Parramatta made it a three consecutive finals berth last season and took some scalps along the way.
The Eels are on the hunt to make these post-season appearances count for something.
NRL Premiership Prediction
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Another season where finals were ticked off, but that was all she wrote for Parramatta last season.
As we enter the 2022 season, the Eels are considered amongst the top five or six chances of taking out the premiership, but there is every reason to believe they can take that next step.
The Eels showed their ability to easily account for the teams around their position on the table in 2021.
There were a few ugly losses agains the top wrung, but it was the two victories against Melbourne Storm that really pricked the ears of pundits around the country.
Parramatta’s defence was consistently one of the best in the competition and it can use that clamp-down style of play as a foundation to build upon into this season.
Offensively is where the Eels need to elevate to another level.
They averaged just 12.2 points per game against top-four opposition this year – well down on their 23.1 season average – and it left them agonisingly short of a miracle Grand Final appearance.
An 8-6 loss against Penrith in the semi-final was a clear case of the Eels’ ability to stop teams from scoring as well as their inability to post a winning total on their side of the scoresheet.
Clint Gutherson and Victor Moses are going to be critical to the Eels improving their offensive output.
The addition of Bailey Simonsson to the backline late in the trade period looks a very shrewd bit of business conducted by the Eels.
Simonsson will likely have an immediate impact.
With Maika Sivo missing the start of the year, Simonsson will slot perfectly to the outside role and can greatly assists the scoring power of Gutherson and co.
You also cannot underestimate the experience the younger Eels players would have gained from those finals last season.
If players like Reed Mahoney and Haze Dunster can keep improving to help the freakish talent that is Moses, the Eels might very well be onto something in season 2022.
The Eels’ fans have had enough of hearing about their longest premiership drought and it is time for the club to put that dark cloud above them to rest.
