Parramatta Eels 22
South Sydney Rabbitohs 16
The Good: |
I can’t believe we were competitive, let alone victorious, let alone dominant against a Souths side which, on paper, should have been all over and straight through us. Huge boost to our Top 8 hopes, despite the ludicrous injury toll.
In another plus, I don’t think we had any serious injuries to come out of last night either (assuming Mitch Moses is fine). |
The Bad: |
This was going to be my X-Factor, but as a league fan in general I’ve decided to elevate it to The Bad. The referreeing last night was beyond bad. Although I’m yet to see vision of it, popular opinion tells me I was wrong about the one-on-one strip – it was a try. No problem.
I’ll even cop the forward pass for Will Smith’s no-try (even though I disagree with it) – officials will get that wrong from time to time, and this was one of those moments. What I cannot cop is the Alex Johnston ‘try’ via the video ref. If that didn’t bounce before he put it down, I’m a deadset astronaut. This is not an attack on Souths players, and there’s something to be said about Parra not turning over the ball at that point (see comment for Edwards, Kenny); but it is simply not good enough for a professional sporting organisation such as the NRL to get such blatantly obvious calls wrong on so frequent an occasion. |
X-Factor: |
This admittedly isn’t the most compelling X-Factor I’ve ever had, but what was with the Souths back three constantly letting the ball bounce from bombs? As an Eels fan it was great to watch and I encourage all opposition backs to take a similar approach in future games against us.
I’ll more seriously add our inability to repeat our first half performances in the second 40. It’s becoming a predictable and worrying aspect of our game. Put “maintaining focus in the second half” on your To Do Lists, fellas. |
The MVP: |
It wasn’t easy this week. Mitch Moses would have had it in the first half, but injury prevented his impact in the second. Tepai Moreoa also had a stellar game on both sides of the ball, including a terrific try. For the second week in a row Daniel Alvaro went very (very) close, and Ma’u (brilliant) and Semi (amazing) seem to be always in the running. However, this week I’m giving my award to Kaysa Pritchard. Kamikaze showed significant improvement from last week and a truly remarkable performance overall.
A very solid team performance, but a particular kudos to you, Kaysa. Kudos. |
The Starters
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1- Bevan FrenchFullback, Parramatta Eels I think he’s still finding his feet after returning from injury, his running metres were down (59m), and a couple of our early attacking plays seemed to stifle when the ball got to him. With that said, the 3 tackle breaks are encouraging and his try saver on Alex Jonhston in the second half was textbook. Overall it certainly wasn’t a bad game from the Flying Frenchman, but he is evidently still working his way back to the Bev we’ve come to know and love. |
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2- Semi RadradraLeft Wing, Parramatta Eels Only the single tackle break for Semi this week, but a scarily consistent huge metre eating haul again this week with 188 metres from his 12 carries. It was also fun to watch Aaron Gray waiting for Semi to get the ball from Gutho’s line break, only for Semi to change gears and fly away as soon as the pass came. Come back soon, Semi. |
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3- Brad TakairangiLeft Centre, Parramatta Eels Most people take a little while to come back after serious knee injuries; evidently Taka isn’t one of them. Straight back into the action and I thought he was absolutely brilliant teaming back up with Semi on the left. He’ll be upset with the 2 errors, but he broke 3 tackles with his crazy sidestep, churning out over 100 valuable metres from the centre position. |
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4- Kirisome Auva’aRight Centre, Parramatta Eels Some huge metres once again for Kirisome (97m from 9), and he and Hoff are getting there defensively. As a pair, I can only really fault them on Johnston’s first try, and thankfully Bev was there a couple of minutes later to save a second. Two tackle breaks, 1 missed tackle and no errors continue Auva’a’s record of mixing the pretty good with the kinda bad in each of his 80 minute stints. Still, he’s proving a very handy and capable back up centre. |
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5- Josh HoffmanRight Wing, Parramatta Eels What an unbelievable effort to score our final try. When he flat out missed his first tackle of the night, I must admit I was concerned, but he made up for it in the remaining 78 minutes with several runs splitting the Bunnies pretty feeble defence, resulting in 4 tackle and 2 line breaks. Tonight’s game was really, really great to see and if you couldn’t already tell, I was pretty impressed with the Hoff tonight. |
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6- Clinton GuthersonFive-Eighth, Parramatta Eels That’s much better from Gutho. Not only did he brilliantly work the aforementioned line break/try assist for Semi’s try, but also his poised grubber for Beau Scott’s fortunate four-pointer showed deft touch. Lemon also defended much better this week, with only the solitary missed tackle very early on. The Bus also added a couple of tackle busts for good measure. |
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7- Mitchell MosesHalfback, Parramatta Eels Pipe down Tigers fans, he is coming along nicely. His impressive kicking game and his incisive running game were sideshows to his first half passing prowess. Syndes Moses had 3 runs for an impressive 47 metres, a try assist on the Tepai four-pointer and a kicking game that continually terrorised the Bunnies back three. Thought he controlled the game particularly well in the first half (in fact I’d give him my MVP of the first half), but he was obviously hindered in the second by injury (which affected his grade). In short, Mitch was better than his solid first hit out, but hopefully not as good as he’ll be next week. In case you missed it, after the game Gutho was asked the nature of Moses’ injury: “He probably just got an in-grown hair or something.” Classic banter from the Lemon. |
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17- Siosaia VaveProp, Parramatta Eels I loved him starting almost as much as Vave loves jumping into dummy half (what is that about?). Although I’m a little concerned about only 25 minutes of playing time, and I did enjoy his solid 8 runs for 81 metres, it was the slick cut out ball from the base of the ruck to Mitch Moses it the first half that made me laugh out loud. Viva la Vave! |
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9- Kaysa PritchardHooker, Parramatta Eels Yes, please Mr. Pritchard. More of this. Maybe the knowledge he wouldn’t be required to play the full 80 allowed Kayse to expend more energy the minutes he was out there. Whatever it was, he was brilliant and that chase on Crichton’s try, albeit ultimately unsuccessful was stand up and applaud brilliant. Sure, he got mixed up on the final pass of a try gone begging, but he made the original line break, and I thought his service looked much better in general tonight. His defence, particularly on Sam Burgess on two occasions was also stellar with 34 tackles with only 2 misses – well within an acceptable range. There’s some improvement left in him, and consistent service is still an area of concern, but I’m becoming more and more comfortable with Kaysa being part of our two hooker rotation going forward. |
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10- Tim Mannah (c)Prop, Parramatta Eels Another week, another 90 metres from 9 hit ups (last week was 91m from 9) and another HIA for Timmy Mannah. This week’s tackle count was 26 (last week 31), but the unfortunate addition of two penalties conceded dropped him into C range. Nonetheless, a good game in his 35 minutes, particularly on the defensive side of the ball – standard affair for Timmy. |
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11- Manu Ma’uBack Row, Parramatta Eels Another bloke you could have awarded MVP without complaint (and who, like Danny went VERY close). Ma’u was back to some of his best tonight, with a colossal 156 metres from only 14 hit ups, combined with a monster 34 tackles. Outstanding from Manu |
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12- Tepai MoreoaBack Row, Parramatta Eels Heck yes. What an outstanding first try, and a massive 134 metres (from 14 runs) for the night. Throw in his customary 30+ tackles (34 last night) and all the Tep haters can put a cork in it for another week. Speaking of which Tep – put a shirt on, you magnificent bastard. |
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15- Daniel AlvaroLock, Parramatta Eels Sorry? Who the hell was that guy out there in the 15? What a revelation Danny Alvaro was at lock. Polar had a massive 16 runs for 146 metres, and also made 31 solid tackles. Danny has certainly given those like me who have struggled with the lack of consistency in his game something to think about the past two weeks. So stick that up your grades, Mitch. Also, what a cracking stat from our resident stats man, Col: |
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Interchange
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14- Beau Scott (c)Interchange, Parramatta Eels Another vintage Beau Scott performance as he continues erase the memories of his less than stellar early round form. A solid 8 runs for 79 metres and 2 tackle breaks for The Predator, but more importantly some brutal, intimidating hits in defence. Please no one tell him I said this, but Beau probably got away with several hundred illegal plays last night. With that said, he plays for us, so I loved every second of it – Rugby League is funny like that. |
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8- Suaia MatagiInterchange, Parramatta Eels A few fans have called for his demotion to the bench, and I thought he was better for it. A very worthwhile 87 metres from his 7 hitups was the attacking headline of Matagi’s night, but it was the trip that concerns all of us who have hacked on Josh Reynolds in recent years. That trip will hopefully only cost him a fine, but at this point I’m more relieved it didn’t cost us a try. Still, it was silly stuff on what should have been a 7 tackle set for us. |
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16- Kenny EdwardsInterchange, Parramatta Eels Nope. A massive, team high 7 tackle breaks would suggest he ran through the Bunnies all night. However, his 97 metres (from 12), although not a poor showing, suggest he ran across field, rather than charging into a surprising inept Bunnies pack. Still, what really irked me, and I suspect his teammates, were the errors and penalties given away like he was deliberately selecting the worst possible moments. Also, I think I speak for all Eels fans when I suggest the ‘hug the opposition’ celebration died the moment he got sin-binned against the Cows. It’s over, Kenny. We just want you to play footy. |
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17- Will SmithInterchange, Parramatta Eels Thought he injected a lot of good energy from the bench, giving good service from dummy half in his 17 minutes. I am also gutted for him that Hoff’s pass got called forward before his ‘try’, as it was some great support play. In the bigger scheme of things, I thought the second hooker on the bench didn’t hurt our forward rotation at all (particularly when you consider Vave only had to play 25 minutes), and instead gave greater defensive and attacking intensity across the 80 minutes. Consider me an official fan of carrying two rakes in the 17 going forward. |
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Despite the refs, it feels very good to be back in the winners’ circle. Onto next week vs the Warriors.
Go you Eels,
Mitch.
Photos courtesy of the Parramatta Eels and some sort of Bible image. Stats courtesy of Champion Data.
Mitch good summary
Something for all the critics to consider, rather than look at the areas that have not been great but to actually consider and realise he is still only 22, has a smallish frame and his first season as the primary 9 and playing big minutes is a big ask for someone who is that position. I believe that we have more to see of him but, for a while he needs that mid point break as he is more than capable of playing 60 -70 minutes.
Last night one of the 9 commentators and it could have been Johns showed a clip of Cameron Smith in his first game for QLD in SOO, forget the year, but he was no bigger than Kaysa is now. Joey made the observation and said as Kaysa gets a bit older and can get some muscle on his slight body then he can be a big impacting 9.
Maybe Kaysa wont emulate Smith, but as Joey said with some bulk on his body which also gets hardened somewhat as a player ages, then I for one am not writing him off, and what we saw last night may be what BA has looked at for a while now.
The inclusion of a quality 7 into the spine which includes Kaysa I suggest has lifted him as well.
I was at the game last night Col and was thinking that you would have enjoyed his performance straight after he unsuccessfully chased down Creighton. In that chase apart from the speed that he showed to get to him I was impressed that he had made up his mind that he was not going to stop him so tried to dislodge the ball.
John, I was happy clapping through the game, my wife usually dozes off but not last night as I was cheering tv screen. I see in the player grading the Smith played 17 minutes, which means the Kaysa played around the 63 minutes, he came after collecting a hard and direct falcon and was bleeding a bit from it. He came back on after half time and played exceptionally well for mine.
One thing I am pleased with is his lifting his standard each game, what would the reaction from the stands be if the chase and hit to try & dislodge the ball from Crighton actually succeeded?
At the moment I see Kaysa as a 60-70 minute player, best option is to come off 10 before half time and go back 10 into the 2nd half. Watching how Smith played in his position, I think that is a good rotation for Kaysa and maybe clinched a spot on the bench. Do we really need to be chasing another 9?
one swallow does not a summer make, Colin. Let’s give it a while before we make any calls.
My answer, yes, we still do need another hooker, but performances last night suggest Kaysa will likely find himself somewhere in the 17 next year.
Mitch, I believe and have for some time now that Kaysa will prove himself over time, and my reasons have been stated. At the beginning of the year I was more hopeful of him just getting some more game time with IDG being the starting 9, with that Kaysa needed to just get an increase and progressive time over this season, in order to get the experience and be able to play the longer minutes, I certainly did not think he would be the primary 9 for the year, as has happened.
He still has a lot of needs in the improvement stakes but, as I have said the others around him have to step up in what they are doing, I noticed on Zero Tackles stats page that Kaysa only made 34 tackles last night, the least amount this year, and to me that also showed up in his attack and general energy level.
The aspect of not needing another hooker to me is shown up with the service that Smith made last night in the 9 spot, while nothing great he did the job ok, he also can play other positions and therefore a handy utility off the bench.
I was talking about your comments on Smith, not Kaysa
Replied to that comment mate. As I said Maybe, and that’s it. When someone with fair abilties on the field such as Johns brings out the video and comments its worth hearing and noting.
I disagree with you re Johns. He thinks everyone is the most special talent he’s ever seen.
He spews hyperbole. Anyways, all good – agree to disagree mate. Thanks for posting.
Fair call mate on Johns don’t know who is worse him or flappy mouth fittler, although when able to see the video of Cam Smith what he said regarding them and the comparison if pretty spot on, that is regarding the size element, but he was also full of praise the way Kaysa had played.
And “every kick” is the greatest kick in the history of the universe. Might have been a great footy player but goodness he is a terribly boring comentator.
Spot on Gaz.
Very true and a very monotone voice, but not as annoying as flabber mouth freddy
True Mitch and he was playing against a poor pack. Lets see how he goes against a better pack where our forwards are struggling before passing judgement
Would seem to me Glenn that you would find issues against Kaysa no matter who he was playing against and how well he went. Souths forwards may not have performed that well against the eels but when one considers how many of their players especially the forwards have played rep games compared to the Eels, I don’t see where you are right in what you say, but like everyone you are entitled to your opinion
one of the moments of the night for both sets of supporters.
I have been watching Crighton play now for some weeks, and he would make a nice fit with the eels. He is only 102Kg’s but gee he plays above that, always trying to break a tackle and has a fair turn of speed to boot. Very good talented player.
I completely agree, Critchon is a superstar in waiting. Unfortunately the Bunnies know that and is probably the least likely player we could pry from them.
Haha “maybe Kaysa wont emulate Smith [one of the greatest players of the modern era]”
that’s a pretty hot take there, Colin.
great insight about the comparison though mate.
Mitch, only really repeating what Johns had said last night. It was grandly highlighted by the video of Smith running out for QLD in his first SOO game and then scoring a try in that game. He was certainly a lot leaner than he is now, and that is the comparision point in his early days and with Kaysa’s age.
As I said Maybe, and that is all, maybe Kaysa wont emulate Smith but the aspect regarding the build of them at their early days is comparable.
Yeah all good mate, I agreed with your points re build, but I was just saying that I think it’s probably safe to say Kaysa won’t emulate Smith. Just having a laugh mate.
No probs, but the maybe, would be nice though
Ha yeah I’d accept that. Agreed.
Agree with all grades and comments. How good was Alvaro starting? He and Browny together could be exactly what we need going forward.
as in tandem or both starting?
Both starting. Would lay a really good platform, which would allow Moses to get the ball inside the opposition’s 10m area. Also Browny likes to pop a pass here and there and Danny loves to follow up the ball carrier, they’re made for each other.
I know I sang his praises last week and without trying to sound like the president of the Alvaro fan club, at half time all of the people around me all wanted to talk about Danny, how well he was playing and how he had carted the ball more metres than all of the burgess boys put together.
I think a brave move by BA to start him at Lock but it sure paid off.
He’s two from two in my book – he’s had a killer fortnight and is suddenly very involved.
Good comment about Kenny. Lots of ability and a crowd favourite but enough of trying to be the clown. Start focusing on playing to your ability mate. We love you but time to grow up.
agreed mate.
The more I read about Kenny the more I’d like him to play in Wenty.
He brings good energy yes I get that but what I don’t like about him from last nights game is his running side ways.
Personnelly I’d drop Kenny.
In his place bring in gower. At least with gower I no I’m going to get a player who runs at the line n has good timing on when to offload the ball in traffic.
Kenny if your reding this mate pull your head in.
As they say you don’t have to have a long neck to be a goose.
Rev, I have to agree with your thoughts up to a point. Kenny can provide much more entertainment to the team and supporters by playing football rather than trying to be the clown of the team, with those dumb attempts at milking a penalty, the refs are all a wake up to the ploy, there will come a time when he really gets a proper strip and cry out, which will be denied as he does the comedy routine too much.
That hug has to also be gotten out of his game, the attempt to draw Fuimaono into the hug, was met with a thankfully missed swing at him, had the swing connected, Kenny would have been in Disneyland, one day if he continues in it, a fist will connect and may well put him in hospital with a broken jaw, had Fuimaono’s swing not missed that’s where Kenny would have been last night, and Fuimaono sent off or binned for it. I thought Fuimaono had a good game for Souths especially in the second half.
The eels as a team needs Kenny to concentrate on what he does best and that is run and tackle hard, and get the ball away in some tight situations, that gives value to the team, more than his clown theatrics.
Agree wholeheartedly with your last paragraph, Colin.
He does need to straighten his runs more. He is no longer a 5/8 and dances around sideways too much. Prefer to see him run straighter lines.
Agreed – hard and straight, breaking the line is Kenny at his best. Well said.
I disagree. He is too talented to drop to Wenty, and he wasn’t bad last night, just frustrating.
His stats and play contributed to the win, and his form isn’t poor; it’s just sprinkled with a couple of poor plays.
Mitch. His clowning around is what is stopping Kenny from becoming a starting player n most important is being a damaging ball playing back rower.
Yes his frustrating but I just think 1 game in reggies won’t hurt.
Yes I know his to good a player to be in Wenty.
On another thing boys. Is it just me or Is beven French not in form. He seam to lack confidant. I’m thinking when Norman n Jennings return I’m thinking we shift gutherson to full back. What do you boys think ?
All good, agree to disagree re Kenny, but we both share similar frustrations about his performance last night.
I suspect Bev is still working his way back into match fitness. It’s probably more a case of confidence in his knee.
I also suspect unless something dramatically changes, Bevan will continue to play fullback, but that’s me.
I would have to agree with you on French, its likely his first real injury and is favouring it a bit, he was able to respond though pretty quick to the kick put across for Jonhson to get another try when he caught the ball and ran it into in goal touch.
I believe he needs to be our long term fullback, while Gutho was also good there, once French gets his knee fully right and the team continues to improve, I could not see another player taking his spot. Thing is, its going to a big call for BA once Norms gets back as where to play Gutho, he’s too good for the wing, but which centre will be dropped or benched?
Gutho is our no 1 , first thing noticeable with Bev is his quietness compared to gutho who never stops calling out numbers and holes to his team , gutho goes looking for the game whereas Bev lets it find him , bevs an entertainer gutho a competitor
So when Corey and Jennings come back, are you suggesting Bevan should be the one who drops out?
ie – Gutho, Semi, Jennings, Taka, Hoff?
Not my call thankfully but taka most under pressure , biggest mistake rate in the team
For the record, Bev’s quietness at the back compared to Gutho has been noted by several of the other, more astute members of TCT.
Dare I suggest again that French’s quietness at the back is due to him just returning from injury. He seemed to be in the same stages as when he was first elevated to the NRL team last year, and an injury at this early stage of his career can have a dampening affect on any player. I have seen more experienced players playing more gingerly in their return to the top grade, so Bevan’s not Robinson Crusoe in that dept
Gutho filled in well at the back, and there is no doubting his abilities in being able to play in multiple positions making him an invaluable player for the team. French however is a fullback and he will be the long term choice I would suspect.
I agree with what you were saying, but we were referring to the volume and intensity of his calling out defensive orders to his teammates from the back.
No problems with that Mitch, but thing is how many players in a team are yappy? Sure Gutho was in good form in that department last night which one would expect, especially when Moses coped his injury, with Gutho basically taking over as the director of the game and calling the shots.
Besides if one looks at the rolls of the two, and top grade experience I would think that the senior one would the one calling the shots, which was being done by Moses early followed by Gutho afterwards. May be wrong on those points though.
He may not be a starting player but he is our right edge back-rower. He plays the most minutes there of any player in our team. I don’t think starting is important for players anymore.
Agree with Ham here.
Kennys onfield matches his off field , complete goose
Good team performance. Score line should not have been that close. They were enthusiastic and tried so hard. As a fan you have to be happy with that.
Applauds to Kaysa and BA. When the kid has a small time off the field he is so much better for it. Hopefully even with returning players we keep the ability to give Kaysa a 10 -15 minute spell as I really think we will see the best from him if we do. Maybe in time he will develop into a 80 minute dummy half but he is not one at the moment. Superb last night, well done Kaysa.
Moses played well, good long and much better short kicking game. It is going to be so exciting to see him and Norman together, especially with Norman having the freedom to switch sides late to create short side overlaps. A couple of weeks under BA and already you can see the improvement in Moses, he made more late switches of sides last night then what I saw him ever do at the Tigers and looked really dangerous doing it. As Norman has developed the same skill set maybe it is our coaches who are developing this. Maybe our coach can actually coach after all!!!
For mine Manu Mau superb last night. Tough runs and quick line speed. Back to his best with some of those niggling injuries gone. Special mention to Gutho and Teps. We have some young and oh so talented and passionate players, who seem to love playing for the blue and gold.
Love Kenny Edwards but he needs to pull his head in. If we supporters find his carry on borderline at times, then so will referees and he may not get crucial calls late in the game. This could really cost us. He brings energy to the team, which we missed earlier in the year, he just needs to walk that oh so fine line and lately he is overstepping it. BA chat time I think.
Proud supporter, I choose just to ignore the referee’s as the NRL obviously can not or won’t fix it. Archer and the person who keeps him in charge Greenberg have a lot to answer for. Doing the same thing each week with the same incompetent people, such as Mr Klein,will give the same result. Not good enough at all from ‘leaders’ in our game.
Sixties tells me that switch play was a feature of our training all week. I suspect this Brad Arthur character can coach after all.
Great comment Shelley. Well said.
The bunker is an abject failure. So far we have been duped into believing that a player who has lost his grip on the ball in the act of scoring can still be deemed to have possession of that ball if his finger is touching it when it hits the ground. As of today – after last night’s travesty that is – a player not in possession of the ball at all, and who clearly knocks it on when reaching out for it score, can be awarded a try for his efforts. It’s all pie in the sky stuff! I mean, these so-called bunker officials and annoying keystone cop hopefuls would set off Hiroshima’s, here, there and everywhere, with their trigger-happy antics and delusions of grandeur, while their glib, industry-based jargon – such as downward pressure and insufficient evidence to overrule – is merely pretext for tyranny and incompetence.
On a brighter note, I feel that the acquisition of Mitchell Moses has already done wonders for Tepai Moeroa’s running game. That first try last night was a joy to behold! Whereas the less said about the last try of the match, the better! Thus I apologise for my opening comments.
Ha all good. Thanks for stopping by mate. Agree re Moses.
There was a similar incident in todays game. However the knock on was less obvious yet ruled as a no try. The point being is that there is no consistency.
Further in the second half there was a knock by South’s, the Eels retrieved the ball 10 metres downfield. The ref should have called a scrum back where the knock on took place. As it was he gave the Eels a penalty and they kicked for touch. They restarted play at approximately the same place that the original knock on occurred.
Bevan. Kenny, c. Timmy d
You think Bev was a C? Did I read that right?
Didn’t go looking for the game when needed ,soft and lazy , lucky not to be a wenty
Re Hoffy no one mentioned one of biggest plays in game when he dived on loose ball, that’s what defines a first grader and changes momentum !!!!!
Colin ,Bevs the same at training quite as a church mouse , it’s not in him to be a driving force and all good fullbacks are , gutho lifts the team at all sessions and now with Moses up there gutho needs to go back and direct from the back and Bev can go and eat some chillies and see if that’s starts a fire ,gutho goes to the game not Bev he just waits till it comes to him !!! There’s a lot more than scoring freakish tries to being a nrl fullback ,
I disagree I think he does go looking for the opportunities. Who could forget that try he scored against the Dragons last year from a Taka kick. that was a player pushing up into the backline looking for scoring opportunities.
He is definitely down on form at the moment but I think that we just need to be patient. BA will make the right decision either way.
well said John. I tend to agree. It wasn’t Bev’s best performance, and I suspect we will see him fire as his confidence in his knee returns.
I also saw aspects of Bev involving himself from the back on Friday night, admittedly the first I’d seen of it in a while, but still a start. he’s still very young, too.
I think Gutho will eventually end up in our centres when everyone’s on deck. the need for a second hooker complicates Taka’s place on the bench, however. I don’t think you could carry a second hooker AND taka.
Like I said there’s a lot more to fullback than scoring freakish tries !!
Hoffman’s best game of the season.
I have no idea what’s going to happen to our backline once Jennings and Norman returns!
Geez i wish we can put in for 80 minutes, we’d be well top 4….
I kind of agree with anonymous here re French. Having watched him earlier in the year before being injured he was the same as now. Quiet and seemed to wait for someone to put a play on for him instead of inserting himself into the game. Imo a good vocal fullback is worth an extra man in the defensive line in calling players to plug holes and man up. This may very well come with a bit more experience but it has to start soon. Maybe BA should get a heap of Billy Slater tapes for him to watch as Stater goes alright given he’s smaller than French.
Slater is 3cm shorter and 5kgs heavier than French according to NRL.com
Seems like great news for Eels fans.