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Why the Parramatta Eels need to win
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I confess, I’m a Parramatta Eels rugby league tragic. Nothing beats following the greatest football team God has put on this earth. How tragic? I remember on a balmy February night in the early ’80s I was so desperate for a fix of my team I went to watch them at Redfern Oval in a pre-season trial match played in hurricane conditions against South Sydney Rabbitohs. “Are you mad?” my new bride said as I walked out the door. “Wouldn’t you prefer to cuddle up and watch a movie?” she pleaded. Twenty nine years later and my hunger for the Eels has not subsided. That they are contesting the grand final against the Melbourne Storm on Sunday is in itself a miracle. After losing nine of their 16 games up to round 18 they were struggling big time. Their form reversal came in round 19 against the Storm where they upset last year’s grand finalists 18-16 at Parramatta Stadium. After that they won 10 of their last 11 games to — pardon the pun — storm into Sunday’s big game. Despite living in northern Sydney, I have always followed the boys from out west. I love their blue-and-gold colours and I love the way their supporters get behind their team. Bulldog and St George supporters love their teams but nothing matches the passion generated by an Eels supporter. The AFL has a dream about moving into Sydney’s west. Forget it Andrew. I can tell you that 99% of the kids out there love their rugby league. They call Aussie Rules aerial ping-pong, a term handed down from generation to generation. Take my own son, Jason. He plays for Parramatta’s under-18 SG Ball representative team. Despite living far away in the bushland shire of Hornsby, he travels to school out west and now plays football for his favourite team (something else that was handed down through the generations). He loves Parramatta and wants to play in the NRL with them one day. He’s done so well they put him on contract for next year. It’s not a king’s ransom but it will mean a lighter load on my pockets for a while. The Eels look after their juniors. They provide great coaching and my son loves all the free gear. He leaves on Monday for a week’s football trip to Queensland where they will play the Gold Coast Titans 18s in a trial match. Times have changed. The only footy trip I ever went on was to Wollongong! So who the hell is this Melbourne Storm mob? Well we know they are owned by News Ltd, which also owns half the NRL. It was reported earlier in the year that the Storm spend $5 million more than they earn. That shortfall is funded by News Ltd. They have made the past four grand finals and their talent comes far and wide from NSW, Queensland, New Zealand and England. This season their under 18s contested the national under-18 competition for the first time and made the grand final. On Sunday their under-20 team will play the Wests Tigers in the grand final of the Toyota Cup, the curtain-raiser to the big game. Both these teams are chock-a-block full of contracted talent from outside Victoria. Everyone in Sydney is asking how the hell do they stay under the salary cap? Melbourne chief executive Brian Waldron deflected any such concerns earlier in the year when he said: “Others can speculate but we know where we are at with the salary cap.” I was also embarrassed as a rugby league supporter last week when the Storm could only muster 27,687 fans to the second most important game on the NRL calendar where they hosted the Brisbane Broncos at Etihad Stadium for a final. Compare that to the 74,549 that attended the other final between the Eels and Bulldogs at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium. Promoted as the battle of the west it had everything that makes rugby league great — passion, tribalism and loyalty. From my point of view it is important that Parramatta win on Sunday. It will be a victory for the rugby league heartland and tribalism over the corporate dollar. |
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23 Comments
Wrong Chris, the real “victory for the rugby league heartland and tribalism over the corporate dollar” will be the long overdue reinstatement to the top flight of the 101 year old Mighty Bears. You of all people should know that hailing from Hornsby.
As for tribalism, passion, blah blah blah - I travelled over 1000km last weekend to watch the Bears lose by a golden point deep in extra time to the Tigers at Leichhardt in the NSW Cup - along with legions of other red and black supporters. First chance I’d had to watch them live in 10 years, thanks to the disgraceful relegation following Super League. As you say, “nothing beats following the greatest football team God has put on this earth.”
As for the Storm - any of their supporters (are there any out there?) want to give a price they’ll be celebrating a century in 2098? I’m happy to take long range bets.
I’m all for a big Parra win this weekend. I never thought i’d say that being a Manly supporter but you have to back them to win!
Rod, North Sydney? bwahahahahahaha!
you’ll keep, you maroon and white bum, when the Central Coast Bears return, lock up a catchment from the bridge to Newcastle, and and tag your broke arses sound.
Dear Mr Seage,
As always the passionate defences of the dying sport known in cultured places as thugby fall somewhat between misguided and deceptive. The are also highly entertaining.
You may not be aware but a large crowd of over 99,000 fans (actually it was probably 12 fans and 98,988 corporates, but I digress) crowded into the glorious MCG just before the Storm game for what you dismiss as ‘aerial pingpong’. If you manage to get such a large crowd for the NRL Grandfinal I would be somewhat surprised.
You should have mentioned the fact that Olympic Stadium and the MCG are only several hundred metres from each other and intimately share public transport and parking facilities would have had a huge impact on numbers at the game. But of course that would have somewhat tainted your ground that was high and mighty.
I also find amusing the average NRL supporter’s continued passion for taking Melbourne out of the competition. Why would you want to make your sport smaller and less successful? Why would you limit the audience? Why would you limit the competition? NRL is struggling enough without shooting itself in the foot like this.
To be honest I’m quite keen for no NRL outside QLD and NSW as it would help accelerate the demise of thugby as a professional sport.
Honestly I would have rather seen the AFL go to Tasmania before West Sydney anyway.
And to the beloved Casserole - when your club has been around for 150 years come back and chat. I would like to take bets that Rugby won’t be around as a professional sport in 100 years.
Do you still have the bride?
urgh Julien, football code wars in crikey comments? It must be horrible reading about people enjoying sports that you don’t like.
Dear Mr Hall,
Pretty sure that if you’re in this article reading these comments you know what you’re up for… not sure why you are surprised or groaning with disgust.
I’m also quite sure that it’s good natured fun that you don’t have to participate in if you don’t wish.
And it’s almost certain that you didn’t read what I wrote. Or failed to comprehend. Please feel free to have another read and then post further comments.
I actually occasionally enjoy watching NRL. I don’t particularly enjoy continual sniping at the Storm from the Circus folk of the north.
I’ve got a lot of time for the Australian game. I grew up spending Saturdays at North Sydney Oval and Sundays at the SCG watching the-then recently relocated Swans. Australian Football has done a far better job of nurturing its traditions and heritage than rugby league. Rugby union I have slim to no interest in and is fast eating itself.
Having said that - the AFL’s move into Western Sydney is incredibly naive. Seage’s point is rock solid. There’s no heart for australian rules in Sydney’s west. This will be a debacle, along with Karmichael Hunt’s Gold Coast bar crawl. The AFL should definitely have set up a one state team in Tasmania.
As for Melbourne in the NRL - Seage covers this adequately too - they’re synthetic, a stooge ‘club’ fronting for a media corporation that 12 or so years ago wanted to own pipeline and content. Rugby league has suffered ever since - compare the paltry TV monies league derives as against AFL - it’s not because Demetriou and his mates are better at bargaining. It’s because News (and the free to air broadcaster in Nine) sit on both sides of the deal.
Right on brother Eel. I’m born and bred in Parra but have lived in exile in Melbourne for 42 years. I’ll be wearing my blue and gold roots proudly on Saturday and Sunday in Lygon St. That idiot who thinks the Sydney Olympic Stadium is next door to the MCG should cringe in shame at his ignorance. I bet he’s a St Kilda supporter. And when are Victorians ever going to learn that NRL is not Rugby any more than Aussie Rules is Soccer. Go you Mighty Eels. Go you good things. Up the Westies! Suffer Murdoch!
Dear Mr Maher
This ‘idiot’ was referring to Olympic Park Stadium which the Melways puts roughly 400m from the MCG. You should perhaps reflect upon your own ignorance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Park_Stadium
Your intellectual sniping clearly designates you as ‘born and bred in Parra’.
NRL is Rugby League… correct? I am quite sure a convenient way of shortening it in an article about NRL would be to ‘Rugby’. Context and all that.
I await your replies and apologies with keen interest.
there is a deep schism between rugby union and rugby league - calling them both “rugby” is like referring to “Christians” en globo - then trying to get your head around Catholics, protestants, high and low church divisions, charismatics etc etc.
same enough from a distance to the outsider, but deeply divided close up.
You’ll get no apologies from me rentboy! Your really are an idiot aren’t you. The author was clearly referring to the SYDNEY (read my lips) Olympic Stadium at Homebush in the Premier State not that sh*t hole in Swan Street that you used to call Olympic Park till Premier Brumby gave it his mate Eddie for the exclusive use of the Collingwood Football Club at the Lexus Centre. Aussie Rules and Soccer both (rightly) call themselves “football” so why can’t you understand why Rugby (Rugby Union to you, idiot) and NRL are totally different codes, different number ofplayers, different scoring system, different (oh forget it, you are obviously too stupid to ever understand simple arithmatic let alone map reading and geography). I also want to know what happened to the wife…?
Chris - re the Broncos/ Storm game attendance - not many Broncos fans would have travelled to be there plus the exorbitant cost of going to Etihad (stupid name for a stadium or an airline). Alex
Chris - sorry, I forgot, Go the Eels!! I hate News Ltd and I don’t like the Broncos (or Storm) because the Broncs were one of the teams that tried to steal the game back in 1996 with Super League and the game has never recovered.
Thanks for all your responses. I thought for a while we may be debating the ageless Manly - Norths rivalry. Norths are my second team as is the case with many NRL supporters. Nothing will make me happier (other than an Eels win on Sunday!) when the Central Coast Bears are in the NRL. People north of the harbour bridge deserve their own team. Can you hear me Mr Gallop?
A couple of things, viz
1 Western Sydney have a large population of pacific islander kids. They have been raised on rugby union and rugby league. Their body shapes suit the demands of the rugby codes and their parents push them that way. They are not interested in AFL. This is a rugby league town.
2 Aerial ping-pong, thugby league. It’s the age old rivalry between QLD, NSW and Victoria. One thing I know for sure is that there is more violence in AFL. The number of cheap shots I see go unchecked must scare a lot of parents from signing their kids up to this sport. Rugby league has cleaned their act up on the field and they should be applauded for doing so.
3 Rod hits the nail on the head when he refers to the storm as “synthetic, a stooge ‘club’ fronting for a media corporation”. Compare how Parramatta develop their own juniors and the massive crowd support they get. They’ve got soul, a heart. I don’t think Melbourne can match that. It’s tribalism vs the corporate dollar.
With so many imports on their books covering the under 18’s, under 20’s and NRL teams - how do they stay under the salary cap? I wish Mr Waldron would share with us how they do it. We could use it as a blueprint for all the other NRL clubs.
Thanks everyone - and go the mighty Eels!
Alex, I thought you might be a Broncos man seeing you were born in the Sunshine State. Yes people still married to the bride! How does she put up with me!!!
Dear Mr Maher,
Thank you for your comments such as ‘rentboy’, ‘idiot’, ‘too stupid’ and general abuse. It really helps ensure the stereotype continues.
It was at Etihad Stadium (not Olympic Park). We were talking about crowd sizes, I was talking about what affected the Melbourne Storm crowd.
However it doesn’t change my original comment.
I mentioned things like the AFL Grandfinal being on several hours before and being in the same area as the NRL Prelim (Storm vs .. whoever it was). The author of the piece stated that the size of the prelim in Melbourne was a shame compared to the Sydney prelim size.
I stated that it was amiss of him to omit the fact that the prelim in Melbourne was played on the same day as the AFL Grandfinal.
Hopefully I’ve managed to repeat this enough times for it to make sense to you and avoid further prolonged nonsensical abuse.
Furthermore, in an article about Rugby League surely you shouldn’t be so upset when I condense it to simply ‘rugby’. I assumed you would be able to work that out but apparently not.
I await your further insults eagerly.
I think you may find that the Storm u/20s has serveral Victorians playing for it.I have no great love of NEWS LTD at all,but it is only the past few years they have started to spend money on grass roots development.
27000 is not bad three hours after the AFL grand final,considering some of the crowds at the NRL finals the past few years,the Storm move to new ground next year I hope and then hopefully their crowds will rise with better ground that the ramshackle place they have now.
I am just glad that 9 in Perth has decided to show the GF as I dont watch Commercial TV at all on the FTA it will be the 4th time I have watched 9 this year the 3 State of Origins being the other thing.
Like the bloke who told us again RL is dying, wish I had a dollar for every time that has been trotted out,it aint gonna happen.
Actually I do wish we had more NRL on FTA in Melbourne… it’s quite disappointing. Of course NRL won’t die but it’s always fun to see the reaction it gets, eh Maher?
Firstly I am a new reader to Crikey, what a great website, free from the commercial dribble on some of the other news sites.
The old adage that if Parramatta is doing well Rugby League is doing well. The team has come through a great transformation in the later part of this season. The attitude and general feeling that the players are expressing is what makes them better than the other teams at the present time. 2001 the year the eels should and were heavilly backed to win is a distant memory, this is a different team with a different attitude.
I hope your son does well and rises to the heights that he is capable of. His SG coach is well known to me and a well grounded and generous individual who epitiomises the great things about the club.
Click go the………..
Handball fever AND cross-state sniping. Great. I love sports where running full pelt into someone is “part of the game”. Cauliflower ears, spinal injury and concussion are great looks too.
If the FFA could get its head around getting some local football onto free to air, then it might get a bit interesting. Time will tell I suppose.
Tragedy besets the tragic. Too bad. So sad. Twenty plus three years, and mere blip on the oscilloscope of human existence.
The term ‘Rugby’ on its own means Rugby Union. The world over. Where other countries actually play the game and a world cup isn’t just us versus the paddies. The only people who get this confused are people from Melbourne. You can always tell someone from Melbourne, but you can’t tell them much. Plus they say things like ‘potato cake’ and ‘speed hump’.