Eels must start better: Hagan

Michael Hagan has told the Sydney Morning Herald that he is very focused on avoiding Parramatta's traditional early season poor form.

"I don't think you can afford to be too slow out of the blocks and that mentality is something we probably need to change," the new Eels coach was quoted as saying.

"I think the more work we get in pre-season and the more healthy we are the start, the more likely we can get off to a good start. There're only a couple of guys that had any surgery and even they are still able to run so that's not a bad situation to be in."