‘We’re not speaking the name’: How rugby league’s version of Voldemort is still haunting the Eels
Reagan Campbell-Gillard has no issue with what Panthers players have said this week, but the Eels prop doesn’t want to hear anything about his very own Voldemort situation.
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Parramatta star Reagan Campbell-Gillard won’t be reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on the plane to England after likening the grand final to Lord Voldemort, who earned the moniker ‘he who must not be named’ for his shocking misdeeds in the wizarding world.
The Eels prop isn’t over Sunday’s loss to his former club and says he won’t be talking about the match while over in the UK for the World Cup.
The blue and golds were blown off the park in the first half but managed to fight back late in the game in a performance that was emblematic of their rollercoaster year that saw the Eels go through plenty of ups and downs.
“It’s like Harry Potter and Voldemort. We’re not really speaking the name. It sucks,” Campbell-Gillard said.
“We did it the hard way to get there. It was one of the best experiences you can imagine and it’s something you want to be doing, but if we can do it a little easier (that’d be better).”
The experienced prop also says he has no beef with Panthers players for their comments following the grand final.
Rival big man James Fisher-Harris said “Parra are our sons” while Panthers fans chanted “we hate Parra” at a fan day on Monday morning.
Campbell-Gillard says it was simply a case of freedom of speech and that he would have carried on if the Eels had ended their 36-year premiership drought.
“Everyone celebrates, and you can celebrate however you want. If I won a comp then I’d be going stupid,” he said.
“For how long you train and the week in, week out (effort) for 10 or 11 months, for someone to go a little bit crazy for two or three days (is fine). I don’t have an issue with it.
“They’ve had a bit of grog. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If the shoe is on the other foot, I’d be going pretty stupid.
Campbell-Gillard got to see Nathan Cleary develop as a playmaker when he was at the Panthers and will now get to lay a platform for him on tour as the Kangaroos look to defend their 2017 title.
But he was on the wrong end of a Cleary masterclass on Sunday as the Panthers No.7 showed why some legends of the game have declared him the club’s greatest ever halfback.
Cleary kicked the Eels to death and set up a try with a neat grubber late in the first half, while he also frustrated Campbell-Gillard with some timely challenges to kill off Parramatta’s momentum.
“He’s a freak,” the front-rower said.
“We gave ourselves somewhat of a chance. I thought we were going all right 20 minutes in, but then just a moment of lapse and some moments during the game didn’t go our way.
“I wanted to karate chop him every time he did the captain’s challenges and won them every time. They’ve been the best team for the past three years and he’s been a massive part of that success.
“If he was a front-rower and he was doing it then I’d be filthy. But he’s a halfback and has nailed his role as a halfback at a young age. He’s only going to get better.”
Originally published as ‘We’re not speaking the name’: How rugby league’s version of Voldemort is still haunting the Eels
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