The Dyldam Parramatta Eels will take on the Penrith Panthers this Sunday night at Pepper Stadium (Sunday 17 July) for their Round 19 clash of the NRL Telstra Premiership and Blue and Gold Club Captain Tim Mannah says the side is remaining focused on their job at hand.
After coming away with a 22-18 come from behind victory over the Sydney Roosters, Mannah said the side's performance on the field was an extreme positive in the current climate.
"The ray of light is our performances on the field. You look at the way the boys have handled the adversity this year and how we have managed to have a bit of steel about us has been a real credit to the boys character," Mannah said.
"You can look at all the other external things, but to be able to put that to the side and continuing to focus on our football is something that I am extremely proud of."
"What we can control is our football and we are trying really hard to do that. All the matters outside of our control, there is no point wasting energy on it. We have to focus our energy on the footy field."
With the Eels recieving their final notice from the NRL from it's investigation into salary cap breaches, with a penalty of the deduction of 12 competition points, Mannah stressed it would not affect the way the side prepares for the remainder of the competition.
"We have accepted that a long time ago, we knew it was going to happen. I dont think it will change anything we are doing as a footy team. We want to continue playing well and continue winning games."
"Whether we lost 12 points or lost none, our job hasn't changed. We will still need to prepare to play footy and play well."
"We will look at winning this week, that's our main goal," Mannah added.
"It has been our same goal for the last three months. Our goal is to keep winning every week and prepare well for this Sunday."
And with plenty of off-field distractions surrounding the Blue and Gold during 2016, Mannah said the side was focused on their job, which was playing football to the best of their ability.
"We have a bit more attention this year than other years but for us it's business as usual," Mannah said.
"We have done our review on our last game [against the Roosters], but we were happy with our efforts. It would be nice if we were here to talk about footy but we understand where we are and we are just getting focused on this weekend."
"We have a job to do, we are athletes and our job is to play footy the best we can." Mannah added.
The Eels take on the Panthers this Sunday at Pepper Stadium, kick off at 4pm. Click here to view the Round 19 Team List.
