Top 10 players Parramatta have let go since 2000

The Eels have let go of some quality this century.

STAFF WRITER | June 4, 2019 - 5:17pm

It is fair to say that Parramatta Eels fans have experienced more heartache than most in the past few seasons.

This includes three wooden spoons since 2012 as well as having to endure the repercussions of the now infamous salary cap scandal that led to the club being docked 12 competition points and fined $1 million by the NRL.

However, since the appointment of Brad Arthur as head coach, performances have been on a steady incline at Parramatta, barring the unexpected train wreck that was the 2018 season. This upturn in performances has led to Arthur attracting and assembling a top eight quality squad, but inept talent identification and salary cap management throughout the years has led to the Eels losing some serious star power that Brad Arthur and previous Eels coaches would no doubt have loved to have at their disposal in the recent trying times.

Here are the top 10 players the Eels have let go, not re-signed or released since 2000.

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9. John Morris

While John Morris may not have been renowned as the most dynamic or game-breaking hooker in his day if you play 300 NRL games you are clearly no slouch.

Having come through the ranks in the Upper Hunter Valley with the Scone Thoroughbreds before relocating to Sydney, Morris established himself as a cunning ball-playing hooker who relied on his superior game knowledge as opposed to physical gifts in his four-year stint at Parramatta.

Coming off contract in 2006, and with an interesting proposal on the table, Morris decided to jump ship to the Wests Tigers on a three-year deal. In those three-years, Morris would not miss a single game. Simultaneously, Parramatta struggled to replace Morris’ consistency at dummy-half, with Mark Riddell, Matt Keating, and Kevin Kingston all sharing the hooking duties without staking a claim to make the jersey their own on a permanent basis.

After leaving Parramatta, Morris would go onto play another six years of NRL and 177 games before retiring, no doubt six years that the Eels hierarchy wish he played out in the blue and gold of Parramatta.

While Morris is the only member of the 300 club to never have played Origin or for their country, his career displays that there is no substitute for good old-fashioned hard work and a bit of ticker. Two qualities the Eels have lacked desperately since in recent years.