arthur
Guest
One wonders if the Board and players at Canberra are just a liittle bit nervous about what Ricky is bri\nging to the club, in view of the way he has failed at Parramatta and then deserted that club. Will Ricky decide that the Canberra playing roster also needs to be "cleaned out"? How can ANYONE at Canberra be confident that Ricky retains any coaching abiliity, or knows anything about honesty and honour? Sure, Ricky now says that he is leaving because his daughter has special needs (and I have nothing against her - good luck to her!) But she had special needs twelve months ago, which Ricky knew about when he signed a three-year contract with Parra, so this excuse for leaving now rings a bit false. Having said all that, you have to wonder at the Parra board allowing Ricky's contract to include a "get-out" clause.. Did they think that it was a good risk to leave it in, because it would never be exercised? They say that Neil Henry will probably go to Parra now. Whoever is their new coach, the phrase "poisoned chalice" springs to mind.
Con Scortis
Roar Guru
The only thing I'd add is that it's actually worse than having to start from scratch. The way Stuart made key decisions (like sacking 12 players) without any result to show for it shows that Parra is actually in a worse position than when Stuart joined. Debbie Spillane had the best analogy I've heard thus far: It's like when you have a little bit of car trouble and a mate who is handy with cars offers to fix it, so he disassembles the motor and leaves parts strewn all over your garage and then says, "you know what, I dunno what I'm doing, sorry I have to go". So now you have a car you can no longer drive and have to pay a fortune to clean up the mess. The whole situation stinks.