Dyldam Parramatta Eels Head Coach Brad Arthur and co-captain Tim Mannah have pointed to a lack of completions as the main culprit in the Eels’ 38-12 defeat by the Penrith Panthers on Friday night.
With fullback Jarryd Hayne and Willie Tonga both ruled out of the match, the Blue and Gold were missing two of their most experienced players, but Mannah and Arthur said the scoreline couldn’t be pinned entirely on the reshuffled line-up.
“It’s got nothing to do with Jarryd for me,” Arthur said.
“We didn’t turn up in that first little bit; we had to make 90 tackles extra in the first half. When you’re completing at 56% it’s very hard to come up with repeated sets in defence and that was the difference.”
"In the second half we tried hard, but trying hard's not enough."
Mannah was adamant that for the Eels to be successful on the field, they needed a strong performance across the board.
“We let ourselves down tonight,” Mannah said.
“We didn’t have everyone doing their job the best they could, and I think we’re the kind of team that needs everyone across the field turning up and doing their job.”
