Eels fans boo $14m man Dylan Brown before big loss to Wests Tigers
Parramatta coach Jason Ryles was reluctant to criticise Newcastle-bound five-eighth Dylan Brown, but Eels fans had no such qualms during a 32-6 shellacking from Wests Tigers at Commbank Stadium on Sunday.
Brown last week announced that he would leave Parramatta at season’s end to start a 10-year deal with the Knights that could be worth $14 million.
Boos reverberated around the stadium pre-game when Parramatta’s line-up to face the Tigers was announced and the 24-year-old’s image was shown on the big screen.
Asked about the apparent show of disrespect, Ryles replied: “Was there? I can’t hear it up there. It’s pretty soundproof.
“What do I make of that? That’s footy.
“That’s just emotional fans, and they’re passionate and potentially that’s just the way they feel. It doesn’t change how we think of him.”
Ryles said he felt Brown was “steady” against the Tigers and “improved on last week” when the Eels were thrashed 56-18 by Melbourne in their season-opener.
But the rookie coach felt it would be unfair to single Brown out after a team performance that was substandard.
“To point out Dylan’s performance … I’m sure there’s little parts of his game he’d like to work on as well,” he said.
“But there’s a lot happening around him before we can critique his performance too much.”
Parramatta football manager Mark O’Neill declared last week after Brown confirmed he was heading to Newcastle, that “no one could begrudge him for accepting this opportunity for him and his family”.
Many Eels supporters would beg to differ, and their mood is unlikely to have improved after the spanking from the three-time wooden spooners, which left them on the bottom of the points table after two rounds.
The Knights might see Brown as the man to steer them around the field, but there was little evidence of that against the Tigers.
The New Zealand international five-eighth seemed content to let Parramatta’s backup half, Ronald Volkman, run the show.
Volkman, a replacement for injured Test star Mitchell Moses, was playing in his seventh top-grade game after joining the Eels on a train-and-trial contract.
Brown’s sole threatening moment before half-time came in the 17th minute, when he popped a nice short ball to back-rower Jack Williams 10 metres out from the line, only for the former Cronulla forward to fumble it.
That was about as close as the Eels came to a highlight during the opening half, which was played in temperatures nudging 37 degrees.
Unsurprisingly given the conditions, both teams struggled to control the ball, and it took 27 minutes before the scoreboard operators were called into action.
Eventually, tries from former Penrith winger Sunia Turuva and centre Starford Toa gave the Tigers a 10-0 lead, before a spectacular length-of-the-field effort finished off by Lachlan Galvin made it 16-0 at the break.
The procession continued in the second half when winger Jeral Skelton scored, and then Turuva crossed twice more to complete his hat-trick.
Three minutes from full-time, Brown appeared set to score after a Joe Ofahengaue off-load, only to be dragged down inches short of the line.
