The Dyldam Parramatta Eels have gone down in a last minute thriller, going down 20-18 to the Penrith Panthers with a on-the-buzzer try.
Head Coach Brad Arthur said that whilst it was a tough loss to take, the performance from the Blue and Gold in closing out the game was not good enough.
“It’s tough to take. 18-12 with 7-8 minutes left, we just have to be better,” Arthur said.
“Out of the last nine sets we only had two of them.”
“It’s hard to keep turning up and making those tackles but two tries in the last seven minutes just isn’t good enough,” Arthur added.
“At the end of the day, we still have to turn up and make our tackles. I just hope that will be the case all year.”
Video: See how it all unfolded in the Match Highlights
Arthur was satisfied with his side’s effort, saying that they had worked their ‘backsides off’ but the Head Coach echoed halfback Kieran Foran’s statements, saying the side needed to improve on finishing off the opportunities they had created down the other end of the field.
“We will have a look at it tomorrow, but the effort was there. They were trying their backsides off,” Arthur said.
“We created a lot of opportunities that we weren’t making the most of, but we need to learn that with seven minutes to go, regardless of the decision, two tries in the last seven minutes is not good enough. We need to be better than that.”
“Even last week, we created opportunities but the final pass, or a lack of concentration, lack of disciple at times to want to try and build some pressure when we have teams under the pump. We just lack that bit of patience at times.” Arthur added.
The challenge for the Blue and Gold and Arthur’s men will be to rebound from the loss and get back on their winning ways against the Canberra Raiders next week.
“We will have to make sure that we are nice and honest with our review and move on from it,” Arthur said.
“As long as the boys keep coming with the same effort, I will be happy.”
