The Eels were desperate to forget a nightmare performance and right their wrongs when they faced the Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon.
Without a host of key stars, including J’maine Hopgood, Jonah Pezet and Kelma Tuilagi, and in front of their 1986 premiership-winning squad they did just that with a 38-20 win.
“This time last week, we were questioning a lot of things,” Jason Ryles said. reflecting on his side’s 52-10 loss to the Titans.
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“But the turnaround came through our defence and came through our attitude and desire to want to go to the contest, the players did a great job today and couldn’t be more proud.”
Defence was a key focus during the week, as it is for any team who concede a half century of points — especially when you consider the influence of that 86’ squad.
Parramatta beat Canterbury 4-2 in that cash, with only a pair of Mick Cronin penalty goals splitting the difference.
That game remains the only NSWRL or NRL final without a try, and the Eels had to do it the hard way, parked down their end to defend the closing stages of the clash.
“They are a really big part of our Parra-proud, our culture, our past players, the connection to those guys,” Ryles said of the 1986 group.
“So, yeah, there’s no better feeling than seeing the joy that they get out of the current crop performing the way they did today.
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“It wasn’t so much the result, but I think it was how they did it and the grit and the resolve that the players showed and the intensity that we played at.
“That’s what I think they’re most proud of, but for us, they’re a really big part of what we do and they’ve had so much success in the past, so it’s great to have them all back and it’s good to see how much they enjoy each other’s company still.
“And I think the biggest thing they remember from that game is how well they defended, especially that last six or seven minutes.
“That’s something that we’re continually working on being a lot more consistent with at the moment, so small step today.”
Skipper Mitchell Moses echoed his coach, saying: “I think they pretty much won that grand final off their defence and they scrambled for the last five, six, seven minutes of that game to win.
“What we’ve been trying to do at our club is, you know, our defence hasn’t been too good lately, obviously.
“We’ve been leaking a fair few points, but our effort hasn’t been there to chase the contact. We wanted to do that today and felt like we did that.”
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Speaking to reporters post-game, young gun hooker Tallyn Da Silva revealed his squad had some tough conversations during the week.
But after they were done, Ryles stripped their game plan back down to the bare bones, referencing three key points — which were not revealed.
However, looking at their performance you can only imagine they centre around intensity, their contact and a willingness to be in the contest.
“Yeah well, obviously we weren’t very on our game last week you could say, but we stuck to our game plan this week,” Da Silva said.
“Did what we are best at and it came out against a good team like that, so we are happy.
“After a loss like that there is always lessons and learnings we will take out of each game, but we simplified our game a lot this week.
“We talked the last few weeks a little bit too much, too much detail and things like that and we stripped it back as much as we could this week.”
It has been a rough period for the Eels who boast one of the NRL’s most extensive casualty wards, which could grow larger after a sternum injury suffered by Ryley Smith.
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But that hasn’t been an issue for Ryles, who blooded young gun Saxon Pryke who proved he is well and truly a star of the future in his NRL debut.
Outside back Ara Nanva has also been excellent in his two games, while Ronald Volkman channelled his inner Shaun Johnson to score a magnificent sidestepping try.
“All we’ve done, there’s a lot happening in and around our squad and who is available and what not,” Ryles said.
“But what has been important is that we focus on what we can control, and what we can control is how we train and how we prepare every day.
“We got some really good lessons last week and we’ll get some more this week as well. But yeah, the attitude to want to do the little things well at an intensity that’s at NRL level was what got us the win today.”
Ryles also made a point of referencing the youth in his side when his post-match press conference was coming to a close, laying out the facts to media.
“We had I think about it was up to eight players (with) under 20 games today, so that’s a huge step forward for us as well,” Ryles said.
“And for them to perform the way they did and get that feeling at the end of it, that’s what we want to keep chasing.”