Friday, March 19, 2004
Hysterical Telegraph backs down
The Daily Telegraph has been forced to apologise for portraying a meeting between officials and a number of key players as a crisis meeting.
Rather than being spontaneous, emegency meetings, it appears they were scheduled meetings being conducted with all players and the fact that it was those players at this time was pure coincidence.
The Telegraph has been hysterical all week in its feverish efforts to portray Parramatta as a club with heartless players, led by a has-been coach, playing outdated football and with a band of players dying to get out.
Amidst all the controversy, it must be remembered this was one game - indeed the first game of the season - and we managed to run into a team that simply played a faultless 40 minutes of football.
The impact that motivation has on a Rugby League game can never be underestimated and last week it was the Dogs who ran onto the field, knowing they had something to prove. It will be a different story on Sunday, with everyone in Blue and Gold desperately wanting to silence the knockers.
If the Eels get whacked again on Sunday it might be time to worry, but until then Eels fans should keep the faith. Remeber, the Panthers started their year just as poorly in 2003 with two consecutive beatings but by the end of September had won the premiership.
Rather than being spontaneous, emegency meetings, it appears they were scheduled meetings being conducted with all players and the fact that it was those players at this time was pure coincidence.
The Telegraph has been hysterical all week in its feverish efforts to portray Parramatta as a club with heartless players, led by a has-been coach, playing outdated football and with a band of players dying to get out.
Amidst all the controversy, it must be remembered this was one game - indeed the first game of the season - and we managed to run into a team that simply played a faultless 40 minutes of football.
The impact that motivation has on a Rugby League game can never be underestimated and last week it was the Dogs who ran onto the field, knowing they had something to prove. It will be a different story on Sunday, with everyone in Blue and Gold desperately wanting to silence the knockers.
If the Eels get whacked again on Sunday it might be time to worry, but until then Eels fans should keep the faith. Remeber, the Panthers started their year just as poorly in 2003 with two consecutive beatings but by the end of September had won the premiership.
