Do the Parramatta Eels have their very own ‘Curse of the Bambino’ haunting them in the NRL?

Parramatta was leading the NRL at the start of the 2020 season. In Round 9, the boys in gold and blue had led the competition for eight consecutive rounds. Now, after being punted out of finals in straight sets, the question is: do the Eels have their very own “Curse of the Bambino”?

For those of you playing at home, the “Curse of the Bambino” is an old superstitious sports ‘curse’ based around the Red Sox. Boston’s Major League Baseball team had failed to win the World Series for 86 years between 1918 and 2004.

It all started back in 1919, when the Red Sox sold then-star player Babe Ruth (the aforementioned “Bambino”) to the Yankees for $125,000. The Red Sox dipped in form — massively — while the Yankees rose to become one of the most successful franchises in Major League Baseball history.

The curse itself was tied to the struggles, sure, but Boston’s struggles came from a deeper place; the Red Sox were supposed to win. The franchise had huge expectations placed on its shoulders.

Now, back to the Parramatta Eels.

There’s no Babe Ruth to speak of in the blue and gold’s history, unless you count the golden generation led by Peter Sterling, Ray Price, and more, but even they left on good terms. No, instead it’s that second thing that held the Red Sox back for so long: expectation.

The Eels ruled the New South Wales Rugby League competition right when it became an expanded competition. Players like Sterling, Price, Brett Kenny, and Mick Cronin lit the world on fire as rugby league became a national sport with the entrance of Brisbane, Newcastle, and the Gold Coast.

The Super League war was on the horizon, as was the modern NRL. But right at the crux of it all, Parramatta was winning the hearts of thousands around the country. They were building expectations.

It was something they’ve never been able to meet.

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Sure, the team has come close. In 2001, a first-half ambush from the Knights stunned the blue and gold faithful during one of the best shots in the past 34 years. 2009*… well, we all know what happened there.

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Then this year, the Parramatta Eels were on for young and old all over again.

Come Round 9, they had led the comp for eight rounds. Pundits, journos, fans, they all began to believe. Then, they slipped… and kept slipping. Finals loomed, and they were punted out in straight sets.

Parramatta’s oh so hopeful season had ended in two games: a 36–24 shootout at Suncorp Stadium that saw Melbourne take the chocolates, then a shock second-half rampage from the Rabbitohs.

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And what had happened? That same expectation had weighed heavily on a squad no one had given a chance at the start of the season. Gutherson, Moses, Ryan Matterson. They had been burdened with the weight of the 34-year drought, which grows every year.

Even the stats were on their side. According to the NRL.com Stat Attack column, halfback Mitchell Moses clocked in a finals high distance travelled at 9.2km. Fullback star Clint Gutherson dialled in huge 34 “high-speed efforts.”

But in the end, effort was potentially overshadowed by that doubt.

No one can know what happened in the dressing room, of course. Not really. But just look at the way much of the NRL media has twisted the knife on the Parramatta Eels in the past two weeks. More. In the second half of this season, the team has been clobbered with their own failures.

It’s tough enough having to win a premiership. It’s harder still carrying 34 years of missed chances too.

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The second-half fadeaway against the Bunnies was a microcosm of the Eels’ season as a whole. Brad Arthur said it was “something they had been working on, something they had been fighting all season.” It wasn’t enough.

The game, and maybe the season, were in their hands. Now, they’re not even in the race.

So, the blue and gold’s very own “Curse of the Bambino” — in spirit, rather than practice, one hopes — continues on for now. The Eels have to sit back and watch one of the Storm, Rabbitohs, Raiders, or arch-rivals the Panthers take home the crown.

Let’s just hope Parramatta don’t have to wait quite as long as Boston.

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