In the aftermath of their bye weekend, nostalgic Parramatta fans have spent the last 48 hours harking back to other memorable ‘golden periods’ in the club’s history.
Days of celebrations have raged among the supporter base since the successful round-in-lieu, with cars flipped in the Parramatta CBD and the charred remains of last round’s burnt jerseys rolled up in Tally-Ho to be smugly re-smoked as victory cigars.
The rapturous scenes were not only in honour of the two unearned competition points, but for the three peaceful days with their team sequestered out of harm’s way.
Such was the success of the bye – fondly labelled as ‘The Golden Hours’ – it evoked memories among fans of other decorated periods in the club’s existence when scheduling legally obligated the team from hurting them anymore.
Of greatest popularity was the most famously successful period in the club’s existence – the off-season.
As drinks were shared and memories re-heated, supporters spoke warmly of those erstwhile 90 day hot-streaks when Parramatta fans enjoyed that rarest of statuses- wilfully wanting to be Parramatta fans.
Such a retrospective reality may seem odd to those other fans not suffering Stockholm Syndrome, but living in the past is not uncommon for the typical Eel.
In fact, it’s medicinal, with most using slabs of nostalgia as a defence mechanism against the very club they are forced to endure.
It is believed to be a form of self-help, whereby they mentally transport themselves back to 1986 to unfairly judge the current bunch of flopsy plodders against Crow and the boys, just to feel some sort of control over their lives.
It has been no different in 2018, with the club spending most of the year in another one of its chronic existential crises, also known as a premiership campaign.
While the team has shown immense effort under Brad Arthur, the team is languishing at the foot of the table with nothing to show bar an insulting reputation as the hardest working team in the comp, and a Tim Mannah line break.
Tim Mannah of the Eels (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
But whereas some of the club’s tortured fans deal with this by recalling actual premierships from the 1980s, the majority reckon nothing compares to the immense joy and jubilation the club provides when they stop playing.
One of the most popular off-seasons many spoke of was the sparkling dynasty of the 2018 pre-season.
It was November-March of the 2017-18 summer, when the Eels were a premiership force before a ball had even been kicked in anger by Will Smith in to touch on the full at the worst possible time.
This came on the back of an encouraging top-four finish in 2017, which culminated in the club’s greatest moment – almost beating Melbourne, but not.
Over the summer, you could see the Blue and Gold Army flocking in huge numbers to various IP addresses as the club routinely reached the heady heights of the ‘premiership mix’ and predicted top fours.
It was just like the unforgettable 80s with four titles, only forecasted.
All-comers were verbally swept aside, hope abounded, and six months without a criminal investigation in to the administration’s practices had finally washed away decades of real failure.
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Unfortunately, like the 80’s, this golden period has haunted the current playing squad, and they have ultimately collapsed under the pressure of being regularly compared to a team that almost made the third week of finals.
Even the number 7 jersey remained cursed: would the club ever find a replacement for the all-time great Mitchell Moses, who’s off-season hype had guided the Eels to multiple premierships?
Unfortunately, it all ended in the most ignominious of manners, with the club linked to Wayne Bennett.
But thankfully for fans, they’ll always have the bye, or rep round, or sensory deprivation.
For those interested, a book will be specially commissioned chronicling this year’s Golden Hours, which will be released on a napkin to mark three months remaining on the Jarryd Hayne deal.
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