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Opinion
In what may come as a surprise to many of you, it has only been on the rarest of occasions that I have been ashamed to be a Parramatta Eels fan.
Since I started supporting this team, there have been some dizzying highs, including making the 2001 grand final, the magical run to the finals through 2009, being there for the opening of our new stadium in 2020 and more recently the introduction of the Eels’ NRL Women’s team.
There have also been some devastating lows, including losing both the 2001 and 2009 grand finals, the departures of key players and the salary cap scandal, which almost tore our team apart a couple of years ago.
Through all of that, my support has stayed firm and for the most part I’ve always been proud to call myself an Eels fan.
But the behaviour of some Eels fans following the loss to the North Queensland Cowboys has left me feeling pure disgust.
Following that loss, many fans have taken to social media to criticise our coach Brad Arthur and his decision to play his son Jake in the halves, forcing Dylan Brown into the centres.
The comments were nasty, pathetic and unkind. They were deeply inappropriate and they were extremely unnecessary.
They crossed the line and it makes me extremely sad to think that there are fans out there that think it’s appropriate to speak about any player like that.
Comments like that feed into a narrative of a mob mentality on social media with very few consequences for people who make such ugly comments online.
It’s easy to be brave from behind a keyboard and much harder to be brave from inside the arena.
Suggestions of nepotism are quite serious. They go to the heart of Brad Arthur’s integrity and question his ability to put the needs of the team first. They are utterly ridiculous and I find them insulting.
(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
Brad Arthur has been front and centre for an important part of Eels history. He looked after the club as it went through a hard salary cap saga, he has ensured that the team is consistently playing finals footy and now leads a team where several players are in contention for State of Origin honours.
To suggest he would compromise all this to pick his son is nonsense.
Jake Arthur is not the reason Parramatta lost on Saturday night and the same people suggesting nepotism are clinging to an easy excuse and pushing for someone to blame.
The reality is the Eels are in the midst of an injury crisis and unfortunately most of those injuries are in the same position.
You can talk about a club planning for depth, but there would be no room in the top 30 if clubs planned for this level of injury across every position.
With Haze Dunster, Waqa Blake, Maika Sivo and Sean Russell out, the natural options to shift into the centres would be Marata Niukore or Ray Stone.
Guess what, those players are injured too.
You could move Ryan Matterson into the centres, but given how impactful he has been off the bench, this could also be problematic.
I am very comfortable to have a conversation about the Eels’ options at the moment. The decision to play Jake Arthur is not the only option.
Could we shift Bryce Cartwright into the centres? Well yes, but be aware that that may come with some challenges too, potentially in defence.
Could the Eels look to bring up Jordan Rankin from the NSW Cup? Also potentially yes, but the presence of Rankin, with no disrespect to him, is not enough to have changed the result on Saturday night.
There is not a solution staring the club right in the face now.
Brad Arthur has made a decision that he thinks is best for the team and I back him.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
I understand why fans are frustrated. The hunger among Eels fans for a premiership is real. I don’t need to remind you all that the last time the Eels won a premiership was back in 1986.
That hunger has seemed to intensify even further this year given the departure of several key players at the end of the year, including Reed Mahoney, Marata Niukore and Isaiah Papali’i.
It is not the fault of the current group of players that it has been so long since the Eels won a premiership.
Sure, the current group has not been successful yet, but they should not carry the weight of the teams from the 1990s, 2000s and early 2010s.
I’m struggling to come to terms with what to expect of a team that has been so decimated with injury.
But here’s a reality check – the Eels sit fifth on the ladder after eight rounds of footy.
Sure, there are some tough games approaching against the Penrith Panthers, Sydney Roosters and Manly Sea Eagles, but we will get through them.
In the last eight rounds of the season, Parramatta will finish with six home games including against some teams sitting in the bottom eight of the ladder.
This is in stark contrast to last year when the Eels had a run home featuring almost exclusively the teams sitting in the top eight.
There is a long way to go. The Eels will have several players returning in coming weeks. The situation will improve.
From Eels fans, I ask for patience and I ask for kindness too.
The playing group support Jake Arthur and he deserves our support too.
And if Jake Arthur is causing problems for your multi or your SuperCoach, perhaps put the phone down, because the money in your betting account or your SuperCoach rank should never be a reason to direct abuse toward our players.