I was born in 1989, three years after the Parramatta Eels won their last premiership. My father, Peter, is the reason I support the Eels.
Dad lived through our glory days, was at all those grand finals through the 1980s and often regales me with stories about Peter Sterling, Ray Price, Michael ‘Gentleman’ Cronin and Steve ‘Zip Zip’ Ella. Then I get jealous because he was there and I wasn’t. I tell him to stop.
Since starting to support the Eels I have had nothing but pain. In fact I started supporting the Eels in 1998, and the way the Eels exited the competition that year is pain personified. I’ve had nothing but pain ever since.
I often joke that all I want before I die is one Parramatta premiership, but it really isn’t a joke – I know that when the Eels finally get there, it will be one of the greatest days of my life. I can’t even imagine what it will feel like. Thinking about it gives me goosebumps and almost makes me teary. I know that it will be a feeling worth waiting for.
And the way this season is going, it looks like I’ll be waiting a bit longer.
After Round 6 of this year I accepted that Parramatta’s grand final drought would not be broken in 2018. How far my expectations have fallen since I made my top eight predictions at the start of the year.
Brad Takairangi of the Eels (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
If you had asked me at the start of the season where I honestly thought Parramatta would finish, I would have said top four. I told everyone that the Eels would finish fifth to be on the safe side, but in my heart of hearts I was confident in my top four prediction – and I certainly wasn’t the only person being so bold with my predictions.
At the conclusion of this round, though, the reality will be very different. Parramatta will be on the bottom of the ladder. We have won a pathetic two games this season – one against the Wests Tigers and one against the Manly Sea Eagles. It is basically impossible for the Eels to make the finals now, particularly given the way they are playing.
I will not sugar-coat it. This season has been awful. It has been really hard to watch. I have so many conflicting feelings. I feel like some members of the squad are trying too hard. I feel like we are so close, yet still so far from turning a corner.
Silly errors and lapses in discipline are killing us and it just feels like nothing can quite go right for the squad at the moment. It’s shattering to see vision of a devastated dressing room at the end of every game and it’s clear that the squad are really hurting right now.
It’s not just the players that are hurting, though; it’s the whole club, including the staff and the administration.
The fanbase is hurting too, but in challenging times it is our job as fans to rally together and stick with the club. This doesn’t mean blindly supporting the club – you can certainly offer constructive criticism – but it does mean being there. It is in times like these that the club needs the support of the fans more than ever.
Unfortunately this season has been so challenging that I think some fans have become confused about what our team is.
I was disgusted – and, yes, I’ll use language that strong – to hear that some members of the Eels fanbase are agitating for change at a board and CEO level simply because things are not going the way they like on the field.
Dejected Parramatta Eels players (AAP Image/Craig Golding)
Earlier this week it was reported that there was a ‘membership revolt’ to overturn the club administration through a letter written to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and in particular targeting Max Donnelly and Bernie Gurr.
One of the greatest gripes of these ‘agitated fans’ is that there is no general manager of football in place and that the Parramatta Leagues Club made a significant financial loss last year.
It’s incredible how quickly some fans forget where our club was two years ago, but I’ll remind them – it was on its knees. This rebuild is going to take more than just a year and it is going to take some time to get the structure of the club right and build a solid platform for long-term success.
As hard as it is to admit, perhaps Parramatta overachieved last year and our success on the field masked some already existing problems at the club.
It’s a really poor and short-term attitude that some fans have – the minute that the going gets tough, they throw their toys from the cot and demand change.
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Do you know what change for the sake of change does? It causes instability. It means that the club is forced to rebuild again and it breeds a culture which focuses on instant success rather than building for success from the ground up.
Some fans have short memories. I’ve had a gutful of change for change’s sake, particularly after the Eels went through four different coaches between 2009 and 2014. Every single time a change was made I knew it effectively meant that the team was starting again.
Fans have a right to be disappointed, but channel that disappointment appropriately. You can be disappointed in the squad and you can be disappointed in the coach, but I don’t see how starting all over again is going to be helpful.
I encourage all Parramatta fans to channel Clint Gutherson and ‘trust the process’. It may not be our year this year, but the club needs us to stand with it more than ever right now.
The year the Cronulla Sharks won the premiership I predicted they would ‘because I love fairy tales’. Call me crazy, but I see a fairy tale coming next year. Wouldn’t a premiership be the perfect way to christen the new stadium?
Dave Maroon
Guest
I've been a supporter of this awesome club since 1979... so I've been through the fantastic times as well... followed by the seriously below par performances, followed the disappointment of what should have been etc. I was telling anyone who'd listen, before the season started, that I thought we over achieved last year. Having said that, I was still expecting a top 8 finish this year. The performances on the field have been nothing short of absolutely woeful.... totally embarrassing to watch as a general rule. The errors are stuff that I would have had a go at my under 14's for..... but to look at overthrowing the club admin is just ridiculous, as the article says. If they do it with this one, they'll then call for the same thing if the on field performances are still rubbish under the next regime, and the next... etc, etc.People like that are simply trouble makers, who want create upheaval, but not actually do anything to benefit the club. Bernie Gurr is a champion bloke and football administrator. Let these guys sort this crap out... give them a few years and I'm certain we'll see the benefits of it
BrainsTrust
Guest
The money for the car park would come out of their cash reserves.They would be exchanging cash for an asset. They did have 50 million in cash reserves so no problem paying for the car park. The introduction of the Wanderers lead to a 20 million increase in revenue, or about a 30% increase in revenue. So that would need not just an increase in turnover , but multiple times the average turnover for a day. I don't know where you get your information but they do publish annual reports you can read.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Parra Leagues doesn't like events at Parra Stadium - the regulars and pokie players don't turn up. They don't like the crowds and no parking. Turnover falls as a result. They lost money because they are building a $25 million carpark
14-12
Guest
As a cronulla fan I can relate. Hence the username 14-12. The grand final score and it truly was one of the best nights of my life. Eels will win one in your lifetime, the sharks are testament to that. Eels remind me of sharks 2008 and 2009. Top 4 in 08 with big expectations for 09 - we ran equal last.
Penrith Punter
Roar Guru
Don't stress Mary! In 2014 Cronulla were last after a year of off-field dramas and on-field woes. Two years later they won the comp. One bad year doesn't mean that Parra are set for years of poor results. As you said, patience is needed.
BrainsTrust
Guest
It would be very foolish to own one owns sports ground in Sydney with ANZ paying clubs to play there.. The government has paid for it, but they are not going to charge a rent anywhere near enough money to pay off the stadium. Owning a leagues club on the other hand can be very profitable provided you get enough traffic through. Parramatta owning the leagues club next to the stadium is what makes the ground make them money. If the government decided to build the stadium elsewhere and left the leagues club with nothing nearby then it would be going broke.. The amount of money the leagues club makes will be dependent on how many events are on at the stadium.
Haradasun
Guest
Correct me if I'm wrong but isnt junior Paulo an eels junior that the eels are now paying massive overs to buy back? I think that pretty much summarises the last 10 years at eels hq.
JOHNYBULLDOG
Guest
I so love & respect your passion for your club Mary,your a true fan & all these hard times will make success when you taste it that much sweeter-hang in there lil buddy ?
McNaulty
Guest
Parra juniors are terrible now. I mean that in the sense that they do not make good first graders.
Larry1950
Guest
Unfortunately Mary, your team is saddled with what the Broncos considered back in the day as their answer to the retirement of Darren Lockyer, Corey Norman. He teased us for a few years with those touches of brilliance but in the end faded from prominence when the heat was on. From my viewing of his form at the eels since you got him, he's still all promise and limited delivery on the big stage. You should be used to that since Jarryd Hayne is your poster boy. Those brilliant 'follow me' playmaking leaders are as rare as hens teeth unfortunately, you haven't got one and neither have we. Milford disappoints with his non-involvement as much as Norman. Could be a long decade.
Brad Thorne
Roar Pro
My Parra supporting partner was born in '87... Reading this in her shoes, I feel your pain. I'm another who had Parramatta in my top 4 before the season kicked off. Obviously the quality of side on paper has missed the mark on field. I think a successful season for Parra is close, and I echo your calls to 'trust the process'. Brad Arthur seems to be the type of coach that players want to play for. He also knows footy! He's put together a team that could get the job done, he just needs to get them playing winning footy. I feel as though Gutherson, Norman and Moses are capable, but they need the forward pack to give them a platform the play from. Granted, injuries to key members of their packs has left them a little light on this season. Hang in there Parra supporters, things will improve..... the have to!
Adam
Guest
I think Nathan Hindmarsh was the last Eels forward that was a genuine Origin player and that was well over a decade ago. Time for a roster cleanout maybe target the Bulldogs who need to lose players.
RoryStorm.
Guest
Mary there was one reason Parramatta were so good last year. Semi. What a player. He was much more than a winger. He was a match winner. I doubt the Eels would have even made the finals last year if Semi hadn't played for your team. I watched him last year almost singly handily destroy my team the Storm last year at our home ground. I doubt there's a team in the comp who wouldn't have liked to have Semi in their run on side. It was always going to be a hard slog for Parra this year without Semi but I never thought they would be running last after 10 rounds. Semi is one of the rare players who had an aura about him. What a player was "your" Semi.
Dodgy dragons
Guest
Mary your time will come. As a dragons fan we had a long time between drinks and 5 gf losses. I was only 3 when they won in 79, and don’t remember it but it made 2010 all the sweeter when they won. My worst day was 85 gf when they won the u/23, reserve grade, but fell at the final hurdle in the big one in first grade. I still remember running in to get seats in the ladies stand at the SCG with my dad as a 9 yr old. Good times are coming for Parra, and when it does it makes all the hard times all the more worth it - I didn’t go to the 2010 gf because I thought I was their jinx!!!!
Duncan Smith
Roar Guru
Don't worry Mary, eels have a 35 year plan set in motion from the time of Sterlo's retirement in '92. Title due in 2037.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Trust the process? What is "the process"?
Big Daddy
Guest
As I understand It, it's not Parramatta's ground it's owned by the state government so letsnot get carried away with the ground, being Parramatta's saviour.
Paul
Roar Guru
Mary, I agree you don't throw the baby out with the bath water just yet, but you need to know what the process is so you can trust it. As an outside looking in, I can't see how Parra is going to improve over the next few seasons and this is something the Board, coaches and administration needs to urgently decide. They then need to get this message across to all Parra fans, if for no other reason, than to stop the white anting currently taking place. I'm sorry to say it, but if this plan/process cannot be conceived, communicated and achieved, it might be necessary to start again, if Parra is to have any success in the next few years.
Forty Twenty
Guest
The Tigers of a few years back had a sensational team but a few things went wobbly and some terrible career ending injuries really upset things. It would have helped if Benji matured earlier as well and another title was within reach I thought.
Raids
Guest
I feel your pain.. Being a Raiders fan I'm still waiting to get a taste of an NRL Grand Final. The Raiders are the only team from the start of the NRL era (Titans don't count) who have not made an NRL era grand final. Last time the Raiders played in a GF was in 1994 back in the good old afternoon NSWRL GF days. So I feel for both sets of supporters who struggle for some glory.