Ghosts of the past ... the Eels won't want to join the 2001 class. Getty

By Christopher Sutton
foxsports.com.au
March 12, 2010

While 2009 was a do-no-wrong Cinderella season for Parramatta, the Eels head into 2010 burdened by the weight of expectation - and the fear of joining an unenviable list of underachievers.

That list is headed by the 2001 Eels, who set the NRL on fire and surfed a wave of Parramattitude all the way to the minor premiership and into the grand final.

“ The Eels have to know that talk of curses or hoodoos will not be acceptable and no excuses will suffice. ”

Parramatta's 30-24 loss to Newcastle Knights in the decider, and their failure to take the same side back the following year, did nothing but cement the '01 Eels as possibly the best single-season team to not win a premiership.

The latest generation in blue and gold risk joining them if they can't make the most of a bona-fide superstar in Jarryd Hayne, and a supporting cast that includes seven representative players and a former international captain in Nathan Cayless.

Add a returning Timana Tahu and prized recruits Justin Poore and Shane Shackleton to the mix, and numbers one through 17 could not be stronger on paper.

Off the field and the arrow is pointing upwards, also. After surviving a board room battle for control of the club in 2009, the westerners succeeded in winning the hearts of neutrals with their week-to-week resolve and overachieving.

Hindmarsh ... deserves better in 2010. Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

But the clock is ticking, especially in the case of Nathan Hindmarsh. If the Eels truly feel they owe their hero, who has worked tirelessly through the good years and the bad, a premiership, then 2010 may be their last chance to do so.

If the abundant promise of 2009 doesn't translate into the club's first title in 25 years, the Eels will join a list of teams who have been forced to live off a diet of "what ifs" and "could've beens".

No team will come under greater scrutiny in 2010 and Parramatta need only look at those who have fallen before them to know what not to do:

• Do not believe they hype around your team, but do have faith in your team's ability.

• Do not presume the opportunity for a premiership will present itself again down the road.

• Do not allow off-field dramas to derail the potential of your team's pure footballing talent.

But most importantly, the Eels have to know that talk of curses or hoodoos will not be acceptable and no excuses will suffice.

Just look at the Sharks, who, after been rebuilt by supercoach Jack Gibson, stole the 1988 minor premiership and seemingly had a saloon passage to the big one.

The side was led by Dally M Player of the Year Gavin Miller and generalled by Rothmans Medal winner Barry Russell, and had two up-and-comers named Andrew Ettingshausen and Mark McGaw lurking out wide.

But the Sharks went out in straight sets after a 9-2 preliminary-final loss to Balmain, who had barely scraped into the top five via a play-off.

It was a decade before the Sharks got another genuine shot at a title, but, held together by an aging ET, their golden opportunity had well and truly passed them by.

In 1989 South Sydney came from nowhere to clinch the minor premiership and, just like the Sharks a year before them, the Rabbitohs rolled over in consecutive matches as Canberra went on to claim the title from fourth place.

Roberts ... got out when he could. Getty Images

The following year saw the heart ripped out of the Rabbitohs as the game's first drug scandal played its part in sending the club from first to worst in 12 short months.

Inspirational leader Mario Fenech left shortly thereafter, and juniors like Ian Roberts deserted a sinking ship as the Rabbitohs' freefall was completed almost overnight.

Perhaps the game's biggest hard-luck story during the 1990s came from north of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Forever the joke of the league, North Sydney enjoyed a renaissance in the 90s, and while the record books show the Bears fell one game short of the big dance four times in seven years, it was the class of 1994 that truly let it sip through their claws.

With prized recruit Jason Taylor, Rothmans Medallist David Fairleigh and Rising Star winner Matt Seers, North Sydney dropped just four regular-season matches before knocking defending champions Brisbane Broncos out in week two of the finals.

But when second-rower Gary Larson was given his marching orders in the preliminary final against Canberra, the Bears' hopes nose-dived - ensuring their potential would ultimately go unrealised and prolonging their premiership hoodoo.

Heartbreak kids ... Bears fell short annually. Anthony Weate

Then came the '01 Eels, a team who dominated from start to finish, amassing a record 943 points in attack and a staggering points-differential of +479.

Perhaps the only thing that squad didn't have was the bitter taste of humble pie stuck to the roof of their mouths. Newcastle took care of that and consigned the Eels as top-shelf wannabes.

Some of the greatest non-premiership-winning sides of the past 20 years - teams like the 2006 Storm, 1995 Sea Eagles and 1993 Raiders - all avoided adding their names to that undesirable group by redeeming themselves 12 months later. Now Parramatta have the chance to find the same salvation in 2010.

No one thinks less of the Eels for falling short in 2009, but that luxury won't be afforded to them now we know their capabilities.

Not only that, but the maturity and selflessness born out of the lessons of 2001 was evident in their most recent run at the title. And this group has come too far to let it all go to waste.