Parramatta’s season has been a nightmare, with last year’s grand finalists certain to miss the finals in the last two rounds.
There have been a few excuses for Brad Arthur’s team, which has only won 11 games and is now too far behind to make the top eight before the end of the season.
Five-eighth Dylan Brown was suspended for over two months due to a court case, while star wingers Maika Sivo and Reagan Campbell-Gillard were suspended, as well as Ryan Matterson for the first month of the season. Contract negotiations for Mitchell Moses and Clint Gutherson lasted weeks before being resolved.
But league legend Billy Slater believes the disastrous slide started more than 12 months ago, when the Eels lost the signature of Reed Mahoney to the Bulldogs.
The crafty hooker snubbed a three-year $1.5 million extension offer from Parramatta and went to Canterbury on a four-year contract said to be worth $650,000 a season.
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To plug the hole left by Mahoney, the Eels signed veteran rake Josh Hodgson, who failed to make it through the season and had to retire due to injury issues.
“They worked so hard last year to give themselves an opportunity to play on grand final day, and they would have put in the same amount of effort to get there again, and it just hasn’t worked for them,” Slater told Nine’s
However, league legend Billy Slater feels the Eels’ terrible collapse began more than a year ago, when Reed Mahoney signed with the Bulldogs.
The clever hooker turned down a three-year $1.5 million extension offer from Parramatta and instead signed a four-year contract with Canterbury worth $650,000 per season.
Watch the NRL premiership 2023 live and free on 9Now.
To fill Mahoney’s void, the Eels signed veteran rake Josh Hodgson, who did not finish the season and was forced to retire due to injury.
“They fought so hard last year to obtain an opportunity to play on grand final day, and they would have put in the same amount of effort to get there.
“I believe that the first mistake they made was not going above and beyond to retain Reed Mahoney as their No. 9.
“He is a serious player, and we understand the significance of that position today.
“I know they had Josh Hodgson come to the club – that was a huge risk in itself, given Josh’s age and injury history.”
“To go to tremendous measures to keep Mitchell Moses – which is understandable because he’s a fantastic player – but not to go to those lengths to keep your star No. 9, who might be a 10-15 year player at that club… that’s where it began.
“A lot of things happened at the Eels this year that didn’t help, but for me, it all started when they moved.”
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