The Parramatta Eels are coming off a disappointing defeat to the hands of the Newcastle Knights last week, and speaking ahead of the Round 24 clash against the Gold Coast Titans at ANZ Stadium on Thursday 17 August, Blue & Gold hooker Cameron King says the defeat has been addressed and the side is moving on quickly to prepare for this week’s clash.
With plenty to play for last week, King says the performance was disappointing but the side is focused on returning back to their winning ways.
“It was disappointing after what we put together the last 4-5 weeks so as a group, we weren’t happy. We just didn’t turn up on the night and that isn’t good enough this time of year, but the good thing about rugby league is that we get another crack at it this week.” King said.
“I think you can get into a comfort zone but I don’t think that was our problem. They just turned up with a lot more energy and all the little effort areas in the game, they beat us.”
“We addressed that this morning, and now we get to move on.”
“It was disappointing, we had a fair bit to play for including Tim’s 200th, so all the boys are disappointed with the effort we put in. We get another crack at it this week to redeem ourselves.” King added.
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The Eels had a six game win streak before the defeat to the Knights, and King says the loss will be a good reality check for the Blue & Gold heading into the next few weeks.
“I guess it is a good reality check for us leading into September, it just shows that we have a long way to go if we want to give it a shake in September,” King said.
“We had a lot to play for on the weekend, and we didn’t turn up and this time of year, the way the ladder is at the moment, we just have to keep winning every week and hopefully the rest will look after itself.”
“We have been working towards that goal of playing Semi Finals football so it’s there for us now if we want to take it. We just have to improve what we tossed up on the weekend.” He added.
The Eels opposition, the Gold Coast Titans, are currently dealing with plenty of off-field distractions, including talks between former Eel Jarryd Hayne and Head Coach Neil Henry along with the pressure of distancing themselves from the bottom of the ladder, but King says the Blue & Gold are purely focused on themselves, rather than what their opposition will be producing this week.
“We just have to worry about ourselves. They are going to turn up to play so we need to turn up and improve on what we tossed up last week,” King said.
“I think this time of year, you have to focus on yourself. If we want to keep building leading into September we need to get our own backyard right.”
“It would be good for the fans [to see Jarryd take on the Eels for the first time] but as a playing group we haven’t spoken about him.” He added.
“They have a lot of dangerous players, but we are focused on getting our own backyard right and turning around what happened last week.”
