A pair of champions from Parramatta's last premiership side have launched into the club in the wake of Reed Mahoney's big-money move to Belmore.
Ray Price, the skipper of the Eels' last competition win in 1986, and legendary goal-kicking centre Mick Cronin have claimed that the Queenslander's defection to the Dogs is an indication that their club has lost its way.
The duo's views have been made known following reports that Parramatta's $1.5 million pay-packet over three seasons to Mahoney was rebuked, with the Nambour-born rake instead opting to become the latest name to cross to Canterbury on an inflated deal.
According to reports from Paul Crawley ofย The Daily Telegraph,ย the financial details tabled by the Eels were eventually rejected by Mahoney on Thursday, with the rake instead opting for the lure of the Bulldog's four-year, $2.4 million contract.
While Mahoney will stay on with the CommBank Stadium side for the 2022 season, Crawley also claimed that the hooker's relationship with head coach Brad Arthur had been strained to an extent.
With Mahoney now becoming the third Parramatta player behind Isaiah Papaliโi and Maratha Niukore to depart the club, Price was incredulous with his old club's retention policies.
โWhat are they doing?โ Price exclaimed to Crawley.
โHe [Mahoney] is a quality hooker. He is a very good player.
โBut so is Papaliโi.
โJesus Christ.
โIt canโt go on like this. They need players and they are just letting them go.โ
The gnarly lock whose play earned him the nickname 'Mr Perpetual Motion' also lambasted the Eels' inability to make players from the past feel welcome within the club.
โThere is not much we can do because they just donโt listen to anyone,โ Price revealed.
โWe are the only team that won something and they couldnโt give a s**t about us.
โThe majority of the people that are having anything to do with the club and the side wouldnโt know a footballer if he picked his nose.
โThey havenโt got a clue. They are pathetic.โ
While Price was fuming with the current state of play, his long-term teammate in Cronin remained slightly further off the boil.
Still, Cronin was left disappointed at the contemporary player's refusal to remain loyal to their clubs, with the 216-game Eel citing several legendary names as those that had turned their back on healthy bottom lines to stay on in blue and gold jerseys.
โBlokes like Ella, Kenny, Price and Sterling would all come into that category,โ he claimed.
โThey would have all taken unders to stay.
โI am not going to be hypocritical because the club can get rid of you pretty quick.
โBut it disappoints me from a game perspective that there is not a lot of loyalty. It is just the modern game.
โAll I am saying is that the game has changed. It seems to be all about the dollar."
However, the Gerringong giant was also willing to concede that the deal put forth to Mahoney was too good to deny.
โThat is dead set a good offer and I canโt blame him," Cronin added.
โBut as I said, it probably shows you to a degree now that it is just about the money.โ
Although the Eels faithful will be left ropable with the fact they have lost another key member of their roster, these same diehards can take solace in the fact that skipper Clint Gutherson had previously signed on to stay under Brad Arthur's reign.
