Legendary lessons: 1986 heroes guiding Eels through tough patch

Parramatta halfback Mitchell Moses is set to draw on the lessons learnt from club legend Peter Sterling as he prepares to lead the side out of the toughest position he’s faced as an Eel.

The club will celebrate the 40th anniversary of their last premiership when they host the Bulldogs at CommBank Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The Eels are desperate to honour the occasion with a victory as they navigate a torrid casualty ward and attempt to rebound from a 52-10 drubbing to the Titans last weekend.

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Match Highlights: Eels v Bulldogs

Sterling acted as a mentor for Moses when he first joined the club in 2017 and those lessons will be fresh in the halfback’s mind this weekend.

“I’ve had a fair bit to do with Sterlo,” Moses said at an event promoting greyhound adoption. “My first time coming to the club in the early days, I had a fair bit to do with him.

“He's always got his phone on and anytime I want to give him a call and ask him for some advice, he's open to that. He's been really good ever since I've come to the club. He's such a great person. Not so much of late, but I'm always open to asking him.

“In the early days, I was transitioning from the Tigers and was all over the shop, coming in and trying to take over and be a halfback. He gave me a bit of good advice around how to be a good halfback week in, week out. He was a lot of help early in my career.”

The 1986 squad has been invited to an anniversary event on Friday night, while they will also be in attendance at CommBank Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Parramatta defeated Canterbury 4-2 to claim the premiership, Mick Cronin kicking a pair of penalty goals in what remains the only try-less grand final in NSWRL/NRL history. Sterling was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for man of the match.

After winning three-straight titles from 1981-1983, the 1986 triumph solidified the Eels as one of the game's great dynasties.

"The 1981 grand final is still top of the list for everybody at the club," Sterling told NRL.com. "It was our first win, we came in in 1947 and had to wait until 1981 to win a premiership, which is a long wait.

"1986 slots in just behind that because we'd won in 81, 82, 83, then got beaten in the grand final in 84 and didn't make the grand final in 85. We felt we'd let some opportunities slip, we were close enough in those two years but couldn't get the job done.

"A lot of people had written us off, they thought we'd won our three and then we wouldn't be as formidable. So to do what we did in 86, especially under a different coach, was special."

The Eels ground the Bulldogs into the SCG dirt on that day in 1986, but their defence has let the current squad down in recent weeks.

The side has conceded a league-high 226 points across the opening six rounds of the season to slump to 16th on the ladder.

Moses is desperate to become the first halfback since Sterling to lead the club to a premiership but said there is plenty of work to be done before they can start thinking about hoisting the Provan-Summons Trophy.

“It's a great time for [the 1986 team], they're bringing up some great memories,” Moses said. “It will be good for our squad at the moment, we've got a really young squad, just to see the past players come in and rub shoulders with all of them.

“Most of them will be out there at the game on Sunday. We're going to need to put in a tough performance. That's probably what they built their team on back in the 80s, how tough and resilient they were.

“We're in that position at the moment, our backs are against the wall and we don't have many troops left, but we're just going to have to fight our way out of it. That's going headfirst into whatever challenge is thrown at us. It's a tough one, but we're going to have to fight through it.”

The Eels have copped blow after blow in recent weeks, with 12 of their top 30 unavailable for Sunday’s match.

J’maine Hopgood, Matt Doorey and Bailey Simonsson have all suffered season-ending injuries, while fullback Isaiah Iongi and five-eighth Jonah Pezet are still more than a month away from returning to the field.

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Moses in control

Coach Jason Ryles has been forced to dig deep into his squad to navigate the injury crisis and the club is reportedly looking to recruit available players to help fill the gaps.

Moses has been in the NRL for more than a decade and said he has never experienced a situation like this before but is determined to lead the Eels through this tough patch.

“I've never really experienced or been a part of a time where we're so injury bashed up,” Moses said. “It's a different challenge for myself in my football career. Being the captain, it's something I'm excited for, to try to get us out of it.

“We're all walking forward to it, there's no hiding. It's clear we weren't happy with the performance last weekend, so we don't want that to happen again. We're going to walk forward to the fire and see how we go.”

No player who walked off the SCG victorious in 1986 could have predicted it would be 40 years without adding another premiership to the Eels trophy cabinet.

The club has come close on multiple occasions, but they haven't been able to prevail on grand final day.

Ryles' arrival last year heralded a new era for the Eels, with the coach embarking on a lengthy rebuild from the ground up.

While this season has had its challenges, there have been some green shoots both on and off the field.

Sterling remains disappointed it's been four decades since Parramatta won a title but is optimistic the wait won't continue for too much longer.

"I'm gutted that it's been 40 years," Sterling said. "We've been in a couple of grand finals since with no joy. We haven't had the constant success we would've liked. We're a big club, we should be a successful club.

"We've got so many things going for us but it's unfortunately the longest drought among the clubs That needs to be rectified. There are way too many Parramatta supporters who haven't seen a Parramatta win and it's becoming a distant memory now.

"I like what Jason Ryles is doing and we've now got good management, which hasn't necessarily always been the case. I've got no doubt we're on the right path now but it's not a quick process, it's going to take a while.

"In some ways it's three steps forward, one step back, but I like the direction we're headed in despite the fact this season has been a touch disappointing. I have confidence in Jason, being in the systems he's been in, he's seen success and knows what that looks like.

"We're just hoping he can convert knowing what it looks like into actual success. We're all quietly and cautiously optimistic that we will come out the other end."

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