Eels coach Jason Ryles was frustrated with his side’s lack of fight and commitment after they went down 20-16 to a brave but undermanned Souths outfit in Round 24.
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The Eels had plenty of chances, but some desperation try-savers from Jye Gray got the Rabbitohs home in a thriller at Allianz Stadium and Ryles wasn’t impressed with his team’s application and intensity.
“I just thought they had a whole heap more effort than us tonight and we got what we deserved in the end,” Ryles said.
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“I just think that’s been one of the real strengths of our game all year our fight and our effort. “There was a couple of moments in that game tonight where it was really disappointing.”
Ryles was pressed on why his side were beaten in the effort stakes.
“No, I won’t elaborate on it, but the overarching theme was they out-competed us tonight and that’s probably one of the things that hurts the most, I think,” Ryles said.
“So we certainly have got to address that this week and get back to what we’ve done for the previous 20-odd rounds and that’s fight for everything and show that real effort.”
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Ryles believes his side produced enough chances to win the game, but were not able to match Souths’ desperation in defence.
The Eels coach was quizzed on why his side was missing the effort that they’ve shown in previous weeks — and he hit back in hilarious fashion.
“I don’t know, you want to come to the review and give me a hand?” Ryles said.
“We had nine linebreaks to six, so there was certainly lots of opportunities being created, but we just couldn’t ice them in the end and I think those two try-savers they were certain tries and that sort of summed up the night. That’s where they are at and where we’re at.”
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Ryles was pressed on a Will Penisini knock-on that brought an exasperated response from the Eels coach in the box.
“No, there’s a few of them,” Ryles said.
“Positives for me? I’ll have to go back and have a look and try and find some.”
Eels skipper Mitchell Moses was critical of his own performance and echoed his coach’s sentiments on his team’s effort and desire.
“Yeah it’s tough, we probably came in with the wrong mindset,” Moses said.
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“I feel like from the start, we’re giving them three seven tackle sets straight away, we’re rolling them and just let them off the hook too easy and put us under the pump straight away. “That’s on me, I’ve got to finish the sets a bit better there. It’s a bit of a reality check, I guess for us.
“We’re competing pretty well. There were some moments there we should have iced and they competed a lot harder than us, I reckon tonight.”
