The Cumberland Throw

Experience And Quality – The Vital Factors For The Eels

The long wait is finally over. Farewell to the sound of leather on willow. Welcome to the week that heralds the NRL opening round – an opening round that features the Eels at home in the very first match of the season. What better way to satisfy our hunger for the footy!

This anticipation of a successful year for the Eels is now almost at fever pitch and membership numbers are continuing to climb. On what basis should the Blue and Gold Army be expecting this massive change in our football fortunes?

I’m on record as being a huge fan of the coaching staff, headed by Brad Arthur. However, the focus of this post will be the players. What will lift the Eels and lead to the season extending through September?

For mine, the answer is experience and quality in key positions.

  • Experience

Most Eels fans will put their hand up and admit to being hopeful of a good season every year. After all, memberships have continued to grow even during these lean times. However, being realistic, in recent seasons the Parramatta roster has been at least 500 NRL appearances shy when compared against the rosters of regular finalists. There is no substitute for experience within a successful team.

Consider this. In 2014 and 2015, players such as Manu Ma’u, Kenny Edwards, Junior Paulo, Tepai Moeroa and Pauli Pauli were among our core forwards. We are huge fans of these players, and indeed they are great talents, but they were all novices playing together in the same team. In the experience stakes, recruits such as Peats (54 games for Souths), Lussick (31 games for Manly) and Hopoate (22 games for Manly) hardly raised the bar for the Eels.

Brad Arthur was genuinely working with a very inexperienced squad.

Fast forward to 2016, and although Pauli has now moved on, these players are now the beneficiaries of 2 years under Brad Arthur and three pre-seasons of NRL preparation.

However, to fully understand the need to add players such as Watmough and Scott to the forward stocks, examine the current number of first grade appearances for these Eels.

Paulo – 42

Ma’u – 35

Moeroa – 28

Edwards – 19

Alvaro – 7

Can there be any doubt about the importance of bolstering the Parramatta pack with older, harder heads? Combined, Watmough and Scott boast over 500 NRL appearances.

Add another 500 plus games from Foran, Gordon and Jennings and the Eels are finally competing with other teams on the score of experience.

Manu Ma'u - a fan favourite who will relish playing alongside Beau Scott.

Manu Ma’u – a fan favourite who will relish playing alongside Beau Scott.

  • Quality

Of course, experience would count for little if it was not quality footballers being recruited for important positions. Furthermore, in limiting this discussion to particular players, it is not intended to discount the quality of Eels incumbents. Rather, the focus is on the value added to the Parramatta personnel from specific recruitment.

Kieran Foran is widely regarded as the jewel in the crown of Parramatta’s recruitment. With 147 first grade appearances, Premiership and World Cup success, there is little question about the quality that this number 7 will add to the Eels playing ranks. Peter Sterling has long sung this bloke’s praises and few would argue with a commentator of his pedigree. Having a quality half in the spine is something that Eels fans have yearned for nearly 3 decades.

Beau Scott also brings experience (200 NRL games), Premiership success and representative honours to the club. Renowned as a defensive enforcer and an edge weapon, his quality and attitude has tremendous value for the young Eels forwards. Reports out of training already indicate that his impact is profound.

Michael Gordon is the consummate rugby league professional. With 179 first grade games under his belt, he has been one of the leading lights in an intense and challenging pre-season preparation. Often setting the standard for his team mates on the training paddock, his positional sense and goal kicking will be invaluable to a team that lacked in both departments in 2015.

Finally, at 27 years of age, Michael Jennings is at the peak of his career. He brings experience (193 NRL appearances), Premiership success and a wealth of representative honours. His new team mates were both stunned and delighted by his recruitment. As a prolific try scorer (112 tries), the potency of an already impressive backline has been immediately bolstered.

Jennings - a signing coup for the Eels.

Michael Jennings – a signing coup for the Eels.

There we have it. Quality and experience has been added to a team that was already on the cusp of a finals appearance. Reason enough to be optimistic about the upcoming season? We think so.

At TCT, we are as excited as most Eels fans. We are also excited as this will be our inaugural season reporting on the Parramatta Eels. Could we have picked a better season to launch this website!!! See you at the games.

#Parra2K16

Sixties

All images courtesy of the Parramatta Eels

 

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11 thoughts on “Experience And Quality – The Vital Factors For The Eels

  1. Anonymous

    Great write up mate.
    I can’t remember the last time we had a squad this capable heading into a season. Exciting times.

  2. John Eel

    I have always considered that NRL experience measured by games is vitaly important to a teams success. I have posted about this before on this site. I always consider the number of NRL games or experience when assessing a teams chances in matches.

    Last year I did a survey in Rd 22. What this showed was that the top 4 placed teams at that time averaged 1,663 games per team experience. However the bottom 4 placed teams only averaged 1,146 games of experience.

    The lowest of the bottom teams in Rd 22 were the Eels with only 910 games. To gain further explanation of the eels, in Rd 20 they only had 898 games. That I believe was the lowest for any team in 2015. The most experienced team in Rd 22 were the Broncos with 1,878 games.

    It is also worth noting that Manly regularly played with 1,800 games of experience but as you noted above due to the lack of quality in their forwards it did not help them get into the top 8. It also explains how Penrith fell down the ladder in 2015 when they lost players like Kite, Plum and others, they were left with a very inexperienced team and were playing with around 1,100 games of experience.

    1. sixties Post author

      Superb comment John Eel. This research of yours is a wonderful snapshot explanation of the Eels being roughly 500 games shy of a finals contending team
      The beauty of your response is the manner in which you have taken the analysis beyond the Eels.
      Much appreciated mate.

    2. Clint

      Great observations John and very well said Sixties. This is exactly what Daniel Anderson identified in his 2014 NRL season review as a short-coming within the Eels top grade squad and that the recruitment committee at the club collectively decided was one of the major points to address in its recruitment strategy.
      The theory is that you need a minimum number of first grade games within your squad team to be challenging for the premiership, along with a core group of 10-12 players that you sign to long(er) term deals who you identify as your premium players and that they take up a certain portion of the salary cap, while the rest of the squad is filled with players of equal caliber, who all compete for the remaining spots and are year-to-year prospects that earn their keep (hence the amount of one year deals in our extended squad).

      1. sixties Post author

        Another great contribution through the comments. Much appreciated Clint. TCT is fortunate to have such quality in response to our posts.
        BTW, looking forward to your upcoming posts Clint!

    3. Gol

      I think games of experience does a good job reflecting a clubs injury toll. While the experienced players the Panthers lost may not have been brilliant individually, collectively if you end up starting a lot of sub-20 game players you will struggle.

  3. Keeneel

    TCT and the people involved with it, have provided Eels supporters a fantastic insight in the lead up to season 2016.

    The knowledge and information you keep providing daily is of such quality and depth that by comparison to the Rugby League journalists I am praising them when I called the bottom feeders.

    I hope Eels supporters gain as much pleasure as I do, great work, great effort.

    All the very best,

    1. sixties Post author

      Keeneel, your feedback is quite humbling. I would add that the knowledgable comments that we receive from fans (see John Eel’s comments above) also contribute to the information that we provide.
      Thanks again.

  4. Rowdy Roddy

    Great read sixties. Equally as informative and appreciated were your data and analysis John Eel.
    What a wonderful site for the real eel fan!

    P.S. I watched the boys dance this arvo at the old sales yards, they were working well through the centre and on the right side all the way out to Gutherson. Unfortunately Semi got a bit of a cold outside Jenko who continually stepped, either inside and left Semi posted or outside his man and crowded him out of the play.
    I’m sure BA is not missing it, Jenko needs to draw and pass at least every second time he runs the ball or switch to the right side and let the best left side attack of 2015 be that again in 2016!

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