Are Parramatta real premiership contenders following their loss to Manly
Parramatta look like good things to make the top eight but what will they do when they get there? The Monday Bunker crew haven’t mucked around — they think the Eels are flat track bullies.
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Parramatta could have been one win off the top four had they downed the Sea Eagles at Brookvale on Sunday - but after their 36-24 defeat it’s time to question their premiership credentials.
The Eels had won three in a row heading into the showdown with their old rivals but there was no doubt in anyone’s mind as to which team was superior - the match was not as close as the scoreline indicated.
Dan Ginnane didn’t muck around - he declared the Eels didn’t have the track record to be counted among the elite contenders.
“They’re flat track bullies,” Ginnane said.
“Who have they beaten this year where you’ve gone ‘Ah, well here they are. Parramatta are for real’?
“They’ve beaten the Wests Tigers twice – Canberra in Darwin was a good win, cause they came back from nowhere. They beat Brisbane when they were at their lowest ebb, they beat South Sydney when they were more like a Canterbury Cup team.
“They beat St George Illawarra, that was a decent win but the Dragons haven’t exactly been setting the world on fire, and Penrith in Round 1 when they were battling.
“They keep notching up wins against bad teams and that’s enough to get you into the finals but honestly, is there any team out there that would be frightened by the Eels?”
Fatima Kdouh believes Parra are being harshly judged considering where they began the year and pointed out the blue and golds could still sneak into the top four given their soft run home.
“They have a softish run home and because the Raiders, who are in fourth, have a tougher run home they could easily finish fourth,” Kdouh said.
“I think we need to cut them some slack considering how low the baseline was this season.”
Originally published as Are Parramatta real premiership contenders following their loss to Manly
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