One of the greatest misconceptions about the Parramatta Eels under Brad Arthur’s stewardship has been the belief that he is reluctant to give young players a shot. This week I’m placing that theory under “The Spotlight” to test its validity. Is Parramatta the golden handshake retirement village that some critics in the world of social media would have you believe or is it the land of opportunity?
Judge for yourself…
The Youngest Spine In The NRL
There aren’t too many teams in the NRL with an average “spine” age of 22 years. Let’s shine the spotlight on the ages of the Parramatta players in those positions in Round 12:
French – 21
Gutherson – 22
Moses – 22
Pritchard – 23
When that old-timer, Corey Norman (26), takes his place in the halves, the average age of the spine skyrockets to 23! Out of the other NRL clubs, only Newcastle (also at an average age of 22 without Hodkinson) compares.
Old man – Corey Norman
This age factor is also reflected in NRL experience. Here’s the NRL games for each of those players listed above:
French – 20
Gutherson – 40
Moses – 69
Pritchard – 35
That’s a grand total of 164 NRL games. Even this week’s inexperienced Knights’ spine has notched up 181 appearances. The inclusion of Norman (135) at five-eighth would bump the figure up to 259 NRL games, but the faith in youth is there for all to witness. In comparison, the table-topping Storm boast a whopping 995 games for their spine players, and Cameron Smith alone (345 games) has more than double the experience of all four Eels combined.
Mitchell Moses – part of the Eels bright, youthful future.
To have such youth in the spine could be considered foolish. A quick look at the Knights’ position on the table might just serve to justify such an opinion. However, when those players carry immense talent – as evidenced by speculation about Norman’s Origin credentials – you are creating an incredible base for long term success. The short term hiccups will be forgotten as these players hone their craft and develop their combinations.
Outside The Spine
Brad Arthur has not shied away from throwing young forwards into the heat of the battle. Tepai Moeroa, still only 21 years of age, made his first grade debut at just 18. Daniel Alvaro, now aged 24, made his initial appearance at the age of 22.
Tepai Moeroa – thrown into the battle as a teenager.
Extending the principle beyond simply age, Arthur has also taken a leap of faith with relatively inexperienced players becoming team mainstays under his coaching. Manu Ma’u had never played first grade before being given a shot under BA, and Kenny Edwards had one NRL match on his resume when Arthur took the helm. Throw in Semi Radradra who had compiled a grand tally of seven first grade games prior to 2014 and you develop a picture of a coach prepared to offer opportunities.
A Team Of Pensioners?
Critics of the Eels recruitment strategies often cite the senior status of the players. So where do the Eels sit when it comes to the average age of the first grade team?
This week’s team boasts an average age of 25. To put this into perspective, I’ve researched some select teams to provide a point of reference.
A useful starting point would be both of last year’s grand finalists. Both teams are currently fielding older teams than the Eels. In round 11 (with Origin players included) the average age of the Sharks team sat at 27. The ladder leading Storm will this week field a team which averages 26 years.
Two teams which began the season on the Premiership favourite lists for many pundits were the Canberra Raiders and the Penrith Panthers. These sides are highly regarded for their combination of youth and talent. This week, these sides will field a comparable average age to the Eels – the Raiders at 25 years and the Panthers at 24.
Of course, the challenge occurs when the team is far too young. With an average age of just 23, the Knights find themselves anchored to the bottom of the table and facing difficulties securing experienced, quality recruits who can provide direction for their talented, yet inexperienced squad. The path of fulfilling potential is not so easy without such senior players.
Beau Scott – providing that balance of experience to the Eels youth.
The Value Of Experience
Prior to the kick off for the 2016 season, Phil Gould boldly predicted that the Sharks would be the team most likely to take out the Premiership. A major part of his reasoning was simple – the Sharks “boasted the most experienced playing squad in the competition. The total of NRL games played by their top-25 players was miles ahead of any other team”. Indeed, the 17 players who took the field for the Sharks in the grand final last year had amassed over 2500 NRL appearances between them.
These were extraordinary numbers by any stretch of the imagination. Cronulla fielded one of the oldest packs to ever grace a football field, but these old hard heads, and a skillful, experienced five-eighth, provided the balance for their youthful and talented three-quarters. This type of formula wasn’t unheard of. Indeed, the great Jack Gibson employed a similar policy with the Eels premiership winning team of 1981.
So where do the Eels sit in this demographic? You could make a compelling argument that we are a little light on. Without senior players such as Michael Jennings, Frank Pritchard and Corey Norman available for selection this week, Parramatta will send out a team with only 1513 games under their belts. That’s an average of less than 90 games per player! Obviously, the inclusion of the aforementioned Norman, Jennings and Pritchard will bump up the total by around 500 games. If a team has the choice of fielding 2000 games of experience or 1500 games, the decision is simple.
Michael Jennings carries a wealth of big match experience.
This then highlights the value of recruiting senior players such as Jennings (223 games), Scott (230 games), Pritchard (254 games) and Hoffman (170 games) – and their importance cannot be underestimated. These blokes have big match experience that many of the Eels players do not possess. In fact, take out the solitary grand final appearances of Mannah and Auva’a, and NRL big stage appearances are light on in the Eels squad. Yet critics will still point to the recruitment or retention of such senior players as poor policy, when they should instead be acknowledging the vital roles that these men play.
Future Stars
Early in his tenure as Eels coach, Brad Arthur identified the Eels junior representative system as a target for improvement. Whilst the club was still producing victorious teams, especially in the Harold Matthews competition, the players were facing great difficulty in making the transition into older teams and senior grades.
Working closely with Recruitment Manager Anthony Field and club coaching staff, Arthur has instigated the identification, development, support and acceleration of talented junior stars throughout the grades. To that end, we have witnessed the SG Ball take out the national title with 22 of the squad still eligible for this under 18s competition next season! We also have an NYC squad, currently holding a top 4 position, and fielding a number of SG Ball eligible players. Furthermore, some NYC players have this week been elevated to the Wentworthville ISP side.
Parramatta’s national champion S G Ball team
Without singling out individuals, its obvious that the club has placed a high value on developing young talent as a path to future success. Identifying, retaining and recruiting quality players starts with the junior system and is then complemented by signing targeted NRL stars. It sounds like a simple enough process, but it’s something that the Eels have had difficulty mastering. Fortunately, we are on the right track now.
The Final Word
The purpose of this post has been to shine that “spotlight” on the youth in the team and the important recruitment of experienced players. All teams are on their own journey to find the right balance in their squads. For the Parramatta Eels, the inclusion of talented young players will continue to be a major focus.
Eels forever!
Sixties
Images courtesy of the Parramatta Eels, the NRL and its media partners.
Nice work Sixties.
Last year I went to one of those pre GF AFL lunches here in Melb and one of the speakers was asked who he thought would win. Rather than identify individual players or strengths of teams he identified the statistics of the winners of the previous 8 of 10 seasons where the winning team (from recollection) had an average list age of 27-28, with 70+ game average.
He continued speaking to those supporters whose teams were not figuring in the GF telling them that their teams management were most likely preparing for the “trade window” with not only positions to fill, but also a demographic profile to attain.
The numbers never lie.
Finding that blend of youth and experience – I’m not sure what the magic numbers are. I will admit to being surprised by the Sharks last year as I thought that those senior players were far too old. This year, even considering the retirement of Ennis, those Sharks forward’s have all backed up and are another year older. They seem to be travelling OK too
Very interesting read. Keep in mind that BA also coaches junior league in the Parramatta district which gets him up close to see just who is running around & how they are progressing. This can only help the Eels going forward as we will better informed on what juniors to hold on to.
Indeed Jim. Not only is BA still involved in junior coaching, he regularly attends junior rep matches. As a senior coach, he’s very much aware of the younger players coming through the system.
It would seem that Phil Gould regularly attends junior rep matches as well. I have heard him a number of times talk about players that he has seen coming up thru the grades of junior rep football.
I think wenty is going to be a showcase next year for the nucleus of generation next, some of those plodders there need to hang their heads in shame at the efforts they have produced, take the dollars and the excellent conditions and treatment that no other club offers and give little in return. Truthfully, the only NRL standard players among them are the youngsters being blooded and reviewed.
I’m watching for how those young blokes go at Wenty this week Chika. It’s a sign of the times ahead.
Sixties, thanks for a wonderful report. I stopped reading while I watched the 2nd half of the Under 20’s SOO game, it was an excellent game and both sides went well, eels players Dargan and Stone played well, Dargan I think showed good game play, and while Stone was on the field was very strong in defence and attack. Two players that should prove good future players for the eels hopefully.
Good to see your expose’ of the spine and its youth, something I have picked up on over at the other site and based on how they are now without Norman but also his return will not change the averages a great deal though.
Its hard to read a team and and work the “”perfect”” balance in youth, developing and experience, the mid developing players usually are those in the middish 20’s who are where the future of each team is assessed I would think as to how far they will and can go, the senior players should have the level heads and lead those under to take their places. The big factor in as far as the future though is how many remain at the club.
Looking at our pack, it really is a nice blend of ages, and one player not mentioned is also in the young brigade and that is Nathan Brown who does add a fraction to the age at the ripe old age of 24, good companion to Alvaro and Tepai.
I think the eels are in a good spot somehow.
I understand that there are something like 21 or so players locked in for at least next year, with many of the key players signed till the end of 2019. Corey is in that mid 20s age that you speak of, and needs to take on that key leadership position essential for a player with his role and experience.
To see young Stone named in the starting lineup against Wyong, would have loved that game to have been played up here. I hope he pulls up Ok from Wednesday nights, also 2 other NYC players in the squad also.
I agree with you on Corey, in fact he needs to be considered as the 2nd captain, while not possible for tonights game with Tim out it leaves Scott as the only Captain, I wonder who will take over when he is spelled? maybe Brown as he is showing the signs of a good leader by example and perfect for Captain, and could be looked at for the long term, with Norman considering the age of our current two captains, and they have been a bit injury prone of late.
Great post sixties
Thanks Pou.
Great read Sixties. I have had an interest in experience and what part it plays on a teams performance for a number of years now. I like Phil Mann first became interested in the value of experience by listening to an AFL coach talk about the importance 70 and 100 gamers in a teams make up. This formula is readily used by AFL coaches.
Whilst your blog is focused primarily on stressing that BA is not a seniors only coach and does have a good sprinkling of youth and that is the pathways for the future. My interest in the experience argument is that you can’t win without it. I have been looking at this for a number of seasons and what it shows is that no team can make the top 4 unless they have around 1,500 games of experience (My figures only includes the number of games for the run on side)
When the roosters went on their reign of 3 minor premierships they were fielding 1,700 games in the run on side each week. The most experienced team in the NRL for the last 2 seasons is the Sharks as you mentioned. The least experienced team in the NRL for the last 2 years is the Knights
If you look at Fri nights game the Eels have 110 games of experience in the halves and 165 games in the spine. Compare this to the Warriors who have 301 in the halves and 623 games in their Spine. Looking at this you would think that the Eels can’t win Fri nights game however the Warriors do not follow any logic which is why they are such under performers.
Looking at some of the other top sides the Storm have 364 games in the halves and 997 in the spine which brings in Smith and Slater. The Broncos have 279 in the halves and 744 games in the Spine
Based on all of this I believe that the Eels will get the best out of this particular group in 2019 and onwards. I also believe that we will make the eight this year as players Norman, Jennings, Brown, Terepo and even F Pritchard return to the team to add their experience and skill. I am assuming that IDG will not return from his concussion problems.
I agree completely with your views regarding experience John, though I think you need to extend your numbers to the 17. It’s not unusual for some of the bench forwards to play more minutes than some starting forwards.
It was a pity to have the team dismantled last year. It was a line-up capable of challenging for a title, so even though I believe we are capable of playing finals footy this year, there is still an element of rebuilding. There will also be some young talent pushing for spits in 2019, just as you predicted.
Losing Foran, Peats, Paulo, Wicks and IDG (assuming that he does not come back) is a lot of experience to lose in one year when you are not overloaded to start with.
One thing that I will say about Flannigan is that he has been very astute in his recruiting. Not always blue ribbon rep players but always experienced players with skill.
Very interesting read Sixties, although the concept may challenge some commentators who would rather not have their ignorance exposed by facts. I might be interesting to know how many games our spine had in 1980 as Sterlo, Kenny and Paul Taylor were waiting to be joined by Edgey’s experience as an intriguing comparison with our present wait for the return of Corey Norman?
We do appear to have quite a balanced squad right down through the depth that BA has built over the past two or three years. It’s also becoming obvious that the whole coaching, fitness and recruitment team couldn’t have done much more than they have to identify and prepare the type of players who would fit so sweetly into this 17 (out of 25) man squad.
I may even be so bold as to suggest, the attitude of grit displayed in all of our games this season (with the exception of the Easts mismatch) has underpinned the hope most fairdinkum Parra fans have of better things to come. A direct result of the exceptional character BA brought with him and is clearly bought into by the players. Although Wenty has struggled, every player called into the top 17 has lifted to do a job.
Interesting observation Rowdy. Perhaps it’s an indication of the changing role of the fullback – and indeed the dummy half. Back in 1981, Sterlo entered the season with 23 games under his belt, Kenny had 8, and although he wasn’t a youngster, fullback Steve McKenzie was new to the premiership. Hardly a wealth of experience in the “spine”. But the game was a different beast. The hooker had to win possession and getting into dummy half was not part of their role. Fullbacks weren’t an extra ball player. Halves didn’t split to different sides of the ruck. Back then, Parra carried their experience in the pack and Cronin was the backline rock.
With Mannah, Vave, Norman, F. Pritchard, Terepo, Jennings and DeGois all missing from the top 25, we are left with only 18 fit players from that group. It is indeed a test of the depth of the club this week.
V interesting read Sixties; puts a bit into perspective. Our pack this week would also be less exp without Mannah but hey Warriors are an interesting bunch too.
Gotta shut down their forwards!
Thanks for the reminder of fullback McKenzie (even though my guess at Taylor was probably incorrect anyway?) but I was referring to 1980 prior to our premiership year as I believe it may be a fair comparison to what this year will be prior to our victory lap in 2018. I was aware of McKenzie being brought in by Jack Gibson out of the blue from Central Coast I though? The different roles required back then were clearly different I agree.
A very good point you’ve made concerning the loss of Mannah and Vave today joining those other experienced troops on the injured list. It is as you say “indeed a test of the depth in our club this week….again! On a positive note I’m glad we have a spare in that 18th fit man. We may need him next week!
Certainly my theory will be put to the test. I’m sure BA has reminded the selected 17 (+2) that attitude will be of paramount importance from the get go. This is not beyond us. Go Parra, I might even wander on down to ANZ stadium to show my support tonight. Let’ hope Ashley Klein shows some fairness, not to hinder the boys’ endeavour.