Parramatta Eels
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| Parramatta Eels | |
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| Full name | Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club |
| Nickname(s) | Eels |
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| Founded | 1946 as Parramatta |
| Ground | Parramatta Stadium Parramatta, Sydney |
| Capacity | 20,000 |
| CEO |  Denis Fitzgerald |
| Coach | Michael Hagan |
| League | National Rugby League |
| 2006 | National Rugby League, 8th |
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 1946 with their First Grade side playing their first season in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership in 1947.
The club currently participates in the National Rugby League, the premier rugby league football competition in Australia while also fielding sides in lower grade competitions run by the New South Wales Rugby League.
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[edit] History
- For more details on this topic, see History of Parramatta Eels.
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 with the club playing some of its matches at Cumberland Oval.
When the Sydney Rugby League Premiership was formed in 1908, a club made up of Western Suburbs Rugby "defectors" formed the Cumberland club which participated in the first year of competition before the club was absorbed into Western Suburbs, also formed in 1908. On a local level, rugby league began to be played in 1909 with local teams forming a district competition. Many other clubs within the Parramatta district also emerged with clubs being established in suburbs across the area over the ensuing decades.
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. 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.
Parramatta saw very little success in the early years, rarely avoiding the wooden spoon, finishing last in the competition 6 years in a row from 1956 to 1961. Aside from narrowly missing out to play-off in the finals in 1948 and 1949 under the guidance of former Western Suburbs and Leeds five-eighth Vic Hey, the early years were largely devoid of success. When Hey retired as a player at the end of 1949 Parramatta slumped back to the tail-end of the competition to 1961. In 1962, Parramatta made the finals for the first time, with this success continuing until 1965 with the club able to make the playoffs each year. However, the club continued to slide down the ladder in the following years, collecting the wooden spoon in 1970. The club's first major success came in 1975 when they were able to win the Pre-Season cup by defeating Manly-Warringah in the competition's final.
In 1976, the club was finally able to make the Grand Final in their 30th year of existence in the New South Wales Rugby League. However, they were closely defeated by a Manly-Warringah side that they had just previously defeated two weeks before.[1] The following year, Parramattae captured their first minor premiership by finishing top of the ladder at the end of the regular season before making 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 without scoring 22–0.[2] The team was able to make the finals in both 1978 and 1979, but missed the finals in 1980 for the first time since 1974.
The early 1980s was unquestionably the most successful period for the Eels, reaching five Grand Finals and winning a total of four premierships from 1981 to 1986. Under the influence of coach Jack Gibson and with a team including names such as Ray Price, Eric Grothe, Steve Ella, Mick Cronin and Brett Kenny, the club was able to capture a consecutive treble of premierships from 1981 to 1983; the most recent in the competition's history. In 1984 the team once again reached the Grand Final only to lose in a low-scoring Grand Final to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 8–4. In 1986 the club took out their third minor premiership whilst also reaching the Grand Final, beating Canterbury 4–2 in the lowest-scoring Grand Final in history.
From 1987 to 1996, the club 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. In 1997, the club made the finals for the first time in 11 seasons by finishing 3rd in the Australian Rugby League competition. In the combined National Rugby League competitions in 1998 and 1999 the club finished 4th out of 20 teams and 2nd out of 17 respectively, narrowly missing out on the Grand Final by one match in 1998. In 2001, Parramatta set a regular-season points scoring record in the premiership by scoring 839 points in 26 matches on their way to claiming the minor premiership. Despite being heavy favourites for the Grand Final against the Newcastle Knights, the team lost 30–24. The club continued to make the finals up until 2002.
After claiming the minor premiership in 2005, it was announced soon after an unsuccessful finals series that coach Brian Smith had been asked to stand down after the conclusion of the 2006 season in what turned out to be a direct trade with the Newcastle Knights for Michael Hagan. After a poor start to the 2006 season, Smith resigned on 15 May 2006 and was replaced by Jason Taylor. Despite the team's low position on the ladder at the time, they were still able to make the finals for the second year running.
[edit] Crest
Like most clubs established prior to 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 many orchards that were 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.
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 referred to as "The Eels" and it became an official nickname in the late 1970s.
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 1999. In 2005, 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.[3] 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.
[edit] 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.[4] 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 Parramatta High School.[5] 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 a blue design with a single yellow hoop around the middle of the jersey, extending across to the lower end of the sleves. 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. Across the years the design has changed gradually from one based on blue and gold stripes to a design incorporating different blue and gold designs across the fringes of a predominantly blue or gold jersey.
[edit] Stadium
- For more details on this topic, see Parramatta 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 with the club playing their last match there against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. After the Parramatta Eels secured their first-ever Premiership later that year Eels fans rallied at Cumberland Oval and, during the celebrations, set the ground's soon-to-be-demolished stand on fire.
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 competetive tender. After construction was completed in November 1985, the club played its first match at the new stadium on March 16, 1986 winning this opening game 36–6 against the St. George Dragons. The current capacity of the ground is 20,000 after the construction of seated terraces on the previously hilled areas in 2002.
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 Parrmatta Stadium under the current configuration was 21,141 in 2006 against the Wests Tigers.
[edit] Rivalries
Parramatta's most significant and famous rivalry is with fellow Sydney club Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. This rivalry developed during the 1970s and 1980s when the clubs faced one another in 3 Grand Finals in 1976, 1982 and 1983. The clubs also played competed in a number of play-off finals matches during this period including a contraversial drawn semi-final and subsequent replay in 1978. The famous rivalry between the clubs was also celebrated in an advertising jingle in a 1970s Tooheys television commercial. The rivalry has been regularly rekindled as various times since, particularly when Parramatta players have transfered to play with Manly.[6]
A similar rivalry also developed between Parramatta and Canterbury Bulldogs during the 1980s when the clubs faced one another in Grands Finals in 1984 and 1986. This rivalry received renewed impetus during the Super League war when Parramatta recruited 4 notable Bulldogs players.
[edit] Statistics and records
- For more details on this topic, see List of Parramatta Eels records.
Appearance records
Seven players have played more than 200 First Grade games for Parramatta. Brett Kenny (264) holds the record for the most number of games for Parramatta followed by Ray Price (258), Peter Sterling (227), Michael Cronin (216), Bob O'Reilly (216), Billy Rayner (203) and Ron Lynch (202). Of current squad members, Nathan Hindmarsh has the highest number of games (190) followed by Daniel Wagon (165) and Nathan Cayless (164).
Scoring records
Michael 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. Brett Kenny holds the record for most First Grade tries (106) between 1980 and 1992.
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 Bruce Stadium.
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.
[edit] Current squad
The following list comprises of players who have made up the squad of the Parramatta Eels first-grade team in 2007, ranked firsly by position in Round one and then by alphabetical order.[7]
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[edit] 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:[8]
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[edit] Honours
[edit] Club
- New South Wales Rugby League, Australian Rugby League and National Rugby League Premierships[9]: 4
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- 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986
- Premiership runners-up: 4
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- 1976, 1977, 1984, 2001
- New South Wales Rugby League, Australian Rugby League and National Rugby League minor premierships: 5
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- 1977, 1982, 1986, 2001, 2005
- New South Wales Rugby League Club Championships: 16
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- 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005
- Pre-Season Cup titles: 1
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- 1975
- Tooth Cup: 2
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- 1980, 1986
- Sevens: 2
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- 1997, 2003
- First Division, Premier League[10]: 7
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- 1975, 1977, 1979, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2006
- Jersey Flegg Cup: 3
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- 1970, 1985, 1990
- SG Ball Cup: 10
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- 1966, 1967, 1968, 1973, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1999
- Harold Matthews Cup: 16
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- 1970, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004
[edit] Individual honours
- Dally M Medal[11]: 6 (4 individual winners)
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- Ray Higgs (1976), Michael Cronin (1977, 1978), Ray Price (1979), Peter Sterling (1987, 1990)
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- Peter Sterling (1986)
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Sean Fagan, Fearnley's Flying Wedge And The '76 Eels Retrieved on 5 September 2006; Alan Whiticker, Grand Finals of the NSWRL (2e), Gary Allen, 1994
- ^ 1977 Tied Rugby League Grand Final Era of the Biff Retrieved on 5 September 2006; Alan Whiticker, Grand Finals of the NSWRL (2e), Gary Allen 1994
- ^ History of the Parramatta City Crest Retrieved on 6 September 2006
- ^ History of Parramatta District Junior Rugby league Retrieved on 6 September 2006
- ^ RL1908.com article;Parramatta High School badge information Retrieved on 6 September 2006
- ^ Greg Pritchard, 'Eels won't be reserved in hitting Hill: Hindmarsh', Sydney Morning Herald 6 September 2005; Roy Masters, 'Manly whipping was one for the true believers', Sydney Morning Herald 12 September 2005
- ^ [1] 2007 Official Player Roster rleague.com Retrieved on 27 December 2006
- ^ [2] Parramatta Eels News 29 August 2002, Retrieved on 3 March 2007.
- ^ Up until 1994, the top division of the premiership in New South Wales was the New South Wales Rugby League premiership; since then, it has been the Australian Rugby League (1995-1997) and the National Rugby League.
- ^ Up until 2002, the second division of rugby league in New South Wales was Reserve Grade/Presidents Cup/First Division Premiers; since then, it has been the NSWRL Premier League.
- ^ From 1968 - 1996 the award was known as the Rothmans Medal, in 1997 the Provan-Summons Medal and from 1998 the Dally M Medal.
- ^ Awarded since 1986.
[edit] External links
- Official Parramatta Eels website
- 1Eyed Eel Unofficial Website for Parramatta Eels News and Views
- Blog Site with all Parramatta Eels info for seasons 2006 and the upcoming 2007 season
- Daily Telegraph - Parramatta Eels 2007 season feature
| Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club |
|---|
| The Club | History | Players | Coaches | Records |
| Parramatta Stadium |
| Competition Honours | Representative Players |
