The Parramatta Eels haven’t put much thought into their semi final loss against the Melbourne Storm last year.
The Blue and Gold bailed out 32-0 of the finals series.
This Saturday, the two teams meet again for the Qualifying Final; only this time it’s a trip north to Suncorp Stadium rather than south to AAMI Park.
But half Mitch Moses is sure they’re a different team than they were 12 months ago.
“I hope it’s better,” Moses said.
“This is my third finals campaign and I hope I’ve learnt a bit from the past couple of years but like I said, we know what we need to do and hopefully we can take that out onto the field,” he said.
Why playing NRL finals means so much to the Eels
There are plenty of opinions about the Eels’ finals credentials.
Some believe they’ve lost the spark they started the season with; they don’t have what it takes to go the whole way.
But Moses insists they’re more than happy to fly under the radar.
“We don’t really listen to it at all … we only focus on what we can control in here.
“We can’t control anything outside our group so we know what we need to do and what we have to do to win and we will hopefully do that on the weekend,” he said.
That’s not to say the Eels don’t know what they’re in for.
“You have got to be at your best. I think the top teams like Melbourne and the Roosters have been doing it for a long time now,” Gutherson said.
“You’ve got to have one to 17 doing their job for the team otherwise you’re not going to get the win and that’s our focus now,” he said.
But in King Gutho the Eels faithful trust and he said the young side is taking the challenge in their stride.
“(It’s the) start of a new season and it doesn’t matter what we’ve done up until this point.
“To finish in the top four, that was our goal at the start of the year, and to be in this position it’s exciting,” Gutherson said.
The Eels can earn a week off with a win on Saturday night, and create a new chapter in their finals history against the Storm.
