The Cumberland Throw

Eels Pre-Season Training – January 6, 2021: Here Comes Some Boom

Nobody gets out of the 1.2km fitness test!

Not even if you’re one of the best-conditioned athletes in the club, your name is Dylan Brown and you were exempted from Monday’s session.

With his team mates calling out “Byron” the Eels five-eighth set a cracking pace in his solo timed run.

I did wonder whether it was harder for our Kiwi playmaker to judge his run with nobody pushing up around him. It’s likely that he simply maintained three-quarter pace throughout – quite an effort over that distance.

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After warm ups, the session kicked off with running mechanics. It was interesting hearing the encouragement for the players to lead off on their non-dominant leg. I’d imagine that being able to accelerate off either leg would give any player an early advantage.

The conditioning work today was designed to add fatigue to the football that followed. The breaks between opposed simulations were filled with more running. There was very little time for rest.

The Reds go on the attack.

Joey Lussick made an impression as he started to push up into the leading runners alongside the likes of Will Smith, Jake Arthur, Bryce Cartwright and Isaiah Papali’i. But the fitness stuff was really just the entree for today’s main course – contact opposed footy. Here comes the boom!

The Reds took on the Blues but there was no indicator from the two line ups as to who holds the early lead in some of the battles for a spot in the top team. The “recognised talent” was split between both teams, with even Brown and Moses squaring off against each other – Jake Arthur was paired withBrown whilst Will Smith took his place alongside Mitch Moses.

There were a few moments that the coaches weren’t happy about, but overall it was a very solid workout.

Of note were some of the collisions. Whilst not quite delivered with NRL match day venom, surely ice packs were being requested after the session was over.

Inevitably, any big hits on the training paddock seem to involve Marata Niukore. I’m not sure whether this bloke has anything less than ten on his dial. From the moment he first joined the Eels, he’s never pulled his hits and carries at training. It was the same today.

Another highlight was Matto being smashed by one of the pathways players. The defensive jam on an attacking shift was timed to perfection. It was terrific to see such confidence.

Reed Mahoney’s work out of dummy half earned a big tick. His short plays were bringing the big forwards onto the ball with good momentum.

Shaun Lane carried the ball powerfully, and there were a few times I could hear him demanding his halves to bring him into the play. There’s been a bit of “eye of the Tiger” about his work at training. Perhaps it’s that competition from the likes of Cartwright and Hipgrave.

The squad warming up today.

The other forward that must be mentioned is Isaiah Papali’i. Those of us watching him train are in a state of disbelief that the Warriors didn’t fight to retain his services. The big bloke is not too far behind Cartwright in the fitness stakes, he runs intelligent lines, can ball play and provide a link role in the team, and he doesn’t shirk the dirty carries.

The Kiwi’s loss is Parra’s gain!

Though there were a couple of attacking rushes that claimed tries, the only legitimate four-pointer was awarded to Haze Dunster. Seriously smart ball play from Will Smith put his runner into a half gap and about three sets of hands later Dunster was crossing untouched in the right corner.

Today’s training concluded with about 15 – 20 minutes of defensive drills. The players alternated between sets of bump pad collisions and sets of defensive line movements – up and back ten metres, down and up off the ground, with the reminders about line speed ringing in their ears.

One of my biggest takes from the morning was the talk. Fullbacks, halves, wingers, edges – the communication was outstanding. Whenever the players can be heard so clearly and consistently, I know it’s been a good session.

We can look forward to the opposed work going to the next level over the coming weeks.

Eels forever!

Sixties

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41 thoughts on “Eels Pre-Season Training – January 6, 2021: Here Comes Some Boom

  1. Colin Hussey

    Nice report sixties, and it boosts my confidence that we have a good solid team, and that its not just a 17, or 19 man squad either.

    If those who are training and from the CC team, that also augers well for the future of the eels and the players themselves.

    Looking forward to these updates each day or so, not as good as being there but well worth the read and how it brings the season closer to the start.

    Has the eels decided on just one trial game against the Riff or are they also going to play against the drags?

  2. Parra Pete

    Is Jordan Rankin showing ANYTHING that suggest he could be a handy acquisition. Hardly heard a ‘peep’ about him since he was signed mid 2020..Is he an astute signing?

    1. sixties

      Good question. Firstly he is definitely one of the fittest players. If I haven’t mentioned him enough in the comments on conditioning, I should have. I cannot question his efforts on the training track. He has been a spine utility since signed. He’s mostly filled at fullback role at training. Therein lies the issue for him. There’s been no footy for him to play. I’d prefer to see some Canterbury Cup to judge his value, but he seems very smart and a communicator in the opposed work.

  3. Glenn

    Good report as usual 60s. Does Waqa Blake look any better in defence or has that training aspect yet to come to the fore?

    1. sixties Post author

      To be honest, the only time I noticed his defence during the opposed was when he chased the kick downfield and tackled the fullback. I’ll wait to see more opposed, and whether he remains beside Fergo before committing to a comment on his defence.

  4. Dazboy70

    Thanks Sixties, your reports are making the off season bearable.

    Can’t wait for the origin boys to come back and step things up

  5. Milo

    Thanks mate, sounds like a good session to watch.I think we’ve been strengthened in terms of forward and hooker depth.
    I imagine the next 2-3 weeks will show the make up of some positions and combinations leading up to trials.
    I personally think the added hookers will make things much better, and centre will sort itself no doubt.

    1. sixties Post author

      cheers Milo. There’s some competition for spots in the forwards and unanswered questions at centre. Should be interesting couple of weeks ahead.

  6. Eggman

    On the Warriors letting Papalii go,they have bought 3 props and a backrower in Bayley Sironen.Of those AFBlake is a huge signing but Murdoch Massilla and Evans can both be passengers,good at their best but inconsistent. I guess they have to try something. They have lost Blair who has been okay since joining them.Sironen played well last year but Imo Papalii offers more especially with the game getting faster,it’s almost as if Warriors are building a pack for the 2016 version of the game.Eels on the other hand have built a team who on paper at least should be big mobile and skillfull, and can hopefully return to the Parramatta style (when we’ve earned the right) of entertaining football that we know and love.

    1. sixties Post author

      Very interesting observation Eggman. Nathan Brown obviously has a style of play that he wants the Warriors to play. We now have three young former warriors in our squad in Marata, Papali’i and Roache. All similar age. I reckon all three will feature strongly this year.

      1. Eggman

        Going off your comments re .Papallii earlier, do you think he maybe suited to come on at lock when Brown gets a rest?

        1. sixties Post author

          Well, he could play a very similar role to Brown. I see him being used in the middle rather than on an edge.

          1. Rowdy

            OK, If middle is Papali’i’s best go, where does that put Hippo? as an edge terrorist, or another middle Brown kamikasi? Because we already have Marata and now you nom Papa as middles plus potentially either Hollis or Hughes, and my guess is Hollis because of his confidence and Klemmer-like agro.

      2. John Eel

        Good to see you getting on board with Roache. I am thinking he may get elevated to the 30 sooner than expected.

        1. sixties Post author

          I don’t think that will be rushed. He’ll be elevated when required (which saves Cap money).

  7. BDon

    Bench depth/rotation was often questioned last season. Maybe we can tick another weakness fixed. The big one is still defending wide shifts.

    1. Grunta

      Agree re defending wide shifts and on both sides of the field.
      My opinion remains that the coaching needs to improve. I’m not a fan who calls for BA’s head, or his support staff, but Bennett made a remark about his coaching and in both finals last season, the eels were simply out coached. I believe that we have the cattle, it’s getting them consistently playing their best and better coaching in general. I’m wondering whether there are any noticeable changes to the way BA and cod are coaching so far this off season.
      Sixties?

      1. sixties Post author

        Grunta, there are always new aspects to what is coached applied each season. I would also dispute that Bennett outcoached BA in that final. Unfortunately a missed penalty, a missed sin bin, a host of missing players and some poor individual moments on field all combined to that finals loss. Anyway, that’s all history now and we do need to be better. But there is also a misconception about lack of change in the staff. Ryan Carr was added for the 2020 season, Joey Johns was added for 2020, Trent Elkin was added for 2020. That was 3 new voices added for the season just gone. Kidwell has only been part of the coaching staff since part-way through 2018. BA and Murf have been there since 2014, and it is not unusual to have a coach and an assistant stay as a team and even move to different clubs as a team. Given the huge turnover in the playing roster and the changes in staff for last season, I reckon some coaching stability is essential.

        1. Offside

          I would suggest Murphy and Kidwell are part of the problem both have been there a number of years.
          I believe you should have a assistant coach that is a head coach in waiting neither of those two are that.

          There has been talk about BA being to insecure to have a staff member that is a threat to his job maybe its true maybe its not but if/when we bow out dissapointly at the end of the season the noise for change will start again.

          1. sixties

            Ryan Carr will be a first grade coach and I reckon he has ambitions to do so. He’s young, confident, skilled and a terrific communicator. So any thought of BA not employing someone on that trajectory should be scrapped. That said, why does an assistant coach need to be an NRL coach in waiting? Why is that an essential? Look at the Riff with Barrett. He stays for a year then starts looking to sign the young Riff players. There are many quality assistant coaches who don’t covet the head coach role. Surely they just have to be a very good in their job, bring ideas to the table and be able to collaborate as part of a team I’ve got a lot of time for the Eels coaching team, including Murf and Kidwell. They have the respect of the players, work well as a team, challenge the players, educate and upskill the group, and it’s a positive environment. Parra look to be heading for finals footy for another year. I want to see us win a title but I just don’t get the dissatisfaction when the team is finally entering the window to do that. It suddenly became a narrative last year that we needed changes in the staff. But it wasn’t based on facts, especially when there were already changes.

          2. Colin Hussey

            Sixties, I would say that for the majority of supporters, they are behind the head coach and the rest of coaching staff, however from their own viewing of the team, there is often conjecture when certain areas of the teams game play shows consistent weaknesses by breakdowns at critical times.

            Looking back over last season, it was certainly one that irked a lot of supporters especially when we got to the pointy end and failed there, much of which was a result of failed defence in certain areas, injuries to key players, also the loss of MJ who was pretty much the key to the backs defensive line. So without 4 key players it was a hard slog, along with the lack of choice in our overall roster which had no games to retain match and game experiences.

            I am not much of a Kidwell fan as a defensive coach, but as last year was better than many other years, and despite our finals losses we met the opposition ok in the scoring areas especially without those key players, and defence was our key area of problems without those players.

            Kidwell in his playing career was both a 2nd rower, and centre but also remember him playing as 5/8, he actually had hard nosed defence especially in the forwards from my recollection of him. His most successful time as a player was his 4 years at the Storm, so he should have got a lot of direction from there as a player, the other aspect is that he also was a Storm assistant coach on his playing retirement, in all of that he showed or gave a lot over his career.

            While any coach is not a permanent appointment, those who have specific roles as a coach, need to ensure the players he is charged with fixing and for me more importantly increasing the players abilities in the specific areas noted by him and others on the staff. This coming year is probably going to be a pretty big watershed year for the eels and Kidwell especially, IMHO.

          3. sixties

            Colin, without spending too much time reflecting on last year, I honestly believe that in a normal season, with lower grades, some selection decisions may have been different. Eg Haze Dunster debuts earlier. I can assure readers that there was no shortage of coaching time spent on individuals and defensive structures. My opinion is the same as many others – the combination on that right side didn’t work. The problem on that side in the final against Souths didn’t look as bad. A new season is coming up so let’s see what changes that brings.

          4. Colin Hussey

            Sixties, no worries and I was reply more to Offside than anyone or thing. From where I sit given our circumstances of last year and what the team would have learnt now, and a completely new season, which as you say regarding the lower grades, it points to a better season ahead.

  8. Rowdy

    Great training report mate. Interesting to hear that Jacob Arthur has jumped over Jordan Rankin to be 4th half picked in 30 man squad.
    Shaun Lane screaming for more attention from his halves is very encouraging and I tend to agree with you regarding the depth pressure from Carty and Hippo, although I also think Papa’lii is a potential edge runner and ball player not just a middle. Especially considering the angles that you say he’s running?

    1. sixties

      Jake won’t be rushed Rowdy. He’s very talented but not currently Top 30 and I’d imagine he won’t get a look at NRL till next year. Shaun Lane needs a big year in 2021 and I reckon he’ll do just that.

  9. Laraby

    Good read sixties, always read but rarely comment. How is Opacic going, does he look like filling the centre position. I liked him when he first played for Bronco’s but he seemed to go off the boil when he went to the cowgirls and when we signed him it didn’t give me much confidence as he couldn’t force his way into their side which I considered a very weak back line. Good to hear good report for Papali’i as Iiked him when at the warriors. Our bench seems to be stronger and expect us to go better this year. How are our halves going as I believe that is where we were let down at the back end of the season. In close games and when the pressure was on they seemed to have no idea how to close out the game or take the right option when attacking the line.

    1. sixties

      Opacic was pursued by the Eels when he was at the Broncos. The main thing that I’m noticing is his game sense – in the limited game simulations that I’ve witnessed he appears to make good decisions. I’ll get more of an idea as the opposed work increases. I’ll say the same about the halves. I’ll comment more as the opposed work increases, but I am very pleased with the specialised work that they do with Joey Johns.
      Don’t be a stranger with your opinions Laraby. 😁

  10. John Eel

    Would Semi be an option to fill the elusive Centre position? He is currently playing Centre in RU.

    Not exactly the same I know.

  11. John Eel

    Given a move from Wing to Centres plus his undoubted skill, you could make an argument for him to become one of the highest paid players at the club.

    His transition to Centre has not been a recent thing he has been playing there for some time.

    Surely it would not be that hard to lure him from Bristol to Parramatta. Parramatta much closer to Fiji

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