The Cumberland Throw

Team List Tuesday – Halfback Back From Back Edition

NRL Team List

 

The loss of Reagan Campbell-Gillard for the immediate future to a groin strain has been softened somewhat by a brace of massive inclusions for the Parramatta Eels in Round 21. Mitchell Moses and Marata Niukore give both the starting team and the interchange bench as big an injection as possible for the Blue & Gold as they look to correct course against the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Friday night.

Oregon Kaufusi earns the start in the front-row and the young tearaway will need to produce a high quality outing to replace the loss of the Eels’ most consistent forward in 2021. Beyond that Bryce Cartwright is recalled to the bench rotation and offers Parramatta a spark plug option outside of Moses to help reignite their attack.

Naturally though, the big story for this week’s team sheet is the return of Parramatta’s #7 and just how much of a difference he can make for both his coach Brad Arthur and his team mates. Mitchell will immediately bring an elite level of polish and class to Parramatta’s set finishes without a doubt but the bigger challenge facing him is helping the Eels rediscover both speed and decisiveness to their ball movements.

Outside of the Melbourne Storm and the Penrith Panthers, this is as big of a task that could be asked of Moses in a return from a broken back. The Rabbitohs have had the running against the Eels in recent times regardless of either teams form heading into any given contest. A win here, especially one built off a strong overall performance across the park catapults Parramatta back into the thick of the action in the run to the finals.

Outside of Moses, individuals across the team are almost overdue for bounceback performances. Clinton Gutherson, Reed Mahoney and Junior Paulo in particular will need to step up this week while both Maika Sivo and Blake Ferguson absolutely have to be on point in a contest where they know the Rabbitohs will be targeting them. We have been traditionally slow starters against the Bunnies, allowing them to dictate the flow of the game to us. Let’s see if our boys can flip the script this week and put the last fortnight behind them.

 

1. Clinton Gutherson ©
2. Maika Sivo
3. Tom Opacic
4. Waqa Blake
5. Blake Ferguson
6. Dylan Brown
7. Mitchell Moses
8. Oregon Kaufusi
9. Reed Mahoney
10. Junior Paulo
11. Isaiah Papali’i
12. Ryan Matterson
13. Nathan Brown
14. Bryce Cartwright
15. Shaun Lane
16. Marata Niukore
17. Will Smith
18. Haze Dunster
19. Ray Stone
20. Jake Arthur
21. Makahesi Makatoa

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34 thoughts on “Team List Tuesday – Halfback Back From Back Edition

  1. Sydeel

    How has Sivo retained his position?
    Same goes for Opacic?
    Will Carty actually stay in 17?
    If he does, will get more then 7 minutes?
    Does Brad Arthur actually have any clue?

      1. Raptor Jesus

        *coughs*

        Against South Sydney he was torn a new orifice and Fergo was dropped as a result of Opacic stinking up the joint defending in between Fergo and Jake (admittedly, a pretty hard assignment).

        Also he was terrible against the Roosters, so that was 2 games.

        1. Anonymous

          Gees you jokers are hard markers. Opacic is no superstar but he plays with his heart and gives everything.
          Pretty sick of the armchair warriors bagging the team.
          Maybe follow the storm champs

      2. Sydeel

        Oh he’s had a few more then that mate.
        He’s a solid player and he’d be a good fit in a backline with some speed and class around him.
        But in the parra lineup, he just adds to the lack of speed and power.
        Gutho is the slowest fullback in the comp.
        Sivo looks like he’s running in first gear.
        It’s almost like he doesn’t want to be there unless it’s 5m out from the opposition try line.
        Gets belted by players half his size in yardage carries.
        I’ve never seen someone so big and athletic get folded so many times.
        People like to hammer Fergo and Waqa but they’ve got heart and they’ll run into a brick wall for us.
        Penisini and Dunster need to be in the 17.
        And what about my other question?
        Will Carty actually stay in the 17 and will he get more then 6 minutes???

        1. Glenn

          Can’t see why Peninisi was dropped. Provides attack that Opacic doesn’t without any drop off in defence.

      3. Anonymous

        Two bad games at least.
        Against Souths last time he got showed up badly in defence.
        Last week very average also.

  2. HamSammich

    Mitchell “Kurt Angle” Moses is going to lead Parra to a gold medal with a broken freakin back. We’ll need some big metres from our backs this week to put him into position to catch Latrell out of position with his elite kicking game.

    There can’t be any hesitation with the centres and wingers, if they’re going to come up and in they need to do it quickly and make sure they’re tackle their man. Then the halves need to be on their toes to slide in underneath. Souths are a very good attacking team, everyone needs to be switched on

  3. Mr controversy aka rev

    It’s a good side except for RCG not playing any news on how long his out for ?

    Good to see Moses back much better organization n kicking game when his back but it’s his running game that get’s me excited.

    Personally I’d like to see Dylan brown go to half n Moses to 5/8 to unleash Moses running game.

    This would make Dylan brown more accountable in directing the team around the park. Put more of the ownership of the team on Dylan brown.

    This would also open up Moses game make him a much more dangerous player.

    I don’t really get why Marata hasn’t earned a starting spot in the backrower this weekend.

    I’d like to see papali’i start at prop along side Jr Paulo let them lay the platform then bring kaufusi n lane on to replace them.

    I wana talk about our bench. I personally think brad is not using it correctly.
    There’s alot more he can do with our bench.
    He has to stop playing smith n Cartwright for 5/10 minutes max it doesn’t let the player’s get into the Game.

    1. Electric Analysis

      I don’t think D Brown will do well at halfback. He is still learning his craft in attack. Giving him the responsibility to lead the team as well could really effect his performance.

        1. Raptor Jesus

          Some guys aren’t good at being dominant half.

          Dylan is a terrific player, as a second fiddle half. His skills are complementary to more dominant players. He defends well. He can run. He breaks the line and can break tackles. He can suck in defenders before throwing to the dominant half.

          For whatever reason, he isn’t effective as the dominant half. Not yet, anyway.

      1. HamSammich

        I thought the 2nd half of the roosters game when Dyl got into first receiver close to the ruck was some of the better footy he’s played this year. Straightening up the attack closer to the ruck will give our outside players more room than what they’re currently given. He also jumped on both sides of the field.

        Overall I think we need our halves to play closer to the ruck. Both are very quick, Dylan is one of the fastest players in the game, so they can catch lazy middles catching a breather. Not to mention Gutherson is a very good ball player at fullback so it isn’t as if we’ll lose out on the end of backline shifts.

  4. !0 Year Member

    Souths to score 50 and we will be lucky to score a try. Microphones to pick up the basic (ESL) language skills of the Parramatta Eels (what Gutho said was unacceptable in any mans language, let alone those of us whom have mothers, daughters, wives) and the coach to also describe the teams performance in the same basic 4 letter words (DUMB!), can you he not we have areas for improvement? calling kids dumb when they are young studies show that is what they think they are, unfortunately our team is what they tell themselves. Therein lies our problem, no space between the ears.

    1. Poppa

      10 year member, I have listened to some sanctimonious shit over the years, but if your mother, wife, daughters were offended by what Gutho said, you better get them into a convent. They obviously are not allowed to watch Tv, go to school or have any social life because our society is full of 4 letter words.
      Wow fancy calling your players dumb after being beaten by 28 to nil and showing a distinct lack of intelligence….would naughty little boys maybe have appeased the wife and kids. Oh wait no space between the ears is a much better way than that terrible “dumb” word.
      You say Souths to score 50 and we will be lucky to score……are you sure you are a Parra supporter……I think you should find another hobby. The people on here that bleed blue and gold deserve better than listening to your tripe.
      Criticise the team about playing football as much as you like, they deserve it but there is nothing wrong with their morality last time I looked.

  5. Electric Analysis

    I have liked big Kaufusi on the bench. Call me stupid, but I would of considered starting Makatoa (even if he only plays 20-30 in the game), put Kaufusi back onto the bench and drop W Smith out of the side.

    Surely Mahoney is ready to the play the 80 minutes again. We have Niukore to cover a backline reshuffle and Carty for the halves. With the way BA has been going with Smith and Carty getting 5 min a game, we will be playing with 15 men most of the game lol. 

    1. Sec50

      Totally agree. Very disappointed we haven’t taken the Makatoa option. He could be exactly what we need. He has great form and should be rewarded. Much better idea than Smith who should have been picked at 7 against the Raiders and our last 2 weeks could have been so different. I have been a staunch BA supporter but the call on Jake was a shocker and I haven’t heard a Eels supporter who disagrees.

      1. sixties

        Here’s why he selected him. Read what was said about Dylan Brown playing half in the first few replies. Will Smith plays a similar halves role to Dylan. In fact, when he was brought into the team late last year, and performed well, it was to replace Dylan Brown. Jake is a game management half. And he has copped some unfair criticism (ie he’s been blamed for the loss ahead of almost every other player) for last week’s loss. He didn’t play well at the start of last week, like virtually the entire team, and I was critical of the early kicks, so that’s fair to criticise. But he had a very solid second half and he didn’t miss a single tackle despite being targeted and his second half kicks created scoring opportunities not taken.

        1. Offside

          Unfortunately for Jake he isn’t a good half back (yet) and was caught out as not being good enough actually he was bad the last few weeks. the club didn’t have a plan for a back up half Unfortunately we decided to go with a 18 year old who was let’s be honest he was not a junior superstar knocking the door down and we got caught out.

          1. Poppa

            He wasn’t there to make tackles 60’s, basically they ran at him and it made his job easier. Technically he is a reasonable front on tackler, getting to and covering an attacker is his problem, hence the grasping air misses, the ones he doesn’t get to don’t get recorded as misses. The rest of his game was miles too slow for First Grade, that is where Smith would have made a difference. We all see what we want to see in a player coming into a team, but it was extremely obvious to me that the team were not comfortable following him around the park, despite what they may say in denial. They were literally standing there waiting for his shuffle pass out the backline.
            Effectively every play was instigated by Guth because he thought the responsibility was on him because they all knew Jake couldn’t do it. This is one of the reasons I am so disappointed in BA because he had to see it, despite your opinion 80 to 90% of the people watching could see it.
            Again I am disappointed to see him still in the 21, BA is coaching himself out of a job. The implication is that if Moses gets injured in the captains run, Jake would come into calculations, that is suicide!
            Even the strongest and most loyal of BA’s supporters are now calling for his head and he has no one to blame but himself and his own blindness/stubborness.
            I take no joy in coming to these conclusions and can only imagine how you must feel to see this happening.

        2. Sec50

          And here’s why he should not have been selected Sixties. His first game against the Dogs was ok but since then Jake has shown he is not presently an NRL player and his form has been below ordinary. Just because Smith and Brown are similar in style it still would have made sense to have Smith in the side. It is wrong to blame our form on Jake but I think his selection was incorrect on many levels. Maybe BA could have thought beyond the square and played Cartwright at 5/8 or even Gutho. Anything would have been preferable. I am a glass half full sort of person but when I saw the selection I was full of foreboding. I think it impacted on our game badly.

  6. pete

    I’m hoping for a form reversal (Big time). We seemed disjointed and lacking cohesion in recent weeks. I’m hoping with Moses back that will change and also take a bit of pressure of Gutho. Our forwards and bench look a little bare without RCG. I think we are still one forward down… Next year look at getting Takeahou as he’s planning on going to UK in 2022. If we get him he’s 29yrs and a dual premiership winner. If not Christian Welch…
    But that’s not going to help us this week. Somehow we need to stop Cody and Latrell….etc

  7. Offside

    Fortunately I’m working night shift on Friday and won’t watch what is coming.
    Think Penisini has been a bit stiff not getting another run

  8. Longfin Eel

    It’s now or never for the Eels. We need to show that we deserve to be playing finals football, because at the moment we are just pretenders. I’m confident we have the ability, just not confident we have the mental toughness to turn our season around.

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