Earlier this week, the Parramatta Eels announced that NRL Immortal, Andrew “Joey” Johns had joined the club in a specialist coaching role.
Given the youth and talent in the Eels spine, his addition to the football department could prove to be one of the most significant in recent seasons.
Today’s training session was my first opportunity to observe Johns at work – and I must say that I felt privileged to be there. I’ll attempt to write an overview without going into specifics. Unfortunately, there’ll be no way of doing justice to the skills session and the mentoring he provided.
I was equally as privileged to watch Ryan Matterson address a group of high school students after training. As a teacher, I’ve seen more than my fair share of such talks, but this was special.
More on Joey and Matto later in this report, after all, there was a group of players getting smashed out on the training track!
Taking It Up A Notch – Or Seven!
Yesterday, I reported that the Wednesday session asked more questions of the players than any other session had during this preseason.
That status lasted less than 24 hours!
It was an early start on the field (8am), though it should be emphasised the players are regularly on site by 5:30am for other training requirements. Given the heat forecast for the day, and the work that lay ahead, this was probably a good call.
After the warm up, it was basically a solid hour of running.
Of course it was broken up into repeated sets of courses that looked to be just over 800 and 600 metres. I have to be approximate about this because the courses had subtle changes with different marker points to run around.
It wouldn’t surprise me if this is part of Elkin’s mantra of getting the players to think during the run. He doesn’t want players to run mindlessly, just as the coaches don’t want the players to be mindless robots in a game. He wants them thinking about what they’re doing.
No shortage of running today!
Rest times between runs were interesting. It involved doing a handful of Malcolms!
The conditioning standout today was definitely Rhys Davies. The Canterbury Cup half from the last two seasons has obviously decided to make a statement about his desire to compete.
Just behind Davies was Kyle Schneider. He chased Davies home in virtually every run. He was closely followed by Johnny Fonua, who ultimately led a couple of the later runs.
The best of the big men early on were Danny Alvaro, Stefano Utoikamanu and Oregon Kaufusi. In the latter runs Gowie pushed up towards the front of the forwards.
As stated, this was easily the toughest conditioning session of the preseason. In retrospect, it seems like this week has built to this point, as yesterday was but a prelude to what was to come.
Skills
In the context of the gruelling conditioning, it seems almost irrelevant to report on this component of the day.
For the first part, the squad was split into teams of about 9. Given the smaller size of the teams, only two-thirds of the field was used. They worked on left and right side attack and defence.
Rather than full impact, the tackles were mostly grab for this drill. It was more about reading and positioning in defence than contact. But don’t worry, the contact aspect gets plenty of attention in other drills.
That said, on a couple of occasions my attention was straying, only to be brought back in focus by the sound of an unexpected collision. Sometimes, you just have to put on a hit!
Following that, the squad worked in compact defensive lines. The ball carriers were looking to win the carry. The defenders were encouraged to communicate as they worked together in the tackles.
What a tough ask after the earlier work!
Joey Johns
What does specialist halves coaching provide?
Joey and BA
Precision passing for a start. Body movement and the mechanics of different types of passes – eg legs, hips, head positions – get plenty of attention. And those passes – long, short, out the back, at the line – variations of each are drilled according to the position of the defence and the support.
Communication was also an important aspect of the coaching. The halves had to ensure that they were calling plays.
Johns’ session finished with a skill for which he was well renowned – the kick. From there, Joey went to observe the conclusion of the squad’s training.
For obvious reasons, I won’t go into specifics about how Johns goes about his work or what might be added to the arsenal of the halves.
However, I can assure readers that the session was interactive. On a number of occasions, Johns was asked by players for very specific advice. I considered this to be indicative of how they were invested in getting as much out of his mentoring as possible.
Matto You Champion
A group of students from Castle Hill High School were guests at training today. This followed on from Wednesday’s visit by Parramatta Marist.
The first players to spend time with the students were Shaun Lane and Dylan Brown. They said g’day, spoke to the group and had a few photos. Typically, Brown noticed a couple of students sitting away from the group and sat with them to chill for a bit.
Matto in action at training.
Ethan Parry then came over to meet the boys. He had a chat, a few laughs and answered a collection of questions, even about how long it had taken him to cultivate his mullet.
Ryan Matterson was the next player to meet the boys. At first it was the typical player question and answers. But then one question from a student led to what was probably the most impressive address from a player to a group of students that I’ve ever witnessed.
I won’t go into the specifics of what was said, but the reaction from others who witnessed it was the same. Ryan Matterson has returned to the Eels as a major asset, both on and off the field.
There’s no training tomorrow, and that might not come as a surprise after today’s workload.
See you next week.
Eels forever!
Sixties
Awesome read bud, thanks again
Cheers Dazboy
Great read Sixties. Very informative and do we think Johns will be at training once a week?
I sincerely look forward to the squad improving those little areas around defence too. This season we did well, but for me some of the defence at times was lacklustre in terms of falling off, being last up etc and not set. I know this was mentioned during the season and highlighted.
Would like to hear what Matto said one day soon.
That was twice this week for Joey.
I didn’t include what he said because I think the kids deserve to have that for themselves. I can assure you it was top notch.
Any news on how Nathan Brown is progressing? Is Stefano still training with the squad?
I don’t have any news on Nathan. It’s probably the sort of thing that official Eels news should cover.
Stefano is mentioned in this report Pete. He seems to be putting his best foot forward. I don’t expect anything less from him.
What is wrong with Nathan B?
Injured in the Nines…
Love these reports sixties..Appreciate the time you devote to them..
You’re welcome Pete. Means a lot to have someone of your supporter pedigree read TCT.
Thanks Sixties ❤️
Cheers Max.
Of course Moses and Brown do take the line on and Mahoney as well is good when he takes a sneaky run but doesn’t do it enough imo, one of Joeys less talked about assets was his running game, and you will hear him talk about it in his commentary saying so and so needs to take the line on.Joey would set up his run two or three runs prior sending forwards at opposition forwards like a game of chess, then when a certain player was out of the line or at marker or still on the ground he would go, often stepping off his left in the gap behind second marker or hitting the blind, a grand master wizard.I have heard him say it a few times about Moses especially, he has that speed off the mark and if Joey can get him thinking about when to go, then I daresay this will be a bigger part of our game for every player in our spine.I cannot wait for next season, so excited for what is coming.
After watching Joey at work, I feel the same. I truly wish that I could do it justice, but I can’t give too much away, and this is just the first week.
I can’t believe there are supposed fans out there who can’t see the enormous value in having Joey on our coaching staff. The man’s ability to communicate technical & tactical ideas to players is unparalleled.
Brett, I couldn’t agree more. It was a very impressive session to watch and as I said to someone else, this was just the beginning.
https://www.nswrl.com.au/news/2019/05/16/andrew-johns-micd-up-at-junior-blues-training/
This is absolutely brilliant, a great example of not just his footy IQ, but also his ability to communicate technical & tactical concepts.
Can you imagine Mitch, Dylan, Reed, Jaemon, Gutho, Schneider, Davies et al getting the benefit of this tutelage twice a week, every week.
Brett, this is a tremendous link to put in as a reply. What comes through, besides the technicalities of his mentoring, is the passion he has for what he’s delivering. This was on display in spades at Eels training. I couldn’t do it justice trying to describe that aspect. This footage gives an insight.
Brett, thanks for that link…bloody awesome and shows just how good a halves mind Joey has. Enjoyed that a lot.
Sixties, as usual a great report and almost forgot about these in what is a busy time of year, even more so fighting fires non stop this season.
I also would love to hear Matto’s chat, but I also understand it is just one of those things that remain confidential. Looking forward to all the boys being back and the team familiarising themselves with the ‘newbies’.
Man, we have some strike power with the forwards we have bought and the potential combinations that will result. Lane and Brown’s was great to watch last season.
Bring on the footy!
Bless you and thank you for the fire-fighting mate.
I’m really looking forward to Matto combining on the right with Moses. Look out for Andrew Davey this year. He’ll deserve a shot.
Everyone on this forum and all Eels fans say thank you for your hard work and dedication to keeping us all safe. Sleep well when you get the opportunity and think the mighty Eels will reward you next year. Thanks again 👏👏👍
Well said Derek.
Eels Christmas party today
The players would have welcomed it after this session!
Thanks Sixties, sometimes the depth of your observations of technical and tactical activity is so instructive I wonder how anyone can reply to your reporting with anything more than a big “thanks bro”!
Anyway, I’ll try………………Thanks Bro, even when I’m at training on the few occasions I can get there? I never see half the stuff you report on mate.
Cheers Rowdy. I do have to make decisions about watching individuals vs watching the group. At the moment the focus has been more group so it’s just been the standouts getting noticed more often. I’ll try to keep an eye on certain players as the time unfolds.
The reading numbers on these training posts have been amazing. Thousands of readers – when I see those sorts of numbers on our site stats breakdowns that’s very rewarding.
Excellent publication. Great reading. Joey can do something positive and great for himself and our team. Best of luck everyone
Cheers Ray. I’m very positive about what Joey will bring. See the link provided by Brett Allen in his reply above. It provides terrific context.
Great stuff Sixties. Bless you.
Cheers Graz