Parra lurch from bad to worse

[LaT]

http://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/parramatta-eels-forward-mitch-allgood-charged-with-drink-driving-on-mad-monday/story-fndv34of-1226715816978
PARRAMATTA'S disastrous season has ended with forward Mitch Allgood being charged for drink driving after Mad Monday celebrations.
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Eels officials have confirmed the incident occurred on Monday night but are still unaware of his reading.
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After Sunday’s loss to the Knights, a furious coach Ricky Stuart cancelled the club’s Mad Monday party.
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A number of players still met at a Parramatta hotel but most were home by 6pm.
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The Eels released a statement saying Allgood was remorseful.
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"The Pirtek Parramatta Eels can confirm that player Mitchell Allgood has been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol," the statement said.
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"The Eels are currently undertaking an internal investigation and have notified the NRL Integrity Unit.
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"This is a police matter and will be dealt with accordingly. At the completion of an internal investigation the club will consider the appropriate disciplinary action for this breach of the NRL and Club Codes of Conduct.
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"Allgood is incredibly remorseful for his actions and understands the danger he not only put himself in but also the general public.
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"The club will be making no further comment on this matter at this stage."
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The Eels won their second consecutive wooden spoon this season.

 

[LaT]

After being hailed as the best Parramatta coach since Jack Gibson when he signed a three year deal, Ricky Stuart's departure is set to be met with a bitter response from players, officials and fans amid claims the team has gone backwards in his first season.
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But results aside, it is difficult for Stuart and other members of the coaching staff to measure exactly how bad the Eels side as they lack many of the resources that the top teams have.
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Besides the disharmony in the team over Stuart's refusal to commit beyond this season after axing half the playing squad and the "dysfunctional" board he referred to following Sunday's 54-6 loss to Newcastle, the wooden spooners are being hampered by the worst facilities in the NRL.
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**Not only do the Eels train on a field adjoining Parramatta Stadium that is 70m x 40m, or about two thirds the standard 100m x 68m measurement for rugby league grounds, they have had to resort to running raffles to buy new training equipment.\
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Fairfax Media was told that Stuart and his staff had been unable to obtain funding for any basic infrastructure or technology, and a FirstBeat heart rate system described as the best of its kind was returned to the suppliers.\
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While some of the weights in the Wests Tigers gym are said to still be in pounds, the club at least has access to GPS, altitude training equipment and on field cameras for video review at their outdated Concord training base.**
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The Eels not only have to share the facilities at Parramatta Stadium with A-League's Western Sydney Wanderers, they have to book lanes in the ajoining public swimming pool for recovery sessions after matches, while their physio is located outside the stadium in the club's administration offices.
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In contrast, Sydney Roosters even have access to an MRI machine at Allianz Stadium so muscle tears can be diagnosed almost immediately, while Melbourne, Cronulla and Canterbury have their own high performance centres.
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South Sydney recently received funding to build one at Maroubra and Manly train at Narrabeen where the Sydney Academy of Sport is located.
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In the United States, the famed Notre Dame University identified the establishment of a high performance centre as essential to the success of their college football program.
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Oregon University also recently unveiled a new Football Performance Centre, which includes a two-story weight room overlooking three practice fields.
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The weights at the University of Kentucky even have the Wildcats logo on them, whereas some of those in the Eels gym have rust as they they are so old.
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By failing to keep pace with other clubs, Parramatta's performances are getting worse and they won just five games this season - compared to six in 2012 when Stephen Kearney got the sack.
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But at least during Kearney's two year reign, the worst roster in the NRL proved competitive in most games whereas this season they conceded 50 points or more in four of their 24 matches and Stuart must accept some responsibility for that.
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Regardless of training facilities and board room politics, what happens on the field is usually determined by how good the players are and how much they want to play for their coach.
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After telling up to 12 of his squad they were unwanted next season, Stuart lost the support of much of the team and his failure to pubicly or privately quash speculation he is heading to Canberra next season has created a climate of uncertainty for the players, staff, fans and new recruits due to join the club.
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Should Stuart leave, there will be some glad to see him go but fixing up the mess at Parramatta is going to require more than just the appointment of a new coach.
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Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/ricky-stuart-must-share-some-of-the-blame-for-eels-woes-but-wasnt-equipped-to-do-the-job-20130909-2tff4.html#ixzz2eSRIgs3z

A truly disastrous few years, sort of puts our own situation in perspective. Eels make us look not so bad.

 

[happy_tiger]

Probably not the best thing to do by comparing us to the worse team in the comp

How do we compare in comparison to Melbourne ,Manly , Roosters and the Rabbitohs ??

They are the benchmarks currently and we are barely in the same state ,let alone the same street in regards to all aspects of running an NRL side

 

[LaT]

True, but for now at least its some minor comfort that things could be worse.

Focus on reigning in the leaders in the coming months.

 

[Newtown]

According to the report, "After Sunday’s loss to the Knights, a furious coach Ricky Stuart cancelled the club’s Mad Monday party". If Stuart is leaving Parramatta to the greener pastures of Canberra I don't believe that he has the right, just because his team lost to Newcastle, to cancel the team's Mad Monday party.