The Eels put on one of their most impressive displays of the season to crush the Raiders 40-4 in Friday night’s clash and book a place in a preliminary final for the first time since 2009.
Now they’ve been urged to “get the hell out” of Sydney to escape the relentless pressure and media scrutiny ahead of their massive clash with the Cowboys in Townsville next weekend.
In commentary for Fox League, Shane Flanagan said: “You’ve just got to put it behind you now, Parramatta. Don’t read the papers, don’t watch too much TV. Just get ready for next week. Because you’ve got to do it again! It’s going to be harder next weekend. That’s the big game, to get to the Grand Final. Grand Final week will look after itself. Next week’s the biggest game of the year.”
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Gorden Tallis told Fox League after the game: “I’d get Parramatta out of Sydney as quick as you can. I think expectations can get to you. You go up north and it will be all about the Cowboys, because that’s the team (up there).
“I joked that they’re (Parra) a passionate team. It’s been a long time since they’ve had success. The build-up here with a big Sydney club playing finals – get them out of there! I heard Flanno say it in the call, just get your head out of the (news) papers.
“I know that from us, getting out of Brisbane – it was the same thing. Wayne (Bennett) would move us to Sydney. We’d come here for four days and just get out of the limelight, walk down where no one really cares. I know Townsville’s a little hot place, but go there and just get out of the Sydney papers.”
But he’s under no delusions as to how big of an occasion it will be in the Queensland town in the lead-up to the clash.
Tallis said: “It’s a zoo – it’s gonna be a zoo!”
“How often do those little places get the big games? Not that often,” he added.
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The Eels showed plenty of energy to blow away the Raiders in the opening minutes on Friday night. But Yvonne Sampson said it was time to turn that energy into single-minded focus on the task at hand.
“Take all that energy, use it, and get the hell out,” Sampson said.
Michael Ennis told Fox League: “I think the big thing about a prelim final … is that they know what works for them as a group.
“They don’t need to publicly come out and make any statements about how they’re gonna handle the Cowboys or what they’re gonna do.
“They need to bunker down, they need to know what they’ve got inside their four walls.
“Bottle that, harness that energy, and make sure they go to Townsville and ambush the Cowboys.”
Last time the teams met in Darwin, the Eels were ‘out-competed’, Ennis claimed, by “a rejuvenated Cowboys side that will fight and scrap for the whole 80 minutes.”
The Eels proved on Friday that they can match it for the full 80 minutes. Keep that up, and they’ll be well and truly in the hunt for a first premiership since 1986.
“We’re not finished. We’ve got a big week ahead of us,” Eels coach Brad Arthur said in his post-match press conference.
“The club’s done a great job for us, they’ve organised a charter flight for us,” he added. “We’ll fly in and we’ve got one job to do.”
Arthur declared: “We’ve got an opportunity next week and we’re going to go after it.”
