Belmore-bound Mahoney focused on Eels' finals charge

Parramatta hooker Reed Mahoney insists he isn’t thinking about next year’s move to Canterbury as the Eels look to get their premiership campaign back on track against the Bulldogs in Saturday’s western Sydney derby at CommBank Stadium.

After crashing 26-0 to South Sydney last Friday night, Parramatta now face a difficult assignment to secure a top four berth, with matches against Canterbury, Brisbane and Melbourne in their run home and the worst for-and-against of the four teams vying for the remaining spot in the final four.

The Eels are two points behind the fourth-placed Storm on 28 points, along with the Rabbitohs and Broncos. The Roosters are a further two points behind in eighth position, with the Raiders in ninth spot on 24 points.

Each of those teams face at least two of their remaining three matches against other sides vying for fourth spot or a place in the top eight, with the exception of Canberra.

1. Panthers: 38 (+298) v Rabbitohs, Warriors, Cowboys
2. Cowboys: 32 (+208) v Warriors, Rabbitohs, Panthers
3. Sharks: 32 (+137) v Sea Eagles, Bulldogs, Knights
4. Storm: 30 (+211) v Broncos, Roosters, Eels
5. Rabbitohs: 28 (+134) v Panthers, Cowboys, Roosters
6. Broncos 28 (+69) v Storm, Eels, Dragons
7. Eels 28 (+28) v Bulldogs, Broncos, Storm
8. Roosters: 26 (+121) v Tigers, Storm, Rabbitohs
9. Raiders: 24 (-31) v Knights, Sea Eagles, Tigers

Since collecting the wooden spoon in 2018, Parramatta have been regular finalists – finishing sixth last year, third in 2020 and fifth in 2019 – and after defeating the Storm and Panthers (twice) this season, there is a belief that the Eels can finally end their 36-year premiership drought.

However, consistency has been an issue for Brad Arthur’s men and Parramatta haven’t managed to win three games in a row since round five, when they held off the Titans after wins against Melbourne and St George Illawarra.

The Eels lost the following week to Wests Tigers and they were also beaten by Canterbury mid-season, despite both teams being near the bottom of the ladder.

“It is always a tough game against the Bulldogs,” Mahoney said. “We have got to turn up and play our footy and hopefully put in a good performance. They got one up on us last time so we will be looking to get one back this time.”

Mahoney will join Canterbury next season, along with Penrith strike forward Viliame Kikau and the Bulldogs have announced the appointment of highly regarded Panthers assistant coach Cameron Ciraldo on a five-year deal.

However, Mahoney said he was focused on helping Parramatta to finish the season as strongly as possible and hadn’t taken much notice of developments at Belmore.

“I am signed here for 2022, so I don’t really care what is going on over there,” he said. “When I get there, I will worry about it then. It looks like they are heading in the right direction but that is completely out of my control.

“Personally, I have really enjoyed this year at the Eels and I am just trying to soak it all up and enjoy my time with the boys and the club and the fans.”

Parramatta lost five of their last seven regular season matches in 2021 before eliminating Newcastle in the opening round of play-offs and suffering a controversial 8-6 loss to Penrith that has left the Eels hungry to do better this year.

Despite the disappointment of being bundled out in the second week of the finals, Mahoney said knowing how close they had come to beating the eventual premiers also gave the Parramatta players a belief that they could beat any team.

“Obviously, we know how good we can be," said Mahoney, who missed the last four rounds of the 2021 season and the finals after suffering a shoulder injury.

“This time last year we were in a bit of a slump. We lost four in a row coming out of the Gold Coast bubble [after the NRL was relocated to Queensland], but the boys did a really good job to put us in a good position for the finals.

“I think those finals games gave us a lot of hope and confidence coming into this year. The last semi-final that we lost to Penrith, as a club we took a lot of confidence from that."