The Cumberland Throw

Team List Tuesday – Chip Off The Old Block Edition

It has been an eventful run-in to Team List Tuesday this week. Swirling speculation around how many players the Parramatta Eels would have available for Round 10 peaked when the rather mouthy CEOs of the Rabbitohs and Panthers chimed in with their two cents on the matter. Eventually the NRL clarified their stance on the matter – the Eels would be free to use whoever they wish from their Top 30 pending a COVID test but any of the players badged as ‘dirty’ couldn’t participate in team training until the club travelled to Brisbane. Amusingly, the way the NRL worded that missive means that should the Eels travel to QLD tomorrow, they could access to any of the Top 30 players they wanted (pending test results) to train all week.

Somehow though, Parramatta have eclipsed all of the drama leading up to the Round 10 TLT with a bombshell selection that makes history for the blue & gold. Jakob Arthur is the young man who will replace the suspended Dylan Brown and marks the first father/son-coach/player duo in the club’s history. Jakob, better known as Jake, has beaten out options like Bryce Cartwright, Ryan Matterson and Jordan Rankin to partner Mitchell Moses. Given that Jake is on a development contract it seems that the Eels have received an exemption to play him this week but given that second-tier and development players are free to play from Round 11 onwards it quite likely wasn’t a particularly big deal.

Arthur – Jake, not Brad that is – has been in excellent form in the NSW Cup and has led a young and inexperienced outfit to a 4-3 record that is good for 4th on the ladder. The young playmaker has grown in stature in reserve grade and has shown the ability to play the ball at the line and challenge defences with his running game on top of his management abilities. Crucially he is a willing defender, holding his own in the front-line and popping up all over the field in cover defence.

This is not a promotion based on his surname. That really needs to be made clear. Jake might not be ready to take on the tribulations of a full season in first-grade but he has earned the right to replace Dylan for a few weeks. On top of that, his promotion to five-eighth is far less disruptive option to the rest of team when compared to Cartwright and Matterson filling in at #6. That leaves it as a shoot-out between Jake and Jordan Rankin and it is almost impossible to fault a coach and a team that looks to build to the future even as they win in the present. This is a hugely positive selection and statement by the Eels and we should all be excited.

Jake’s debut coincides neatly with the return of Waqa Blake and Nathan Brown. Waqa slips immediately into right-centre for the suspended Marata Niukore while ‘The Cyborg’ overcomes a brutal hip cork to reclaim his place at lock forward. Shaun Lane reverts to the bench as a result after posting a season-best performance against the Roosters. He is joined there by Ray Stone who will provide the Eels with some cover for Reed Mahoney or feature in the backrow as required. Haze Dunster and Keegan Hipgrave are the two players that make way in big reshuffle but they do feature in the TLT-21 as part of the shadow roster alongside Joey Lussick and Jordan Rankin.

Magic Round sees the Eels taking on the New Zealand Warriors as 2nd plays 8th. The Warriors are clinging on to the final berth in the Top 8 by points differential but have been highly competitive throughout 2021. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck will rightfully command plenty of attention from the blue & gold but their halves pairing of Kodi Nikorima and Chanel Harris-Tevita can quickly capitalise on ill-disciplined defence. Boom rookie and new recruit Reece Walsh has been exceptionally fun to watch as a neutral and although he is now restricted to bench duties he looms as a potential wildcard in the contest.

The Eels enter this round on a 2-game winning streak against New Zealand but recent history shows that the majority of contests fought between these two franchises have been very close. There is also the fact that Parramatta have some serious unfinished business with Magic Round given that the last time they were there they lost by an embarrassing 64-10 to the Melbourne Storm. Between those factors, the hype of a big debut and some big returning pieces, it sets the table for a blockbuster on Sunday. Be sure not to miss it!

 

1. Clinton Gutherson ©
2. Maika Sivo
3. Tom Opacic
4. Waqa Blake
5. Blake Ferguson
6. Jake Arthur
7. Mitchell Moses
8. Reagan Campbell-Gillard
9. Reed Mahoney
10. Junior Paulo
11. Ryan Matterson
12. Isaiah Papali’i
13. Nathan Brown
14. Oregon Kaufusi
15. Shaun Lane
16. Ray Stone
17. Bryce Cartwright
18. Joey Lussick
19. Keegan Hipgrave
20. Haze Dunster
21. Jordan Rankin

 

Injury Update

 

Will Smith – Round 13-14 (Thumb)

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23 thoughts on “Team List Tuesday – Chip Off The Old Block Edition

  1. Colin Hussey

    To me this should be an exciting game with the eels as a team wanting to make a statement to get rid of the issues of the last round where we beat the chicks pretty much at their own game.

    The addition of young Jakob brings some nerves in though for such a young player that does have a lot of talent and seems to also ooze confidence but not over confident. In the games I have seen him play he shows good skills in being able to read games, has good defense and kicking skills, don’t think he will let the team down though, the early butteflies need to clipped though.

    If we get a fair shake from the ref, and hopefully what happened last game is now out of the way, it should be a top game and I expect the eels to seal a win, I don’t think that it will be a big score though, maybe just a converted try the difference.

  2. Dday

    Interesting selections, Jake is a glimpse at the future and will be a real focal point for the media. I’m excited to see how he goes with quality players around him – 3 games to see where his development is at.
    Great to see Stone is back – he always announces his arrival on field with a bone rattler. And gives coverage to Reed.
    Not sure about Waqa – gees Marata has been good – our suspect sliding defence being so much better. 2 games to see whether Waqa is up to Marata’s std.
    And BA has resisted the temptation to move Carty to 5/8 – makes sense because we retain our strong bench that’s been working so well.
    Go the eels

  3. Gianni Giusti

    I am loving this new direction blooding some of the young guys like Wiremu and Jakob and hopefully see Penisi at some stage this year.This along with so many quality signings im finding it hard to remember our last bad one.To be a major contender all areas had to improve not just our on field performance.Great stuff Forty and Craig Love all that you guys do for us Fans.

    1. sixties

      Cheers Gianni. We are actually proud to see Jake debut (as if we had anything to do with his development as a player!) but that’s part of the enjoyment of covering junior reps – getting to see the journey that young players take. Only a very small percentage get to travel the full journey to first grade, and when they do it’s so terrific to have witnessed it.

  4. BDon

    Really keen to see if our old weakness,vulnerable to wide shifts, rears it’s head here, geez I hope not. We have managed to not give opponents too many free hits in our red zone, and Opacic/Marata have worked well, plus great scramble. Sivo has been spotted in no mans land occasionally, and the Roosters did waste a few chances out wide(2 or 3 forward passes). Let’s not allow RTS cheap attacking ball, his running and passing can be lethal. Good luck to Jake Arthur, this move is interesting in many ways.

  5. greg okladnikov

    Some key changes but the bulk of the team is still the same – so far this year that stability has been critical – minimal injuries and suspensions. Part of the reason the Panthers have been good – not a lot of changes each week. Looking at some team lists today – some clubs are really affected by injuries and others with possibly coaches still searching for their best line up. So far this year the stability we have and the talent to cover a lot of positions when needed through good recruitment has been a big influence on our good results

    1. sixties

      Spot on Greg. For so long the club has been on this journey to find stability. Right through the organisation. It’s a good place to be.

  6. Luke

    Thanks for clearing up the development player/Top 30 conundrum with Arthur named. I thought he couldn’t play without a dispensation not being in the top squad. Rankin should probably be spewing. I wonder if the Chooks’ Walker starring as 7 played any part in giving his son a run?

  7. AndrewJCollier

    Hey guys, just a little conundrum I thought about.
    Presumably Jake Arthur is living at home with his parents. Jake having played reserve grade last week is considered “dirty” and has to return a negative COVID test before he can join the team in Brisbane along with the other players that had played reserve grade.
    Now I’m no bio security expert, but, would BA and Jake living in the same household have implications on how the coach is viewed under the current protocols?

    1. Anonymous

      Dylan & Wiremu
      Roache & Papali’i
      BA & JA are not the only ones living under the same roof

        1. sixties

          I think this was raised on 360 last night, esp with Jake and Brad. I would venture to say there’s issues along those lines throughout most clubs.

          1. AndrewJCollier

            Thanks Sixties, I didn’t catch 360 last night. Hopefully there is no issues

  8. John Eel

    TLT this week is interesting to me in so far as teams like Souths and the Panthers are clearly looking over their shoulders at the new and improved 2021 Eels team.

    That is the feeling that I got after reading Solly’s complaints about the Eels including so called “dirty” players to the NRL squad.

    As an Eels fan it is a new perspective. Not felt this respect from other clubs for some time.

  9. Anonymous

    Good post mate but i would juust like to add about our 4 selected reggie players canberra and newcastle have 3 players each selected in there squads that played against each other and was televised on foxtel blocker roach co commenter including r james d lui t hoy but not a word from the nrl or the media they made parra look like the only club that played top 30 players last week it is WRONG

    1. John Eel

      To add a bit more to the story. the Eels are now being forced to sign Jake to a contract. One week before he would be allowed to play without one

      Which club complained?

  10. Mr controversy aka rev

    40/20 what do u think of Arthur jr playing. You think his ready.

    I agree with you on this statement Amusingly, the way the NRL worded that missive means that should the Eels travel to QLD tomorrow, they could access to any of the Top 30 players they wanted (pending test results) to train all week. I was thinking they eels should travel up tomorrow morning that way they player’s selected will be able to play. At the end of the day the eels out smarted the rest of the teams.

    Anyhow great news with brown resigning just need Moses to resign along with matterson.

    1. John Eel

      You are correct Rev. Even if they went a day early they could have the captain’s run together. However he has spent enough time around the team to know the plays.

      The way the commentary played out I thought the Eels were the only club in this position. As it turns out there were other caught out as well.

      Further my understanding is that by Rd 11 we would have been able to use Jake as a development player without having to promote him to the top 30.

      These days the club is very professional about how they operate so I am a little surprised that they would name him without knowing he needed to be added to the top 30.

      1. Longfin Eel

        Oh they knew all right. The club was playing a game here. In the end they got want they wanted anyway.

          1. Longfin Eel

            I think the club named JA to try to push the NRL to grant an exemption. If the club was not intending to move JA into a top 30 role, they would have just used someone else for this week. Doesn’t really matter as any other development player is able to play from next week anyway. In the end, giving JA experience in NRL in invaluable.

      2. John Eel

        Just listened to Gus on Six tackles, he is 100% correct on this matter.

        You are not going to hide a million dollar player on a development contract to cheat the salary cap. It could never happen.

        This was introduced to stop seasoned players come back to the NRL without showing it on the salary cap.

        The Eels have been forced to use a contract spot when they did not have to.

        My guess is one of the clubs or more complained to the NRL He should have been given an excemption and allowed to play.

        Rd 11 or 12 he would have been allowed to play. That would have meant we would not have used up a valuable contract spot

  11. pete

    Great read Forty20,
    I’m looking forward to heading up for this game. I’m excited to see young Arthur perform in the big league. Yes he’s young but if you’re good enough you are old enough…
    Waqa Blake… I hope he comes back in better form and shape after his layoff.
    Also, I have been eating humble pie with Cartwright’s amazing purple patch. I was dead set against him signing…but happy to be proven wrong all the same. I hope his form continues and his inconsistency is a thing of the past…
    Anyway feeling positive about Sunday and hopefully we get a full squad up there..
    Cheers

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