Parramatta coach Jason Ryles says his side wouldn’t have beaten a park footy team based on how they played on Thursday night, with he and skipper Mitch Moses lost for words in one of the shortest post-match press conferences of the season.
The duo spoke for just over two minutes following the 32-12 loss to the Rabbitohs, but there wasn’t much else to say on a night Ryles vented his frustrations by throwing a walkie talkie and punching a hole in the wall after a Souths try.
The Eels have punched above their weight in recent weeks with some strong defensive performances despite having a number of stars on the sidelines.
But that same toughness was nowhere to be seen in Moses’ 250th NRL game where they made a staggering 17 errors and missed 36 tackles.
“I probably don’t have the vocabulary to articulate how I actually feel, so disappointing is probably one way to put it,” a dejected Ryles said.
“They didn’t have to earn a whole heap of what they did tonight. They made their one-on-one tackles on the try line, we didn’t.
“We completed at 38 per cent in the second half with 40 per cent possession. You won’t beat a park football team doing that. That’s the reality of where we’re at at the moment, and we need to keep working hard to turn it around.”
The Eels reportedly had one of their best weeks at training, but that didn’t show on the field.
“If I had some answers for you now, I’d give them to you, but we’ll go back and watch the tape,” Ryles said.
The Eels coach was blunt when asked about his reaction following Euan Aitken’s try in the 13th minute.
“She’s pretty hot up there (the coach’s box) sometimes,” he said.
“Our good’s good, and our bad’s just nowhere near good enough.”
The loss continued a disastrous trend for Moses who has now lost all of his milestone matches, with the star halfback making four errors in his final audition for the Origin decider.
Moses missed the series opener with a hamstring injury but played in the heavy loss in game two, with the NSW team for the Suncorp Stadium showdown to be released in the coming days.
He wasn’t asked about the upcoming clash against Queensland, with Moses in no mood to chat after his side’s poor performance at home.
“I don’t have much for you to be honest.”
Originally published as ‘Won’t beat a park football team’: Jason Ryles unloads on the Eels as Mitch Moses fails to fire in final Origin audition