Hear from our Ladies Who League columnist, Mary Kaye, as we head into the last regular season round of 2014 this week. Remember you can always find more of her work at ladieswholeague.com!
Being a Parramatta Eels supporter - there's nothing quite like it, is there?
Throughout this year, I have written many times about the tremendous joy that season 2014 has brought me and it's true. Season 2014 has been special for so many reasons. We have seen the emergence of some truly talented young players including Semi Radradra and Tepai Moeroa. We have seen genuine joy on the football field and we have won more games in one season than our previous 2 seasons combined.
Despite all this, I would be a liar if I said that I didn't feel tremendous disappointment when Parramatta loses.
Parramatta Eels fans out there, am I the only person whose love for Parramatta borders on obsession?
Am I the only one who wakes up their neighbours with cheers when I'm watching Parramatta on television?
Am I the only person who feels like a Parramatta Eels loss can absolutely spoil their weekend? I hope not.
I am not too proud to admit that my entire weekend was ruined following the result on Saturday afternoon. My family can certainly attest to the fact that I was in a grumpy mood for the rest of the weekend.
However, one of the best things about being a supporter is the knowledge that there is always next week or that there will always be next year.
Even with the loss last weekend, our Parramatta Eels are still a shot at making the 8. For those of you, like me, who had difficulty with the ladder predictor, I can make it very easy for you. For the Parramatta Eels to make the top 8, three things need to happen:
1. The Melbourne Storm need to beat the Brisbane Broncos;
2. The Parramatta Eels need to beat the Canberra Raiders; and
3. The Penrith Panthers need to beat the New Zealand Warriors.
All of these results are possible. Of course, the most important one for me is watching the Parramatta Eels finish Season 2014 how they started - with a win!
Before we all get caught up in the possibility of the Parramatta Eels playing finals football, I want to remind everyone that this could potentially be our last game of the season - so enjoy it!
Make sure that you enjoy Chrissy Sandow's big smile (especially after he kicks a 40/20), make sure you enjoy Jarryd Hayne and his tremendous footballing ability and make sure you enjoy cheering on our boys, because it may be the last time you get to do so before Season 2015. I want to see lots of flags, scarves and face paint down in Canberra this weekend!
The game against Newcastle illustrated just how even this year's competition has been. Any team is capable of beating any other team on the day and that is certainly the case this weekend. I look forward to seeing our boys take the challenge head on and hopefully come away with the two points!
To all those supporters heading down to Canberra, drive safely and to all the dad's out there, have a very happy Father's Day! Hopefully the Eels can start the weekend off on the right note for you.
