Full contact opposed? I’m here for it!
When that serious footy component starts taking over at preseason training, the opening round feels that little bit closer.
There was no shortage of highlights today when the full contact opposed work became the major feature of the session. Furthermore, the coaching staff looked after us by using the “hill field” for most of the morning.
Cheers fellas!
Here’s a run down of the session:
Conditioning
This wasn’t a major component of the morning, though Elkin did put the squad through their paces with some limited M runs. Maybe I’ll call them N runs. Nonetheless, an animated Elkin stressed the importance of maintaining their standards after being unimpressed with one set.
As expected, Jake Arthur streeted the squad, and the more they ran, the further he extended his lead. Others deserving of a mention for their conditioning efforts included Jayden Yates, Mitch Rein, Isaiah Papali’i and Dylan Brown.
I should clarify that all of the footy components had an element of conditioning within them, and the running between games/drills continued to ensure that playing under fatigue was ever present.
Games
Jake Arthur sets up his supports.
The squad was split into multiple groups for a couple of touch footy games, both of which actually were defensive drills that focussed on positioning, movement and effort.
In the first game, set up on a quarter of the field, the attacking team was given the latitude to play expansive footy, with the emphasis on the defenders making the right decisions and effort to shut it down.
A variation of Fijian Footy (or forward pass footy) was then played across the field. Effort areas seemed to be equal parts pushing up in support and equal parts the defensive chase. It would be easy enough to focus on the spectacular ball work in this type of game, and usually you are looking for support players to find space, but this morning the greatest praise was reserved for defence.
The Footy
In a “match” that pitched the Home (Blue) jersey team against the White, I’d give the victory to the White in a tight points decision. And by points, I mean the points scored.
The White jersey team managed to take advantage of a couple of opportunities which they converted to tries, though that’s not to say that there weren’t highlights for both teams.
First and foremost, the overall winner was the defence. There was no easing up in the collision and the sound from a number of the hits could be heard from the car park.
Some of the more brutal shots were delivered by Woody – Wiremu Greig. The Mullet Master is looking in terrific shape and his right shoulder left a collection of bruises on his unfortunate White jersey opponents.
Another to impress for the Blues was Brendan Hands. His service out of dummy half was crisp and he’s a number 9 who likes to take the team forward by engaging the defence as he distributes the ball. This allowed his forwards to be on the front foot when receiving the ball. He also earned a six again with a sharp dart from dummy half after a quick play the ball.
At one point Greig and Hands combined nicely when the big prop was able to offload in a three man tackle for Hands to grab a valuable 15 – 20 metres.
Hands sets the Blues attack on its way
As expected, Dylan Brown was superb in his effort areas. One particular chase off a 50 metre kick had him diving through the air in an attempt to bring down Hayze Perham in the in goal. Though he was successful in grassing the flying Perham, the versatile fullback just managed to slide into the field of play.
Bryce Cartwright produced a few standout moments in what was arguably his best session of the pre-season and both were indicative of his positive mindset.
The first worth mentioning was his chase on a Jake Arthur kick. Carty led the 35 metre chase and gave Sean Russell no chance of getting around him.
His second outstanding moment had him hitting a hole from an offload (possibly off Caleb Tohi), before weaving his way into the clear, then finding Mitch Rein in support for the try.
Not long after, Matt Komolafe was sent on a sprint down the left wing and Jake Arthur showed good pace to back up on the inside for the White’s second try.
The rest of the “match” was just a tough physical clash. Hit ups were at full pace and players were driven backwards in three man tackles.
As if to put the physical exclamation point on the morning, the session was concluded with a period of relentless defence. Each team was given repeated sets of six camped in the other side’s quarter.
It goes without saying that effort on effort is required, and maintaining positive body language goes hand in hand with that effort. For the most part the defence held strong apart from three outstanding plays.
In the first instance it involved a rampaging Marata Niukore running off Dylan Brown in an unstoppable charge to the line. My first thought as Marata burst onto the ball was finding a get well card for the defenders!
Jake Arthur then provided Isaiah Papali’i with a precision pass for the Kiwi to bust the line open. It was a sweetly timed play that reminded me of Ice’s potency on the edge as well as Arthur’s capacity to dig into the line.
Finally, Carty executed a glorious cut out pass to create a try in the corner.
Bonus Observations
Solomone Naiduki is an absolute unit. It will be interesting to see how he performs over the rest of this preseason, but he looks bigger than last year. He was just starting to have an impact at NSW Cup level in 2021, and will be looking to build on that in 2022.
Ofahiki Ogden is very quickly finding his fitness after joining the Eels just before Christmas. He already appears to have dropped a few kilos and is a handful carrying the ball into contact.
I’m looking forward to what next week has in store.
Eels forever!
Sixties
Thanks for the great report TCT team.
As good as defence sounds – I’m concerned. Surely the teams should be able to execute slick plays and play tough defence simultaneously. I understand the starting side is sprinkled throughout each team but if a team team had Moses and gutho they should win 8/10 times. Instead there seems to be too much dropped ball (players out of sync) and “tough defence”. That defence is great and will the bedrock of the 2022 team but Each year I wait for parra to nail slick block plays and/or find extra dimensions to their attack other than the predictable gutho sweep. In 2021 reed started to attack more out of the middle of the field and that was great but even then we were predictable and still needed another point of attack to truly threaten the top teams. Penisini could be a valuable strike centre but dyl and Moses really need their edges humming. The strength of the left side is easily noted and nullified against the better teams.
I’m sure all of this is being worked on and has been noted by all the relevant people at parra but “effort” alone will only get us so far. We need polish and development in attack (even though it is still mid preseason)
Matthias, I think all of us look for a bit more in the Eels attack each year. So where do we want to see more. Last year I was looking for more around the ruck. We saw Reed have an excellent start to the season before injury struck, then I though Lussick was just starting to show his capacity to read the defence and hit blind sides. Out wide Penisini offered a great strike weapon and Waqa was playing his best at season’s end.
This year I’m looking for a bit more around the ruck and on our edges.
PS – if we have any plays that look out of the ordinary I’m unlikely to report on them in much detail 😁😙
We are on the same page sixties re: areas of
Improvement in attack (ruck and edge combinations) and again I want to stress how grateful we are for the training reports. Hopefully Dyl and Moses can get their respective edges humming. We really need dyl to be more creative in attack as I think that will unlock a lot of the untapped potential of the team by establishing four threats (reed in centre of park, dyl on left; Moses on right and gutho supporting + sweeping both sides). Throw in penisini as a strike centre and that’s the makings of a formidable attacking team to be paired with the tough defence we typically exhibit (aside from the massive dip in defence against the top teams in that torrid run of fixtures)
Shhh
We only need one half who can attack.
Dylan can just tackle and continue to show potential 🤣
Don’t be like that Grunta!
🤣
Cheers Mathias. I think we all can see the possibilities for this year. As McGregor said to us when we met him, the Eels are right up where many teams want to be and only need incremental improvement to take that next step.
Rein will be a huge asset if used at 14 .I would look at giving Reed less minutes to keep him fresher and tell both to run all night.We haven’t had two decent hookers together probably since Peats and Degoise.
Rein will be pushing his claims for that to happen, he’s done that for his entire career. I would have backed Lussick to have an impact in the finals footy last year if he had been fit.
Great report as always 👍🏻. Is young Charlie Guymer training with the main group?
He will be part of the Flegg squad TB.
Great read as always. For those about to write pre-season training reports I salute you!
Thanks for your support as always Shaun.
We have got a great squad for this year.Even with a couple of losses in Smith and Fergs and Sivo out,I think we are looking much better than last year.Ogden, Simonson and Rein are big ins but I think the emergence of a fit Greig will be huge.His hard knees up running style will cause huge problems for the opposition and offers a point of difference to our already formidable pack.I am excited, bring it on.
Greig has a different body shape and size to other players. He and Ogden bring that big man impact.
Fantastic read as always mate. I am thinking that Cartwright is going to have a big year. I actually think he will be 17 every week and maybe even push Matto or lane out. WE need his brillance with the ball and he usually attracts 3 defenders most times. His silly push passes and not on kicks is letting him down as I know his defence has picked up levels since last year.
WE need to get Will P clear air and more space. He will shine with leg work but felt last year he played so flat it was only his skill level that allowed him to do what he did. Haven’t been to a session yet but I have a gut feeling he may start with Mitch REIN . Strong defensively and crafty old head.
Think we can win it this year for sure. Worry about who we dont have for 2023
Paul with McGregor there as a consultant I think Will is in good hands
By the way, just watched Will’s younger brother go through his paces in the Matts internal trial. Looking forward to tracking his progress this year.
Cheers PT, I reckon that a strong year this season will also set 2023 on its way. But I’m not going to concentrate too much on 23 yet. I’m confident that the club will continue to build – and the coaches and recruitment can deal with the future.
Always look forward to these reports so a big thank you Sixties for your effort. I live on Gold Coast and occasionally go to Titans training so at least have my footy fix during the off season.
Thanks Glenn. The opposed sessions help with the footy fix don’t they!
Tks sixties. It’s looking like genuine depth may be useful this year, so there’s a fair bit for you to sort through now that contact sessions have arrived. No pressure.
This is the part of the preseason to look forward to BDon.
Thanks Sixties, great read again.
Like some others i think Ogden will prove to be a good buy and Greig with a fit season will also prove to be a handful.
I also think Hayze Perham will be an astute back up, and hope he gets a chance again in the top squad.
All of these plays contribute to the genuine depth in the club. If ever there was a season that places demands on the depth of a club it will be this one.
Agree on Perham, Milo.
His elusiveness, speed off the mark and just playing what’s in front of him style is exciting to watch. I hope he gets a shot.
Sounds like the toughest pre season ever
Toughest preseason ever is a cliche that is now used more by fans taking the piss than it is by players. On a serious note, every preseason should offer different challenges than the previous years. Every team would be looking to prepare better than before and/or with a point of difference to others.