Eels coach Jason Ryles and skipper Mitchell Moses are confident they are heading in the right direction but are frustrated with their lack of execution following their 18-10 loss to the Panthers.
The Eels led 10-6 in the second half, but Nathan Cleary guided Penrith home to leave Parramatta in second to last on the ladder, with just four wins from 12 games this year.
Ryles was frustrated with his side shooting themselves in the foot after making great strides in recent weeks.
“It’s disappointing, but we self-inflicted a lot of that onto ourselves,” Ryles said.
“Just with little moments of yardage penalties and errors on play one when we’ve got the ball back and we worked so hard to get it, and then we missed a few opportunities with the footy as well, just with our execution.
“So it’s right there, like it’s right there. We didn’t play just any ordinary team. We had a fully loaded four-times premier today, and they’re desperate.
“And they had to complete at 90, and they had to play well to, one, stay with us, and two, then beat us in the end.
“That’s what they’ve prided themselves on for so long, and we’ve gotten some really good lessons out of it.”
Despite the loss, Ryles believes the Eels are trending upwards and gave a good account of themselves against a desperate Panthers team.
“No, I don’t think so. I just think the class went up today in the opposition, and that’s what happens,” Ryles said when asked if the Eels took a step back.
”At the start of the season, that could have been ugly there at that period, so I just think that’s the progression of our team at the moment.
“And I’m really clear with the direction we’re heading, and I really like the fight and the effort in the players. It is just exactly where we need it to be. We just need to execute better and just tidy up a little bit of discipline.”
Moses conceded he was outpointed by his NSW halves partner Cleary, who put on a masterclass at the death with a 40/20 and a sideline conversion.
“He was on fire, wasn’t he?” Moses admitted.
“That’s why he is the best half in our game, and he just killed us. I think we go down the other end of the field and don’t come up with points.
“He comes down and puts points on us, and that’s just what a quality half does, and he made us pay.”
Despite being anchored to the bottom of the ladder, Ryles is confident his side’s style can see them turn those close losses into wins in the future.
“That’s our style,” Ryles said.
“That’s the way we play. We don’t copy anyone. We play to the strengths of our team.
“We are fast. Dylan Walker plays well with the footy. We’ve got all these different guys with different strengths, so we just need to make sure our style suits that.
“And we’re seeing just little periods of it. We just need to execute one or two of those opportunities, but they scrambled well and showed us what it looks like.
“It’s a different game, so take our lessons, keep going, and keep working on our style.”
Moses agreed the Eels are improving, but the nature of their close losses is still tough to cop, especially after leading Penrith with a quarter to play.
“We’re definitely heading in the right direction, but performances like that tonight are just not going to get the job done,” Moses said.
“We have got to execute at a high level, and they did that tonight. We didn’t, and that’s the difference in the result.
“It’s coming along. We just have to be patient, I guess, but we definitely want to have more wins than what we’re doing at the moment. It’s almost there, but it’s a bit frustrating.”
