Parramatta Eels

Parramatta Eels

Club information
Full name	Parramatta National Rugby League Club
Nickname(s)	Eels, Parra
Colours	Blue      Yellow
Founded	4 November 1946 as Parramatta
Website	parraeels.com.au
Current details
Ground(s)	ANZ Stadium (84,000)
CEO	Bernie Gurr
Chairman	Max Donnelly (Administrator Appointed)
Coach	Brad Arthur
Captain	Tim Mannah & Beau Scott
Competition	National Rugby League
2017 season	4th
Current season
Records
Premierships	4 (1981, 1982, 1983, 1986)
Runners-up	5 (1976, 1977, 1984, 2001, 2009)
Minor premiership	5 (1977, 1982, 1986, 2001, 2005)
Wooden spoons	13 (1947, 1952, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1970, 1972, 2012, 2013)
Most capped	330 - Nathan Hindmarsh
Highest points scorer	1,971 - Michael Cronin

The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their home ground was Parramatta's Pirtek Stadium (formerly Cumberland Oval) until the current season. Owing to the demolition of Pirtek Parramatta will play its home games at ANZ Stadium.

It took thirty years for the club to make the grand final, which they did in 1976 and 1977, losing on both occasions. However, this period foreshadowed their most successful period in the early 1980s, when they won four premierships and qualified for five grand finals in six seasons. This was a golden era for the club and yielded their only premiership titles. In 2016, a salary cap breach saw them stripped of their 2016 Auckland Nines premiership. The club plays in the National Rugby League, the premier rugby league football competition in Australia. Parramatta sides are also fielded in lower grades and junior competitions run by the New South Wales Rugby League where they regularly win premierships in various grades.

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 1910 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.^[1]

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.^[2]

The Early Years

Parramatta saw very little success in their early years, despite narrowly missing out on finals qualification in 1949 under the guidance of former Western Suburbs and Leeds five-eighth Vic Hey. Between 1952 and 1961, they finished last eight times and won only 35 of 180 matches. In 1962, Parramatta made the finals for the first time; this achievement was repeated for the three following seasons. However, the club slid back down the ladder in the following years, collecting the wooden spoon in 1970 and 1972. The club’s first major success came in 1975 when they defeated Manly-Warringah in the pre-season cup final.^[3]

The 1970's

In 1976, the club finally reached the Grand Final, in their thirtieth season. However, they lost narrowly to a Manly-Warringah side that they had defeated just two weeks earlier. Ironically, after both clubs were admitted into the NSWRFL in 1947, Parramatta were in their first Grand Final while Manly were in their eighth premiership decider (having qualified for their first in 1951) and were bidding for their third premiership after wins in 1972 and 1973.^[4][5] Unfortunately for Parramatta, this game is regarded as “the one that got away” with Manly winning 13–10 despite the Eels crossing for two tries to Manly’s one. A dropped pass by winger Neville Glover with the line wide open in the dying moments of the game ultimately costing the Eels a chance to win the game. Had Glover scored the score would have been tied at 13-all giving goal kicking Five-eighth John Peard a sideline conversion attempt to win the game.

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 lost 22–0.^[6][7] The Eels made the finals in both 1978 and 1979, but missed the finals in 1980 for the first time since 1974.^[3]

The 1980's

The early 1980s was the most successful period for Parramatta, who earned 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, Peter Sterling, Eric Grothe, Sr., 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 Canterbury-Bankstown 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.^[3]

From 1987 to 1996, the Eels 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.^[8][9]

The 1990's

In 1997 the Eels remained in the ARL’s competition and made the finals for the first time in 11 seasons by finishing third in the Australian Rugby League competition. Parramatta continued into the NRL era which began in 1998, surviving the reduction in teams at the end of the twentieth century. In The 1998 season Parramatta finished 4th and defeated North Sydney in the first week of the finals 25-12. The following week Parramatta traveled to Brisbane in the major semi final and won the match 15-10 earning the week off. In the 1998 preliminary final Parramatta were leading arch rivals Canterbury 18-2 with less than 10 minutes to play and then what can only be described as the greatest choke in Rugby League preliminary finals history occurred. Canterbury managed to fight their way back into the match and with a minute left on the scoreboard, winger Darryl Halligan kicked a conversion from out on the far touchline to send the game into extra time. Canterbury won in extra time 32-20. The loss was hard to take for Parramatta as they had beaten eventual premiers Brisbane twice during the season ^[10]. In 1999, Parramatta led Melbourne 16-0 at halftime in the preliminary final only to lose 18-16 at full time. Melbourne went on to win the premiership the following week. In the 2000 NRL season, Parramatta finished 7th and won both their sudden death finals matches to take on Brisbane in the preliminary final. In a game that they were not expected to win, Parramatta came close but lost the match against a much stronger Brisbane side. This was their 3rd preliminary final loss in a row. ^[11]

The 2000's

The Eels reached the 2001 NRL Grand final after a dominant season, but were defeated by the Newcastle Knights.

In 2005, Parramatta finished as minor premiers in the regular season and came up against North Queensland in the preliminary final. In a game that Parramatta were expected to win, North Queensland defied the odds and won the match 29-0. ^[12]. In 2006, Parramatta finished 8th in the regular season and faced Melbourne in the first week of the finals losing 12-6 and thus being eliminated from the competition. In 2007, Parramatta again made the preliminary final and once more the opponent was Melbourne. Parramatta went on to lose the match 26-10. This was their 5th preliminary final loss in 9 years. ^[13]

In 2009, under new coach Daniel Anderson, the Eels had an indifferent start to the season which saw the release of star halfback Brett Finch. After 18 rounds and incredibly inconsistent form, the Parramatta Eels had won only 5 games and were sitting third-last and were in direct contention for the dreaded 2009 NRL Wooden Spoon. TAB SportsBet had the Eels as $151 outsiders to win the NRL Premiership.

Though beginning in Round 19, upset victories against the Melbourne Storm and the Canterbury Bulldogs set the platform for an unexpected 10 wins from the next 11 games, which propelled the Eels into the Top 8 and consequently, premiership contention. This unanticipated winning streak was directly attributed by many sporting experts including Rugby League legend Andrew Johns to the spectacular run of form of star fullback Jarryd Hayne. Winning the award for man-of-the-match in every game from Round 19-24, and again in the first week of the finals, Hayne was described as "the best player in any code of football in Australia" by premiership-winning coach Phil Gould. Following his astonishing string of 7 man-of-the-match performances, Hayne won the award for Dally M Fullback of the Year and was crowned the best and fairest player in the game, winning the Dally M Medal for 2009.

After a 7-game winning streak, the Eels succumbed to a heavy defeat to the minor premiers St George-Illawarra Dragons, however they returned to Kogarah in Week 1 of the 2009 NRL Finals Series and defeated the Dragons 25–12 featuring an impressive late game try by Dally M medal winner Jarryd Hayne. Following successive wins against the Gold Coast Titans (a team that Parramatta had never beaten before), 27–2 at SFS and the Bulldogs, 22–12 in front of a record-breaking non-Grand Final crowd of 74,549 at ANZ stadium, the Eels qualified for their first Grand Final since 2001, becoming the first 8th-placed team to ever qualify for a Grand Final. On 4 October 2009, Parramatta Eels played the deciding game of NRL, against the Melbourne Storm at ANZ Stadium in front of a crowd of 82,538.^[14] The Melbourne Storm defeated the Eels 23–16, ending what critics called "the Parramatta Fairytale" and winning the NRL Premiership.^[14]

2010 and onwards

On 22 April 2010 the Melbourne Storm were stripped of the premiership as a result of long-term gross salary cap breaches disclosed by the NRL. However, the premiership for 2009 was not handed over to the Parramatta Eels, instead remaining vacant.

In 2010, the Parramatta Eels were picked at the beginning of the year by many leading betting agencies to take out the premiership for 2010 following their surge of form which took them to the Grand Final in 2009. But, after a relatively poor to the season, and then a 4-game winning streak, the Parramatta Eels once again returned to the inconsistent form of past seasons. This inconsistent form, recognised by all Rugby League fans, saw them miss out on the Top 8 in 2010.

After a season of unrelenting disappointment which saw five-eighth Daniel Mortimer dropped to reserve grade, centre Timana Tahu being suspended for an on-field confrontation against the Newcastle Knights and reports of player rifts, Daniel Anderson was sacked unceremoniously as Parramatta coach and replaced by New Zealand World Cup-winning coach Stephen Kearney.

The Eels made several new player signings for the 2011 season. In the forwards, the Eels added former Queensland centre Carl Webb and former Bulldogs and Cronulla as well as one-time Kangaroo Reni Maitua. To bolster the backs after the retirement of Eric Grothe Jr and the departure of Timana Tahu, the Eels signed the experienced pair of Chris Walker and Chris Hicks.

The 2011 season was to be considered a year of “almosts“ for Parramatta, with the team losing over half of their matches by four points or less, many of which were conceded after attaining leads over their opponents. The Eels pushed a record four games into Golden Point during the season, however were unable to win any, resulting in a draw against the St George Illawarra Dragons and one-point losses to the Penrith Panthers, Sydney Roosters and the Canterbury Bulldogs.

Throughout the 2011 season, coach Stephen Kearney motioned several reshuffles of the Parramatta side, the most high-profile change being fullback Jarryd Hayne’s switch to five-eighth after his ball-playing abilities were considered by several experts including the NSW State of Origin coach Ricky Stuart, as his strongest point. Other switches include the moving of Luke Burt to fullback, second-rower Ben Smith to right centre, and the resting of five-eighth Daniel Mortimer.

Before the final match of their season, the Eels had won only five of their 24 games and were in contention for the dreaded wooden spoon. During their final match, the Parramatta side emerged victorious over the Gold Coast Titans who were also direct contenders for last place. The wooden spoon was awarded to the Gold Coast side, finishing 16th on the NRL ladder, the Eels finishing in 14th position.

The 2012 season saw the retirement of Eels legends Luke Burt and Nathan Hindmarsh. It would also mark the first time since 1972 that the team would succumb to the dreaded wooden spoon. The Eels struggled all year, securing just their first win of the season in Round 5 against defending premiers Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles before ending a six-game losing streak against the Cronulla Sharks. This horror start to the season, and a win rate of less than 25% over almost two seasons with the club, coach Stephen Kearney was forced to resign and Assistant Coach Brad Arthur would become caretaker. The team responded to this producing 3 wins from 4 games, including competition front-runners Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos to give the fans some hope for the rest of the season. However this was short lived and following a 38-6 thumping to the South Sydney Rabbitohs in Round 25 of the Telstra Premiership were officially unable to avoid the wooden spoon.

Whilst Parramatta’s problems were largely attributed to their relatively poor defence, numerous pundits claimed Parramatta’s problems in 2012 were largely credited to the recurring absences of star fullback Jarryd Hayne. Even whilst producing higher per-match statistics than any other fullback in the game (8 tries, 14 try-assists), Hayne only managed to complete 10 games from the season’s 24, due to both injury and State of Origin duty.

Throughout the season many of the Eels players came under scrutiny and were dropped to the NSW Cup, including high-profile recruit Chris Sandow, who at the time was touted as overweight and unfit,^[15] and veteran Luke Burt. As a result, players Matt Ryan, Jake Mullaney and Nathan Smith were called up to the top squad and have impressed in their roles of Second-Row, Fullback and Hooker respectively, making a suitable replacement for injured stars Jarryd Hayne and Matt Keating.

Towards the end of the season Ricky Stuart was announced as the new coach for the Parramatta Eels from 2013.^[16]

Another wooden spoon followed in 2013, with the club suffering their second biggest loss ever (4–64 to Melbourne in Round 24), and conceding three other scores of 50 or more. On 12 September 2013 it was announced Ricky Stuart would leave the Eels to take up the head coaching role at Canberra for the 2014 season.

The Eels determined to continue their rebuilding process in the off season after receiving the wooden spoon two years running. The club has done this by releasing 12 players and signing more in key areas to help them achieve success in the 2014 season.^[17]

Parramatta also recruited a new coach in Brad Arthur, formerly an Assistant Coach at the club, as Ricky Stuart reneged on the final two years of his contract. This was in order to return to his hometown of Canberra and coach the Raiders, the team he played for during his youth.

The 2014 season started off in great style as Parramatta won 4 out of their first 6 matches. Parramatta then went into their Easter Monday clash at Stadium Australia sitting 5th on the ladder but lost the match controversially 21-18 in front of 50,000 fans. In round 24 Parramatta were sitting 8th on the ladder and looked destined to play in the finals for the first time since 2009 and only needed to win one of their last two remaining games against sides lower than them on the table which were Canberra and Newcastle. Parramatta lost both matches and missed out on the finals series by two competition points. ^{[18] [19]}

The 2015 season was a year to forget for Parramatta as they finished 12th on the table. The highlights being in Round 1 when Parramatta defeated Manly 42-12 and Semi Radradra scoring 24 tries in 18 matches. ^[20]

The discovery by the NRL in 2016 of salary cap breaches, over a period of four years, resulted in it stripping the Eels of the twelve competition points the club has accrued so far in the 2016 NRL season. In addition to being fined $1 million, Parramatta also had its 2016 NRL Auckland Nines title revoked.[35][36]. On 19 July 2016 the Parramatta Leagues Club board was sacked by the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority, and an administrator appointed. This effectively also removed the Eels board as the seven directors on both boards were the same people. Max Donnelly, of Ferrier Hodgson was appointed as administrator.[37]. At the time of the 12 point deduction, Parramatta were sitting 5th on the ladder but then found themselves at 14th position. Their fist match played after the points deduction was against South Sydney at Parramatta Stadium, Parramatta lost the match 22-20 in a close game. 2016 would also prove to be the final year that Parramatta would play at Parramatta Stadium as it was due to be demolished at seasons end to make way for a new 30,000 seat stadium. The final home game played at Parramatta Stadium was against The St George Dragons in front of 13,553 spectators. Parramatta went on to beat St George 30-18. Parramatta's final game of 2016 saw them travel to New Zealand to play The Auckland Warriors. Parramatta won the match 40-18 with Bevan French scoring 3 tries. At the end of the season, Parramatta finished in 14th place on the ladder but if they had not been stripped of the 12 competition points they would have played in the finals. ^{[21] [22] [23]}

Club identity

Name and emblem

Like most NSWRFL clubs founded before the 1980s, Parramatta was established with no official nickname or mascot. The only nickname Parramatta had ever been known by was the "Fruitpickers", a reference to the orchards spread throughout the District and surrounding suburbs in the first half of the 20th century. As the competition and the clubs themselves became more focused on marketing in the 1970s, Parramatta adopted an official club mascot.^[3]

In the mid-1960s, Peter Frilingos, a Sydney rugby league journalist, suggested that the club should be known as the "Eels". This reasoning was based on the name of the Parramatta, anglicised from the Aboriginal dialect "Barramattagal" meaning "place where the Eels dwell". After this, the team was commonly called "The Eels" and it became an official nickname in the late 1970s.^[3]

As a result, the club’s crest was changed in 1980, to a design featuring an eel. This crest remained, despite several changes in jersey design, until a new eel logo was introduced in 2000. In 2004, the club mascot featured on the crest reverted to an eel drawing similar to that featured on the original crest.

Parramatta has also used two separate crests based on Parramatta City’s crest. The first was a highly detailed scene showing a typical scene on the foreshore of the Parramatta River in the early days of European settlement. It is an apparent tribute to the District’s original occupants, the Barramattagal tribe. In the foreground of the original crest, a male Aboriginal is preparing to spear a fish while a woman in a canoe watches. In the background a paddle steamer is visible as well as the tree-lined banks of the Parramatta River. This crest was used by the Club until the 1970s when a more stylised version showing only the hunter, and the club’s name on a scroll, was used. This crest is still used in 2006 by the Parramatta District Junior Rugby League Football Club.^[3]

In 2009, the Parramatta Eels announced they were returning to their original 1980s club emblem in the 2011 season with the numbers 1947 added, this being the year of conception of the Eels.

Colours

When a Parramatta District Club was first proposed in 1936, the colours put forward to the New South Wales Rugby League by the District were emerald green and white, as these were the colours worn by the Western Districts President’s Cup side and the Western Suburbs Rugby Union Club.^[1][24] However, when the proposal for a Parramatta club was next put to the NSWRL in 1946, the proposed colours for the new District side were blue and gold. These colours are said to have been selected based on the navy, sky blue and gold colours used by Arthur Phillip High School.^[2][25] These colours were also adopted by the Parramatta District Rugby Union club in 1936 and also suggested in Parramatta City Council’s use of livery of blue and golden-orange in their crest. While this colour scheme has remained consistent throughout the history of the club, the shades of blue and gold have changed several times.

The original Parramatta jersey used in 1947 was of a blue design with a single yellow hoop around the middle of the jersey, extending across the sleeves. This original design was altered in 1949 to a design based on blue and gold hoops and remained unchanged until the 1970s when a jersey comprising stripes on a predominantly blue or gold background was adopted. Over the years, the design has changed gradually from one based on blue and gold stripes to a design incorporating different blue and gold designs around the fringes of a predominantly blue or gold jersey.

Stadium

Rugby league was played at Cumberland Oval from as early as 1909 by local clubs such as Parramatta Iona, Endeavours and the Western Districts representative side. When the club was admitted into the NSWRL Premiership in 1947, Cumberland Oval became its home ground. The club played its first match in the premiership on 12 April 1947 against Newtown, being defeated 34–12 in front of 6,000 spectators. Cumberland Oval remained the home ground of the Parramatta Eels until 1981; the club played their last match there against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.^[26] Later that year, after the Parramatta Eels secured their first-ever Premiership trophy, Eels fans rallied at Cumberland Oval; during the celebrations, fans set fire to the ground’s soon-to-be-demolished stand.

From 1982 to 1985, the club used Belmore Oval, home of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, as a temporary home ground while a new facility (Parramatta Stadium) was built. The new stadium to be built on the site of Cumberland Oval was approved by the New South Wales Government for development in 1983 and the contract for the construction and design of the Stadium was put to competitive tender.^[27] After construction was completed in November 1985, the club played its first match at the new stadium on 16 March 1986 winning this opening game 36–6 against the St. George Dragons. The original capacity of the ground stood at 30,000, though after re-development of the hills behind each in-goal area into seated terraces in 2002, the capacity was reduced to 21,487.

The largest crowd to watch a rugby league match at Cumberland Oval was 22,470 when the Parramatta took on the South Sydney Rabbitohs on 26 April 1971. The largest crowd at Parramatta Stadium under the current configuration was 21,141 in 2006 against the Wests Tigers.^[28] The largest ever attendance for a Parramatta Eels home game came in the stadium’s first season when 27,243 saw the Eels draw 12-all with South Sydney in Round 24 of the 1986 NSWRL season. The largest ever rugby league attendance at Parramatta Stadium was set on 6 July 1994 when 27,918 saw Australia defeat France 58-0 in a one-off mid-season Test match. This was also the first test match held in Sydney since 1914 that wasn’t played at either the Agricultural Ground, the SCG, or the Sydney Football Stadium.

Rivalries

Parramatta's most significant and famous rivalry is with Northern Beaches-based club Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. Though both clubs were formed in the same year, this rivalry did not develop until the 1970s and 1980s when the clubs faced each other in three Grand Finals: in 1976, 1982 and 1983. The clubs also competed in several play-off finals matches during this period including a controversial drawn semi-final and subsequent replay in 1977. The famous rivalry between the clubs was also marked in an advertising jingle in a 1970s Tooheys television commercial. The rivalry has been regularly rekindled at various times since, particularly when Parramatta players have transferred to play with Manly.^[29][30]

A similar rivalry also developed between Parramatta and the Bulldogs during the 1980s when the clubs faced one another in Grand Finals in 1984 and 1986 as well as regular play-off matches during this period. This rivalry received renewed impetus during the Super League war when Parramatta recruited 4 notable Bulldogs players.^[31][32]

Another significant rivalry is with neighbouring Western Sydney club the Penrith Panthers. The match between the two is known as the "Western Sydney derby" or "The Battle of the West".^[33] Aside from local 'bragging rights' the rivalry is also partly founded in bitterness associated with the former status of the Penrith district as part of the Parramatta rugby league district. The relationship between local Penrith clubs and the Parramatta District was often problematic; players and officials in the Penrith area considered themselves ignored and neglected by the Parramatta club during the 1950s and 1960s.^[34]

The Eels have also forged a rivalry with another Sydney-based team, the St. George Illawarra Dragons. The Eels were the Dragons' first-ever opponents as a joint-venture and the match was also the second ever held at Stadium Australia which would be the venue for the Olympic Games the following year. The Eels won 20-10 but the Dragons later moved on to make the Grand Final. In recent years there have been some memorable, not to mention controversial matches, including:

• Round 18, 2005: Dragons captain Trent Barrett and Eels hooker PJ Marsh instigated an all-in brawl as Barrett kicked down-field and Marsh attempted to smother his kick. Barrett took exception to the tackle and punched Marsh in the back of the head whilst Eels fullback Wade McKinnon fielded the kick and ran 80 metres to score. It turned out to be the turning point to the match as the Eels would go on to win 40-14.
• Round 13, 2006: After 70 minutes without a score, Parramatta kicked a field goal to go 1-0 up before 8 unanswered points by the Dragons got them home 8-1 in one of the weirdest matches ever in NRL history. This match was played in driving rain at WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah.
• Round 26, 2009: With the minor premiership seemingly all but lost, the Dragons thrashed the Eels 37-0 to actually finish on top of the NRL ladder from the Bulldogs who had lost 34-18 against the Wests Tigers in the second match played on the same night as the Dragons vs Eels match. The win by the Dragons ended Parramatta's late season surge and it saw the Eels finish eighth.
• 4th Qualifying Final, 2009: But in the qualifying final nine days later, the Eels turned the tables on the Dragons and beat the premiership favourites 25-12, a 50-point turnaround. The Eels would then go on to make the Grand Final (which they ultimately lost to the disgraced Melbourne Storm) whilst the Dragons would exit the finals altogether after losing to the Brisbane Broncos 24-10.
• Round 13, 2011: After being thrashed 30-0 against the Dragons in a previous round the Eels began the match as underdogs. The Eels got out to a 14-0 lead only for it to be chased down by the Dragons. After 10 minutes of extra time and neither side being able to break the dead-lock, the game was declared a draw. However, Eels fullback Jarryd Hayne almost pulled off a miracle field goal from close to 60 metres out only for the kick to fade late and miss by half a metre.

The Eels have also developed a rivalry with the Melbourne Storm. After the Storm were found to have breached the salary cap from 2006-2010 the Eels felt robbed of a premiership, having gone down to the Storm in the 2009 Grand Final and wanted a chance at redemption. In 2010 the Eels got this chance.

• Round 13, 2010: After Melbourne were found to have breached the salary cap over the previous five years and robbed several teams of premiership glory including the Parramatta Eels, the Eels got their chance at redemption. In front of a loud and proud home crowd who let Melbourne know what they'd done, the Eels beat the Storm, who still had their illegal roster but could no longer accrue points, 24-10. The game was marred by two fights which erupted. The first started after Eels fullback Jarryd Hayne and Storm fullback Billy Slater came head to head after Hayne had worked Slater over in a tackle. Hayne proceeded to head-butt Slater who responded with a punch and the 2 had to be separated. The second occurred again after Hayne and Slater came together. This time Slater was the aggressor and appeared to lead with an elbow when tackling Hayne. The Eels' Five-Eighth Daniel Mortimer was then put in the Sin-Bin for being the third man in. The Eels fired-up after this incident with prop Fui Fui Moi Moi charging onto the ball from the ensuing penalty and gaining 20 metres. The Eels kept their heads and won the game by a comfortable margin in the end.

It is now ironic that the Eels have themselves been discovered to have breached the Salary Cap by cheating the system since 2013. On 3 May 2016 they were fined $1,000,000, stripped of the 2016 Auckland Nines title and docked all competition points earned thus far. The club will be able to earn competition points going forward assuming they can correct their player payments to salary cap requirements.

Players

Current squad

The following list comprises players who are in the Eels full-time first-grade squad for the 2017 season in the NRL Telstra Premiership.

Parramatta Eels – current squad
First team squad								Coaching staff
Daniel Alvaro - PR Kirisome Auva'a - CE Nathan Brown - PR, LK Troy Dargan - HB Nathan Davis - WG Isaac De Gois - HK Kenny Edwards - SR, LK John Folau - CE, WG Bevan French - FB, WG David Gower - SR, LK, PR Clinton Gutherson - FB, FE, CE, WG (gk) Josh Hoffman - FB, CE, WG George Jennings - CE, WG		Michael Jennings - CE Cameron King - HK Tim Mannah (c) - PR Suaia Matagi - PR Manu Ma'u - SR Willis Meehan - SR, PR Tepai Moeroa - SR Jack Morris - SR Mitchell Moses - FE, HB (gk) Cody Nelson - SR, FE Marata Niukore - SR, CE Corey Norman (vc) - FE, FB Rory O'Brien - PR		Frank Pritchard - SR Kaysa Pritchard - HK Semi Radradra - WG Jeff Robson - HB Scott Schulte - WG Beau Scott (c) - SR, CE Will Smith - FE, FB, CE Brad Takairangi - SR, CE Peni Terepo - PR, SR, LK Honeti Tuha - WG Joseph Ualesi - SR, LK Siosaia Vave - PR Matthew Woods - LK, SR				Head coach Brad Arthur Assistant coaches Peter Gentle (assistant) Steve Murphy (assistant) Paul Devlin (strength and conditioning) Legend: (c) Captain (vc) Vice captain (gk) Goal kicker Injured Updated: 16 July 2017 Source(s): Eels Squad 2017

Notable players

In 2002 a team of the greatest Parramatta players, known as the Parramatta Legends, were selected based on a public vote of fans. In August of that year the following players were named in each position:^[35]

Parramatta Legends
Backs						Forwards		Coaching staff
1 Ken Thornett - FB  2 Eric Grothe, Sr. - WG  3 Mick Cronin - CE  4 Steve Ella - CE  5 Neville Glover - WG  6 Brett Kenny - FE  7 Peter Sterling - HB						8 Bob O'Reilly - PR  9 Steve Edge - HK 10 Dean Pay - PR 11 Dick Thornett - SR 12 Peter Wynn - SR 13 Ray Price - LK		Legend: (c) Captain (vc) Vice captain Updated: 28 August 2002 Source(s): Eels' class of '81 still the fans' favourites, Parramatta Eels Caps

Representative players

Coaches

The first grade Parramatta Eels team has been coached by 29 different coaches since foundation.

Supporters

Some of the club's notable supporters include:

• Paul Hogan, Australian actor and comedian^[37]
• Simon Baker, Australian actor^[38]
• Bruce Beresford, Australian film director^[39]
• Toni Collette, Australian actress^[40]
• Jon English, English-Australian musician and actor^[41]
• Daryl Somers, Australian television presenter^[42]
• Danny Green, professional boxer^[43]
• John Afoa, New Zealand rugby union footballer^[44]
• Gurinder Sandhu, Australian cricketer^[45]
• Nathan Rees, 41st Premier of New South Wales^[46]
• Dani Samuels, Australian Olympian
• Tex Perkins, Australian musician^[47]
• Simon Pryce, Australian performer in The Wiggles^[48]
• Shaun Diviney, Australian musician^[49]

Statistics and records

Individual records

Most Appearances (200+)

1. Nathan Hindmarsh (330) from 1998–2012
2. Brett Kenny (265) from 1980–1993
3. Luke Burt (264) from 1999–2012
4. Nathan Cayless (259) from 1997–2010
5. Ray Price (258) from 1976–1986
6. Peter Sterling (227) from 1978–1992
7. Bob O'Reilly (216) from 1967−1982
8. Mick Cronin (216) from 1977–1986
9. Mark Laurie (205) from 1982−1992
10. Daniel Wagon (204) from 1999−2008
11. Fuifui Moimoi (201) from 2004−2014

Scoring records

Mick Cronin holds the record for most number of points scored across all grades (2,001) between 1977 and 1986. Cronin also holds the record for most points scored in a single season (282) in 1978. Luke Burt holds the record for most First Grade tries (111) between 1999-2012.^[50]

Parramatta's largest victory was a 74 – 4 win over Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks on 23 August 2003 at Parramatta Stadium. The club's largest defeat was a 0 – 68 loss to Canberra Raiders on 22 August 1993 at Canberra Stadium.^[51]

Attendances

The largest crowd Parramatta has played before was 104,583 at Telstra Stadium in the Round 1 'doubleheader' in 1999. The largest home crowd at Parramatta Stadium, before the construction of the hill terraces, was 27,243 against South Sydney Rabbitohs on 17 August 1986.^[52]

All time match record

The all time playing record for the Parramatta team since 1947 (including finals).^[53]

Games	Wins	Draw	Losses	Win %	Correct to
1523	662	38	727	46.4%	5 August 2016

Honours

• New South Wales Rugby League, Australian Rugby League and National Rugby League Premierships:^[54] 4

1981, 1982, 1983, 1986

• Premiership runners-up: 5

1976, 1977, 1984, 2001, 2009

• New South Wales Rugby League, Australian Rugby League and National Rugby League Minor Premierships: 5

1977, 1982, 1986, 2001, 2005

• New South Wales Rugby League Club Championships: 17

1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008

• Pre-Season Cup Titles: 1

1975

• Mid-week cup: 2

1980, 1986

• Rugby League World Sevens: 2

1997, 2003

• NRL Auckland Nines: 0

2016 title stripped

• First Division, Premier League:^[55] 9

1975, 1977, 1979, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 (as Wentworthville Magpies)

• Jersey Flegg Cup: 3

1970, 1985, 1990

• SG Ball Cup: 11

1966, 1967, 1968, 1973, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2007

• Harold Matthews Cup: 20

1970, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2016

• Mills Cup: 2

2007, 2008

• Bandaged Bear Cup: 4

2007,2008,2009,2010

• Jack Gibson Cup: 3

2008,2012 & 2014

References

External links

• Official Parramatta Eels website
• National Rugby League website
• New South Wales Rugby League website