The evolution of the Parramatta team has a key component. It revolves around a philosophy which stresses the development and improvement of players. No player, no matter the name, is allowed to rest on their laurels. Everyone is expected to strive to be better. If there is one player who embodies the implementation of that philosophy more than others it is Brad Takairangi. This player, who came to the Eels via a contract withdrawal from the Tigers, has quickly become a fan favourite and an integral part of a resurgent Parramatta team.
Playing Background
Takairangi came through the Cronulla juniors before joining South Sydney to play NYC through 2008 and 2009. In fact, his talents were already gaining the attention of the rugby league world back then as he made his international debut for the Cook Islands whilst still playing NYC.
In 2010 he made the switch to the Roosters, making his first grade debut in Round 2 against the Wests Tigers. From this point, “Taka” fluctuated between the Roosters NRL team and their NSW Cup feeder team, the Newtown Jets, earning a reputation for his positional versatility.
(As an aside, I remember watching him play for Newtown and wondering why he hadn’t cemented a place in the Roosters NRL team.)
In 2013, Takairangi signed a contract with the Gold Coast Titans. At the time, the Roosters were under salary cap pressure and needed to shed players. During the next two seasons with the Titans, “Taka” enhanced his reputation for versatility through some impressive performances at five-eighth.
Yet by the end of 2014 he faced another change of clubs and a return to Sydney to the Wests Tigers. Incredibly, a change of coach and some roster reviews resulted in Jason Taylor and the Tigers deciding that Takairangi didn’t fit into their plans. The versatile player who could cover lock, second row, centre and five-eighth was on the lookout for a new club. Brad Arthur had noted what Takairangi had to offer. After 68 first grade games, his new home would be Parramatta.
An Immediate Impact
There was almost a sense of destiny in Takairangi signing with the Eels. His father, Louis, was a blockbusting winger who played three first grade games with the Eels in 1987. No doubt there was some family pride when “Taka” took to the field at Parramatta Stadium for the first round in 2015.
Finding his place at left centre, Takairangi immediately forged a potent attacking partnership with the explosive Semi Radradra. With an ability to engage his opposition centre and winger, Takairangi provided Semi with the extra space that allowed him to utilise his pace and ultimately set a new Parramatta try scoring record of 24.
Try scorer: Semi Radrada was the beneficiary of Taka’s skills in 2015.
Incredibly, what we witnessed for most of the season was a talented centre playing on one leg. An early season knee injury saw him miss matches and limited his mobility. Ultimately, his season ended with four rounds to go after suffering a foot fracture that required surgery. The fans began to wonder what a fully fit Takairangi would be capable of.
A Great Pre-Season
Following his recovery from the foot fracture, and having overcome his knee problems, Takairangi embarked on the Eels gruelling pre-season program. Designed by Paul Devlin and Brad Arthur to take the players to new levels of fitness and resilience, this program is already showing its benefits during the early rounds of 2016.
It was during this pre-season that I was stunned by Takairangi’s pace. In one defensive drill, “Taka” was able to round up the flying Radradra. In an opposed session I witnessed Taka break into open field with a step and swerve and then burn the fullback with a change of direction and sheer pace. Given the limitations created by his leg injury last year, I was not aware that he possessed such speed.
That step in action at training.
2016 And Beyond
With a switch to the right side, Brad Takairangi is now starting over, combinations wise, with new winger Clint Gutherson. Whilst Gutherson is still learning to read Takairangi’s play, and the opportunities he creates, we are starting to see just how damaging the powerful centre can be.
Standing at 6 foot 4 on the old scale, and weighing in at 108 kilograms, Takairangi is a physical handful for any defender. He possesses a fend and a step that evades the first defender and engages the outside man. This is used to great advantage in creating space for his winger. In 2016 we are also watching the big bloke running some nice lines off his inside men. Hitting the line at pace, he has wreaked havoc both through the ruck and out wide. His imposing height is also being used to great effect when going up for the high ball.
Looking further ahead, there seems little doubt that Brad Takairangi is only just beginning to realise his potential. Under the tutelage of Brad Arthur, he is taking his game to new levels. Let me assure you that he certainly gives credit to his coach. When I spoke to him early last year he said to me that it was the first time that he had been truly coached in first grade. He said that, unlike some other coaches, BA does not assume that his first grade players no longer require skill development. He continues to develop them both individually and as part of a team.
For Parramatta fans, Brad Takairangi is certainly a player to watch. We can already see how good he is. It will be great to witness how good he can become.
Sixties
Images courtesy of the Parramatta Eels
Great read … Taka is one of the NRLs under-rated players. Great to see a fully fit Taka this year showing all that he’s one of the most skilful big men in the game. Another aspect of his game which has improved is his defence. I was a little nervous after round one vs. the Broncos with our RHS defence but since that game Gutho and he have been outstanding.
Another excellent posting, the problem you may have is that you will have to post another 15 to 20 profiles of the outstanding Eels.
Very underrated player but thats changing.
Great read.
Very important player for us, you said it all. Taka is mr consistent, seems to do all the 1%ers very well. Hope he has a solid year with gutherson. So far so good.
top article Sixties.
Been a long term fan of Taka and his performance and combination with Semi last year confirmed my long held admiration of this guy.
I remember as a younger bloke sitting in the stands watching his dad , Louis, and I even have a memory of Louis having an article written on him in “The Eel” magazine that they used to to publish year back now.
Glad to have big Taka with our club!
Good read once again 60’s, I for one was critical of Taka after the Bronco’s match. But in hindsight probably was over critical when you consider he swapped sides and had a new inexperienced winger outside him. Gutherson is coming good and no doubt having Taka inside of him has been a huge contributing factor in Gutho’s improvement.
Great player and the type of guy that every successful club needs. Skilful, consistent and does cost a fortune.
I reckon that we will really see the best of Taka within the next two years. As far as I’m concerned, he is the ideal counterpoint to Jennings on the other side of the field.
Nice one sixties. Taka is one of my favorites. He always gives 100% – every carry, every tackle. And he’s tough – he can take a heave knock, cop an injury and will play on.
I remember his dad too – I remember him scoring a great try at Belmore but injuring himself in the process. Not sure but it may have been his last first grade game.
Taka belongs in a blue & gold jersey. He’s found his home!
Sorry, Louis’ try that I remember was at Brookie, not Belmore.
Takairangi has a lot of heart and you can see the passion he has for Parramatta after every try/assist, and even when he is on the opposite side of the field to the try being scored.
Wears his heart on his sleeve on the field and you can tell by his reactions when a play doesn’t come off or a mistake is made.
Could have come off with serious knee injuries last year but stayed on the field when we needed him, he is a great warrior for blue and gold, hope to see him see out his career here
I really believe that Taka can become one of the most dangerous attacking centres in the game. As Kramerica said, he’s found his home!
Very informative read Sixites. And like always very thought provoking and lots of complex sentences!!
I like Taka, as he takes on the defence. I only have one issue, and that’s his errors- he seems to try the impossible pass, and some of his defence reads IMO can be average. His Direct running style reminds a little of David Vaelicki from the B Smith days.
Interesting comparison to Vaeliki Mitchy. Probably a fair call.
I was very critical of his defence last year and even before, at the Titans. He seems to have improved greatly this year, though he is defending outside two very good edge defenders. Helps when your pack isn’t getting rolled too.
Good call Pou, we have some great defenders on the right edge who have really helped the likes of Taka & Gutho out.
Being in a stronger side negates fatigue (as you’re defending less and not under the stress of bigger tackle counts like we were) and limits the opportunity for individual weaknesses to be exposed. It also means of the tackles we are making, they’re consistently stronger and more efficient/effective (hence a low missed tackle rates) – every player in our squad has benefited from the presence of those aforementioned edge defenders, particularly when you think who they’ve replaced from 2015. It’s why you’re absolutely spot on with your discussions in relation to having NRL quality defenders in the halves and why the game is not just attack-orientated.
Great summation Sixties!
Brad Takairangi encompasses so many fantastic traits that you want in a footballer – skill, strength, light on his feet, versatility and yet, he’s also an out-and-out rugby league player (very few of those going around these days). We’ve spoken before about how good he looked during the pre-season and what we thought to expect from him in 2016 – he has delivered on all of those expectations and then some. In fact, I’d say he’s very unfortunate not to be our top tryscorer at present!
But overall, the thing that makes him so valuable, is that he is one of those players whose value on the salary cap isn’t indicative of the value he offers us and our particular team. I’d imagine that other teams would probably struggle for somewhere to fit him, but he is absolutely perfect as our right centre and just brings so much to the team and larger squad.
There are very few players going around in the NRL like Brad Takairangi and I think he has proven a very shrewd investment, both player-wise and cap-wise. No doubt, that at contracts end, he will be worth a lot more than what he’s currently on (however that can be said about a lot of our players if they keep up their current form) and this comes down to the fact that we have genuine footballers, not just athletes in our team. Taka, like many other players in our squad, has benefited from having his skills and football game developed under our current coaching staff.
It’s fair for many coaches to assume that their players know how to draw-and-pass (among many other skills) when they’re at NRL level, but people would be surprised as to how few actually can to effect. Taka flourishes because he has coaches that understand the need to develop footballers, not just athletes and in that type of an environment, it’s no surprise as to why we’re starting to see him (and many others) flourish. One just has to see the skill development drills that Arthur, Murphy, Gentle, Grima & Burt run with their players down at old salesyard to understand that. We’re very fortunate to have the coaching staff that we have and I hope that they’re here for many years to come!
Quality post yet again my friend! 🙂
Many thanks for the brilliant addition to my post that your comments provide. It’s interesting that I didn’t delve into his defensive qualities, and it’s probably because we seem to be performing so well as a defensive unit. Your comments about the how the value that he adds to team isn’t something that could be measured in a cap is so spot on. Taka just fits Parra so well.
I can’t speak highly enough about the work of the coaching staff.
I liked his dad and I like Brad as well. Louis was a natural leader of men in his workplace and I suspect that Brad may develop into captain material down the track. Its actually great to have a team full of potential captains as it invariably means that they all understand the game, are confident in their own ability and what’s required for success. As someone mentioned earlier we now have a team of footballers with footy IQ, something that has been missing for some time. I once won a footy tipping contest at his dads workplace many years ago and Louis was loved and respected by everyone there. I think Brad will get better and better and take over his dads legacy. The headlines in the Telegraph on the Monday after Louis debut screamed out “Takairangi Tank” and that he certainly was. It was only injury that shortened Louis career and how proud he must be to see his son playing so skillfully and manfully in his footsteps
I had the pleasure of meeting Louis after the Raiders game. From your words, he seems like a good man.
My son lives in Perth and does not get a lot of information and opinion on the Eels. However he is a real Taka fan as I am and we both enjoyed the try against the Raiders where he leapt above the pack to pull the ball down and score. I had different seats last year and the couple who sat behind me in the Thornett stand went to see the Storm game in Melbourne. They met Taka after the game and were impressed at how genuine and freindly he was. They had the selfies to prove it.
The other point is that he seems to have improved Gutherson this year as well. I figured that BA had a lot of belief in Gutherson when he brought him to the Eels and confirmed that he would be playing in the backline prior to the start of the season. After the first game against the Broncos I was a little concerned about his defence but as the season has progressed it has improved a lot. Coaching staff aside you would have to think that a lot of this is also due to playing outside of Taka.
Good points John. Communication is vital in defence, as is confidence in the man inside you. You can see and hear plenty of both in training and as a result it’s manifesting on match days as well.