The Parramatta Eels will be celebrating their 70th anniversary at the Round Seven Easter Monday clash on 17 April, when the Blue & Gold come up against the Wests Tigers at ANZ Stadium.
Speaking ahead of the clash, Eels co-captain Tim Mannah says receiving his exclusive 70th Year Anniversary Heritage jersey from Blue & Gold legend Steve Edge was something that has a lot of meaning and importance.
Mannah paid credit to some of the Eels legends who were on hand earlier this week.
“These guys really laid the platform for this strong Club. The Club has a lot of history and these three gentleman [Steve Edge, Brett Kenny and Peter Wynn] have a big part to do with the legacy they left at this Club,” Mannah said.
“I think anyone that knows a bit about the Parramatta Eels knows a bit about the reach that it has, it is in the rugby league heartland of Western Sydney.”
“The supporter base is huge, so there is a lot that this Club has going for it, there is a lot of history behind it as well.”
With the Club celebrating such an important occasion, Mannah said that Club will need to improve from it’s last few performances.
“It is a big occasion, and regardless of it, we have to perform,” Mannah said.
“We have lost four in a row now, and it’s not good by our standards and we really have to come out hungry and make sure we do whatever it takes to get a result this week.”
“The last two weeks there has been a 10-15 minute patch before half time that have been really costly for us. We let in three tries both weeks, and we tried to play catch up in the second half which is not ideal.” Mannah added.
“We need to fix that part of the game up, but overall, we can have a bit more hunger there to get the right result.”
And with the Blue & Gold going down in the last four weeks, Mannah said the side remained honest yet confident about the situation.
“The boys are a pretty resilient group which they showed last year. We have pretty high standards and losing four in a row is not acceptable by our standards. We really want make sure we come out and do whatever it takes to get a good result this week.” Mannah said.
“We are a pretty honest group and have a very honest coach and nobody hides from anything. The coach hits us between the eyes when we need to fix something up and he doesn’t shy away from anything which has been really important for us.” He added.
“The playing group is the same and we are all very honest with each other. We know where we are at, and we know how good we can be, it’s just a matter of us going out there and getting the result we want.”
The Eels kick off against the Wests Tigers at ANZ Stadium on Monday 17 April, with kick off at 4pm. Purchase tickets to the Easter Monday clash!
