‘It’s not an excuse’: Foran blasts inconsistent Sea Eagles, explains horror trend behind Eels upset

Manly Sea Eagles coach Kieran Foran has slammed his side’s inability to hold the football after they were upset by the Parramatta Eels in a disappointing performance.

Their own worst enemy on Sunday afternoon, the Sea Eagles finished the match with an abysmal 17 errors, which saw them repeatedly cough up possession in crucial moments on both ends of the field.

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Those lapses proved costly as it halted their momentum and also allowed the Eels to gain the football in good positions on the field.

Speaking post-match, Foran didn’t sugarcoat the performance and pointed directly to that area as the key reason for the defeat.

“It was a tough watch. We were way off with the ball. The inconsistencies in our performances at the moment is something we need to fix,” Foran said.

“I haven’t loved what I’ve seen in the last six weeks in terms of up one week, down the next and bounce back the next and then down.

“We completed 93% (possession) last week against Melbourne and then came out today and completed at 65%.

“You just can’t win games of footy doing that and we’ve got to work it out pretty quick.”

Continuing to speak about his side’s poor performance, Foran was questioned about whether multiple changes to the team had contributed to their inability to find any rhythm in attack.

However, the Sea Eagles coach quickly shut down the suggestions and said there were “no excuses” for their disappointing showing.

“It’s not an excuse,” Foran said post-match.

“There’s been a disruption with team changes and players in and out through this period, but you don’t need talent to hold the footy.

“You don’t need talent to get through your sets and I just thought we disrespected the footy today.

“We didn’t get through our sets. We didn’t want to play the long, grindy game and that’s what happens.”

While he did highlight that their opponents were able to capitalise on their mistakes, Foran made it clear that the result ultimately came down to his own side’s shortcomings.

“You’ve just got to keep the other team in the game and we gave Parra everything that they needed to win that game of footy today and credit to them.

“They stayed in it long enough and we eventually just didn’t have the energy to win the game of footy but it was all self-inflicted.”

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