A Parramatta Eels’ Thank You
On behalf of everyone at the Club, I want to thank you, our Members and fans for your amazing support once again throughout season 2022.
You’ve ridden the wave with us throughout the season, across more than 2,000 minutes of rugby league.
And now we have the small matter of Grand Final Day this Sunday ahead of us!
To have both our men and women playing for ultimate glory in the final game of the year is something that we’re all proud of and, most of all we’re really pleased that everyone in the Eels community can share in the excitement and build up of grand final week. Everyone at our Club has worked hard to deliver this great achievement, but the job isn’t done!
By finishing the regular season in the top four, our NRL team showed tremendous growth and resilience throughout the year. Those qualities were on show in Townsville with one of the best victories in our Club’s recent history.
We can’t let this occasion pass without a huge congratulations to our Head Coach Brad Arthur, our coaching staff, and our players for qualifying for the Club’s first Grand Final in 13 years.
We measure ultimate success in Premierships, and we understand that every member and fan consider that to be the benchmark. But it’s important to acknowledge that our NRL players and coaches have delivered a level of consistency in recent years that is the envy of many NRL clubs. This includes:
Maintaining a constant position in the Top eight for over four years
Being one of only three Clubs to make the finals four out of the last five years
Producing the most Origin and international representatives for the Eels in over a decade.
Nine out of the current starting 17 making their NRL debut at the Eels, demonstrating our strength at developing players.
As we move into 2023, we will have some announcements on the further investments we will be making in the football department to build on the success of our program.
After the tremendous experience of Friday night, our NRLW team also delivered one of their best ever performances last Sunday to also qualify for the Grand Final.
This is a tremendous achievement by our NRLW coach Dean Widders, the support staff, and players. The drive to make the finals after some close early losses and then get the best of the undefeated minor premiers so convincingly is a credit to everyone in this program.
Our NRLW program is based on our development philosophy. We have one of the youngest squads in the competition and a growing number of players who have come through our Tarsha Gale development pathway.
We look forward to growing our commitment to the Women’s Rugby league as part of the extended NRLW competition in 2023.
Our on-field achievements wouldn’t be possible without our Members and Corporate Partners who provide such great support to the Club each and every year.
We broke another membership record this year with 34,264 members and we’ve continued to grow our commercial partnerships, especially through the strong support of our major sponsor ALAND.
There’s lots to look forward to in 2023 but of course, our focus is on this Sunday and the tremendous opportunity we have as a Club to add to our rich history.
I’d like to wish our players, coaches and football staff all the very best for their big day, knowing that they will have a wave of blue and gold fans cheering them to victory.
Just one more…
Go the Eels!
- Jim Sarantinos, CEO.
