Mick Cronin: How Brad Arthur can use Parramatta’s embarrassing loss to South Sydney as motivation
South Sydney dealt Parramatta’s hopes of a first premiership since 1986 a massive hit, with the Eels’ season in danger of falling apart. But there’s a silver lining .
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History is always seen as a burden for Parramatta teams trying to recapture the club’s glory days of the 1980s.
But Parramatta legend Mick Cronin’s simple message to Brad Arthur’s team is forget about what happened on Thursday night — because history also shows one big loss doesn’t have to destroy a season.
And in the wake of the embarrassing 38-0 flogging by South Sydney, Cronin recalled how Jack Gibson’s champion team in 1983 was similarly smashed by St George in the final round of the season.
“We got beaten 32-2. We might have led 2-0, I can’t remember,” Cronin laughed.
Yet a month later they ended up winning their historic third straight premiership.
Asked how they turned it around so quickly, Cronin joked it helped having the likes of Ray Price, Peter Sterling, Brett Kenny, Steve Ella and Eric Grothe sitting in the dressing sheds beside him.
“But my point is they only have to go back to what they were doing earlier in the year,” Cronin continued.
“We’d won comps but it is still the same thing.
“They have only lost four games all year and they are running third, so they just have to put it behind them.
“Getting beaten is not the end of the world. It might feel like it at the time but you just have to remember what got you there.”
Plenty of other teams over the years have also bounced back from big late season losses.
In 2001 Newcastle lost 40-0 to Parramatta in round 17 but beat them in the one that mattered most. The Roosters lost 48-10 to Melbourne in round 18 of 2002 and came back to win the comp.
Cronin added: “You don’t build a reputation on one game so you shouldn’t lose it on one game. But they have to earn it back now.”
What Arthur’s Eels do have on their side is a favourable run to the finals.
On 24 competition points, they went into this round two wins clear of the fourth-placed Roosters and the Raiders, and the only top eight team they still have to play is Penrith.
Their next game is against the Warriors on Sunday week followed by the ladder-leading Panthers.
After that they play Brisbane and the Wests Tigers before the playoffs.
You’d think that should at least get them into the top four.
From that position they will be in charge of their own destiny as they try and final end the competition’s longest surviving premiership drought.
Up until this round the Eels had the best defence in the comp but haven’t been close to their best in attack since probably going all the way back to round eight when they hammered North Queensland 42-4.
And Souths really cut them apart on the edges, and finished up with 12 linebreaks to just two.
One of the major criticisms is that Parra love to shift the ball and it looks great when it works.
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But there’s a feeling they need to start playing more direct because opposition defences have worked them out.
They haven’t scored more than 20 points since round 11 when they beat the Tigers 26-16 — and overall they have scored 312 points, the second least of the top eight teams just ahead of Canberra (304) who have a game in hand.
Arthur was filthy with the performance and the fact they weren’t prepared to “roll the sleeves up and build a game”.
But he wasn’t about to throw in the towel either.
“For me it is an easy fix, go back to owning our effort areas and go back to the team that was prepared to build a game,” Arthur added.
“If it takes us to the 79th minute so be it, but that’s what we were doing. That’s what we need to do.”
Originally published as Mick Cronin: How Brad Arthur can use Parramatta’s embarrassing loss to South Sydney as motivation