There, I said it!
Well we all know Parramatta suck, and have sucked for quite some time. So what is there problem?
Well the current situation the club finds itself in wasn’t helped by former coach Michael Hagan. He was a terrible coach, a terrible leader and even now having moved on, he is publicly putting pressure on the club by asking whats wrong, even though many of the clubs current problems were ones he made.
The culture among Parramatta players used to be the best in the game. They might not have won a title during the Brian Smith years, but they always were as good as anyone when it come to training, fitness and just generally having a go and trying to do everything they could to win games.
That all changed under Hagan.
By the time he left Parramatta players were not training well at all, their in game tactics were abysmal, they had little desire to push themselves and the team concept was replaced by individuals playing in five minute stints.
Daniel Anderson has walked into a really bad situation and its going to take a long time to clean up the mess.
I personally don’t rate some of Parramatta’s players as highly as many people do. Yeah, they have some handy players on their roster, but a lot of garbage as well.
Jarryd Hayne is a very good player, but I think he’d be so much better off leaving the Eels. I think he’d get more out of his career playing in a better environment.
I can understand why coach Anderson is trying him as a five-eight. He played at Fullback for Fiji in the World Cup last year and with that roving ability he took real leadership of the side and was outstanding.
Its just not working at NRL level though. He has be tried at fullback and really went back in his shell, and its a similar story now as he plays five-eight.
Its not helped by the fact he is getting the ball in poor situations, having to carry much more experienced team mates and is playing in a beaten, unmotivated side.
Then we have Nathan Hindmarsh.
The runs are on the board and you can see his amazing work rate has worn him down, but he is still playing pretty well. However, his ball running is non existent these days, its just not a factor other teams need to worry about and that’s actually what he made a name for himself as, a ball runner.
He busts his arse in a side that can’t be bothered, and that eventually gets to a player, even if he isn’t aware of it. Picking up bad habits is easy when you are in a dog of a team.
Brett Finch isn’t a kid any more, so there are no excuses. He is playing behind a beaten pack, however he needs to be doing more.
Krisnan Inu is doing what I expect from him, he is a finisher, he is not a creator. You can’t expect him to drag this team to wins.
As for Feleti Mateo, what must be going through his head?
Over the past two years he has been told he is the teams halfback, lock, five-eight, lock, second rower, five-eight and lock….and he won’t be moved out of that position!
His confidence is shot, he isn’t sure of his role and while he can still do some brilliant things as far as ball playing goes, he needs to show some powerful running out wide once in a while.
Luke Burt is solid at the back, a Luke Patten type you don’t really have to worry about, but outside of that, you could keep the rest of the playing squad.
They are either one hit wonders, gimmick players, lazy or completely untested and out of their depth.
Parra fans should be looking at this as a three year clean out of the club. Daniel Anderson can not make miracles happen. This isn’t the Coogie Bay Hotel, dog shot won’t be turned into Chocolate Ice Cream in the blink of an eye.
UPDATE: News has just broken that halfback Brett Finch has asked for a release from the club effective immediately. He could be playing with another NRL club within a fortnight. Stay tuned!
