Sunday, March 14, 2004
Slow and hapless
The Parramatta Eels were variously described as "slow", "dissapointing", "hapless" in media reports today.
On Fox Sports, Adam Hawse wrote that "Parramatta's decision to bulk up in the off-season does not mean they will automatically recapture their glory days".
"The Eels might have been big, but they were awfully slow and their handling and options in attack and defence appalling. They were down 6-0 when captain Nathan Cayless was sin-binned in the 15th minute for a professional foul. When he returned, his side were gone at 24-0 as 18-year-old Williams tore them to pieces out wide."
The story quoted Brian Smith as saying: "I felt we prepared well enough for it. Perhaps we needed this to understand just how intensely we need to perform and not just prepare, if we are to compete with teams like the one we played tonight."
AAP quoted Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes as saying talk that Parra had a monster pack was a "myth". ""I wouldn't imagine their run-on pack would've been any heavier than ours," he said.
That story quoted Smith as saying the Eels handling and defensive errors had let them down.
"We didn't give ourselves a chance to test anything because we didn't hold onto the football. We made some fundamental defensive errors – things you eat for breakfast as a quality football team."
At The Sun Herald, Greg Pritchard wrote that the Bulldogs were "like a bunch of lions who had been thrown together in a tiny cage and prodded with sticks through the bars. Once they got out, they ran riot."
Pritchard was relatively kind to the Eels. He said Parra "did not look bad early" and that "the fact that Parramatta outscored them 14-12 during the second period showed that the Eels had pride."
Although, he added. "But it meant nothing in the big picture."
On Fox Sports, Adam Hawse wrote that "Parramatta's decision to bulk up in the off-season does not mean they will automatically recapture their glory days".
"The Eels might have been big, but they were awfully slow and their handling and options in attack and defence appalling. They were down 6-0 when captain Nathan Cayless was sin-binned in the 15th minute for a professional foul. When he returned, his side were gone at 24-0 as 18-year-old Williams tore them to pieces out wide."
The story quoted Brian Smith as saying: "I felt we prepared well enough for it. Perhaps we needed this to understand just how intensely we need to perform and not just prepare, if we are to compete with teams like the one we played tonight."
AAP quoted Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes as saying talk that Parra had a monster pack was a "myth". ""I wouldn't imagine their run-on pack would've been any heavier than ours," he said.
That story quoted Smith as saying the Eels handling and defensive errors had let them down.
"We didn't give ourselves a chance to test anything because we didn't hold onto the football. We made some fundamental defensive errors – things you eat for breakfast as a quality football team."
At The Sun Herald, Greg Pritchard wrote that the Bulldogs were "like a bunch of lions who had been thrown together in a tiny cage and prodded with sticks through the bars. Once they got out, they ran riot."
Pritchard was relatively kind to the Eels. He said Parra "did not look bad early" and that "the fact that Parramatta outscored them 14-12 during the second period showed that the Eels had pride."
Although, he added. "But it meant nothing in the big picture."
