Poor recruitment behind Eels’ horror season, says Sterlo

PARRAMATTA Eels champion Peter Sterling has taken aim at the club’s recruitment, after another dismal season which is set to culminate with the wooden spoon.

The premiership-winner says a junior nursery the envy of the competition, a supportive leagues club, top notch facilities, and a wonderful fan base should see the Eels in contention for their first title since 1986, and not staring down the barrel of their third last-place finish in seven seasons.

The glaring reason for their spectacular failure is their poor recruitment, according to Sterling, particularly the stars they didn’t target when they had the chance.

“The Eels should be setting the trend for others to follow,” Sterling wrote in a column for Wide World of Sports.

“We are seemingly a sleeping giant that has been asleep way too long.

“One area that I do think needs to be closely assessed is the club’s recruitment in recent times.

“I’m not convinced that we have necessarily brought the right type of player into the club in some instances. Talent alone is never enough and I hope that an individual’s character is a major consideration when we are looking to import a player to wear the blue and gold jersey.”

He pointed to supercoach Jack Gibson’s mantra.

“The game’s greatest ever coach Jack Gibson said that whilst a player could have all the ability and talent in the world, he only ever asked himself one question as a coach and that was ‘can I win with him?’, he said.

“That determination was made as much about the individual as to the person he was off the field as it was about how he ran, passed and tackled.”

And the player the Eels should’ve moved heaven and earth to sign? Well, the great halfback reckons James Graham would’ve made all the difference.

“I said two years ago that I felt the club needed to bring in a big-bodied, class front-rower to bolster the ranks. At the time some saw it as a sleight on the forwards already there but that was not the case,” he offered.

“When playing at their best our forwards were a tough, aggressive, uncompromising pack that hunted well together but I felt that we lacked that individual that could dominate the middle and demand the ascendancy.

“I still feel that was the case and was disappointed when the likes of Jordan McLean, Russell Packer, Ben Matulino, James Graham and Herman Ese’ese left clubs and went elsewhere.

“Whilst in the twilight of his career, an old hard head like Graham would have been invaluable exerting his influence and leadership both on and off the field for a couple of seasons.”

He also said the club needed to make Jarryd Hayne’s retention a priority.

“Jarryd has been our best player over the last seven weeks and I would like to think his future will be an easy one to settle,” he said.

“The club would like to keep him, Jarryd seems to be enjoying his football and is highly involved and engaged, it would seem to me that if the price is right then a deal should be done.”

With the blue and golds two competition points behind the 15th-placed Sea Eagles, and 52 points behind in for-and-against, they have a firm grasp on the wooden utensil.