Parramatta Eels
Profile
The
Parramatta Eels is an Australian professional
rugby league football club based in the Sydney
suburb of Parramatta. The Parramatta District
Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1946,
with their First Grade side playing their first
season in the New South Wales Rugby Football League
premiership's 40th season in 1947.
The
club was highly successful in the early 1980s,
winning four premierships and qualifying for five
Grand Finals within six successive seasons. The
club plays in the National Rugby League, the premier
rugby league football competition in Australasia;
sides are also fielded in lower grade and junior
competitions run by the New South Wales Rugby
League.
History
The
roots of the playing of rugby union and rugby
league in Parramatta lie in the 19th century with
the formation of the Parramatta Rugby Club in
1879. With the advent of a Sydney District competition
in 1900, the Parramatta club merged with Western
Suburbs and played some of its matches at Cumberland
Oval. On a local level, rugby league began to
be played in 1909 when a district competition
was formed. Other clubs in the Parramatta district
also emerged; over the ensuing decades, clubs
established in suburbs throughout the area.
Pressure
in the area for a local club to participate in
the New South Wales Rugby League premiership began
in the mid-1930s with a formal proposal put to
the NSWRL in 1936 by local rugby league identities
such as Jack Argent and Jack Scullin. The proposal
was rejected by all clubs except Western Suburbs
who, despite having the most to lose from the
entrance of a Parramatta side (with much of their
territory being lost to Parramatta), voted for
the entrance of the new club. The advent of World
War II put the establishment of the club on hold
and a Parramatta district club was not proposed
again until 1946 when the club was successfully
admitted into the Premiership.
Parramatta
saw very little success in their early years,
finishing last in the competition 6 years in a
row from 1956 to 1961. The club's only relative
high points were narrowly missing out on finals
qualification in 1948 and 1949 under the guidance
of former Western Suburbs and Leeds five-eighth
Vic Hey. In 1962, Parramatta made the finals for
the first time; this achievement was repeated
for three consecutive years to 1965. However,
the club slid back down the ladder in the following
years, collecting the wooden spoon in 1970. The
club's first major success came in 1975 when they
won the Pre-Season cup, defeating Manly-Warringah
in the competition's final.
n
1976, the club finally reached the NSWRL Grand
Final, in their 30th year. However, they lost
narrowly to a Manly-Warringah side that they had
defeated just two weeks earlier. The following
year, Parramatta captured their first minor premiership
before qualifying for the Grand Final for the
second year running. Against St. George, the match
was drawn 9–9, forcing a Grand Final replay
the following weekend. In this match, Parramatta
choked 22–0. The team made the finals in
both 1978 and 1979, but missed the finals in 1980
for the first time since 1974.
The
early 1980s was unquestionably the most successful
period for the Eels, with the club earning five
Grand Final appearances and four premierships
from 1981 to 1986. Under the influence of coach
Jack Gibson and with a team including names such
as Ray Price, Eric Grothe, Steve Ella, Mick Cronin
and Brett Kenny, the club captured three consecutive
premierships from 1981 to 1983, the most recent
"threepeat" in the competition's history.
In 1984 the team once again reached the Grand
Final, but lost in a low-scoring Grand Final to
the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 6–4. In
1986, the club took out their third minor premiership
while also reaching the Grand Final, beating Canterbury
4–2 in the lowest-scoring Grand Final in
history.
From
1987 to 1996, the club failed to make the finals.
With the advent of the Super League war in the
mid-1990s, Parramatta capitalised on staying with
the Australian Rugby League by picking up high-profile
players such as Dean Pay, Jason Smith, Jim Dymock
and Jarrod McCracken from the 1995 premiership-winning
side, the Sydney Bulldogs.
In
1997, the club made the finals for the first time
in 11 seasons by finishing 3rd in the Australian
Rugby League competition. In the combined National
Rugby League competitions in 1998 and 1999 the
club finished 4th out of 20 teams and 2nd out
of 17 respectively, narrowly missing out on the
Grand Final by one match in 1998.
In
1998, in the wake of the resolution of the Super
League War and the creation of the National Rugby
League, the competition underwent a major restructure.
It was announced that the new competition would
comprise only 14 teams out of the 22 who had competed
in the two competitions in 1997. This contraction
would necessitate mergers or the culling of teams
who did not meet the criteria for inclusion into
the new competition. Despite meeting these criteria
the Parramatta board explored mergers with Penrith
Panthers and Balmain Tigers but opted against
the plan.
In
2001, Parramatta set a regular-season points scoring
record in the premiership by scoring 839 points
in 26 matches on their way to claiming the minor
premiership. Despite being heavy favourites for
the Grand Final against the Newcastle Knights,
the team lost 30–24.[10] The club continued
to make the finals until 2002 but did not qualify
for the finals in 2003 and 2004.
Despite
Parramatta claiming the minor premiership in 2005,
it was announced soon after the unsuccessful 2005
finals series that coach Brian Smith had been
asked to stand down after the conclusion of the
2006 season in what turned out to be a direct
trade with the Newcastle Knights for Michael Hagan.
After a poor start to the 2006 season, Smith resigned
on 15 May 2006 and was replaced by Jason Taylor.
Despite the team's low position on the ladder
at the time, they were still able to make the
finals for the second year running but were immediately
eliminated from the series by minor premiers Melbourne
Storm.
In
2007 the Eels finished 5th but were again eliminated
from the finals series by eventual premiers Melbourne,
this time making it to the preliminary final.
(Credit:
Wikipedia).
Website
Parramatta
Eels official website
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