The Cumberland Throw

Team List Tuesday – Titanic Fallout Edition

NRL Team List

 

The Melbourne Storm deservedly grabbed headlines for their Pyrrhic victory over the Wests Tigers in a game where they lost Christian Welch and George Jennings for the season as well as Brandon Smith for at least a few weeks. Unfortunately, as it turns out Round 1 has also extracted a heavy toll on our Parramatta Eels. It was a given that Sean Russell would miss a sizeable portion of the season but the Blue & Gold will also be without the services of Ryan Matterson (Hamstring, Round 4-5) for the next month. Throw in what looks to be a serious injury for Marata Niukore (Calf, TBA), presumably sustained at training and suddenly the injury ward at Kellyville is looking mighty packed.

It is a full-blown injury crisis really but the silver lining to it all is that outside of the Melbourne Storm in Round 3 (who as mentioned have their own injury issues), Parramatta’s opening to the 2022 season remains highly navigable in spite of this handicap. Brad Arthur obviously has several important problems to solve this week – primarily among them who and how do they fix a seemingly cursed position out wide.

Enter Tom Opacic. Fresh off a four-try day in the NSW Cup, the dependable stalwart at centre won’t be the direct replacement for Russell. Instead he slides into left centre and pushes Waqa Blake to the vacant wing position. ‘BA’ has applied a simple and straightforward methodology here and I can’t fault him honestly. Samuel Loizou and Solomone Naiduki, the two remaining out and out options at wing, will both benefit from more time in reserve grade.

Thankfully, while we all may be sweating bullets on the club’s depth at wing at least Brad Arthur has a deep stock of quality forwards to call upon in the meantime. Oregon Kaufusi starts at lock forward against his future employer as Bryce Cartwright and Nathan Brown reinforce the interchange bench. Jake Arthur drops back to the NSW Cup to free up the second slot on the bench.

Cronulla fell agonisingly short of the Canberra Raiders in Round 1 but played some genuinely quality football under new coach Craig Fitzgibbon throughout stretches of the game. In the past this has been an extremely awkward match-up for the Eels but recent history suggests our club might have finally turned a corner there having taken three of the last four meetings. However, the presence of a new coach alongside an injection of new talent in Nicho Hynes and Dale FInucane add some dangerous new variables to the formula.

We will see how it all shakes down at 5:30PM on Saturday out at PointsBet Stadium as the Eels look to improve to 2-0 on the season.

 

1. Clinton Gutherson (c)
2. Waqa Blake
3. Will Penisini
4. Tom Opacic
5. Bailey Simonsson
6. Dylan Brown
7. Mitchell Moses
8. Reagan Campbell-Gillard
9. Reed Mahoney
10. Junior Paulo (c)
11. Shaun Lane
12. Isaiah Papali’i
13. Oregon Kaufusi

14. Makahesi Makatoa
15. Bryce Cartwright
16. Ray Stone
17. Nathan Brown

18. Jake Arthur
19. Mitch Rein
20. Ky Rodwell
21. Hayze Perham
22. Wiremu Greig
23. Solomone Naiduki
24. Samuel Loizou

 

Injury Report

 

Player Injury Return
Ryan Matterson Hamstring Rd 4-5
Marata Niukore Calf TBC
Sean Russell Ribs/Lung TBC
Maika Sivo Knee TBC
Haze Dunster Knee 2023

 

NRLW Team List

 

Dean Widders has made a handful of changes this week as the Eels look to claim consecutive victories in the NRLW for the first time ever. Emily Curtain retains her place at five-eighth after a stellar NRLW debut, however Sereana Naitokatoka returns to the team on the interchange bench and it will interesting to see how she is utilised against the Sydney Roosters.

The spine gets a boost with the return of Nita Maynard but that isn’t the only change to the front row for Round 4. Tommaya Kelly-Sines is spelled for the week as Filomina Hanisi earns her Team List Tuesday start of her young career. Out wide we see that Rikeya Horne is scheduled to return which sees Abbi Church fall back to the bench.

In spite of these changes it does feel like there is a nice flow of continuity for the Eels among the majority of the core players. Hopefully that helps position them to consolidate and make a serious push towards the finals and ultimately the premiership in the coming weeks.

 

1. Botille Vette-Welsh
2. Taina Naividi
3. Tiana Penitani
4. Jocephy Daniels
5. Rikeya Horne
6. Emily Curtain
7. Maddie Studdon
8. Filomina Hanisi
9. Nita Maynard
10. Kennedy Cherrington
11. Christian Pio
12. Jamie-Anne Wright
13. Simaima Taufa ©

14. Shirley Mailangi
15. Abbi Church
16. Sereana Naitokatoka
20. Ellie Johnstone
18. Christine Pauli
21. Jade Etherden
22. Tess Staines
23. Mareva Swann
24. Katrina Phippen
24. Theresa Aiton
24. Tommaya Kelly-Sines

 

Injury Report

 

Player Injury Return
Therese Aiton Facial Lateration Round 5

 

NSW Cup Team List

 

Like their contemporaries in the NRL and NRLW, the Parramatta Eels are looking to build towards a 2-0 start in the NSW Cup. Following a spectacular season launch with a 34-6 demolition of the St George Illawarra Dragons, Ryan Carr has essentially picked his team around the understandable demands of Brad Arthur in the NRL. Jordan Rankin slides back to fullback as Jake Arthur returns to the grade to partner the quietly impressive Jack Williams in the halves.

With Nathan Brown back playing top-flight footy, Wiremu Greig makes a timely return from injury to start in the front row. Ofahiki Ogden, Ky Rodwell and Elie El-Zakhem will all be looking to press their claims to higher honours after all three posted outstanding first-up games. It is also a big week for Samuel Loizou and Solomone Naiduki as they battle to be the next man up on the wing in the NRL.

It is also exciting to see young forward Peter Taateo retain a place on the bench following a surprise (at least in terms of it happening in Round 1) NSW Cup debut on the weekend where he looked very much at home in the grade.

The Eels take on the Newtown Jets at Kellyville Park at 12:45PM on Sunday.

 

1. Jordan Rankin
2. Solomone Naiduki
3. Hayze Perham
4. Sam Loizou
5. Zac Cini
6. Jack Williams
7. Jake Arthur
8. Ofahiki Ogden
9. Mitch Rein
10. Wiremu Greig
11. Elie El-Zakhem
12. Dan Keir
13. Ky Rodwell

14. Brendan Hands
15. Peter Taateo
16. Luca Moretti
17. Keaton Walkington-Meads

 

Jersey Flegg Team List

 

The only team to fail to register on the weekend and the Jersey Flegg can consider themselves desperately unlucky not to do so. Some contentious calls and rough luck allowed the St George Illawarra Dragons to pinch victory on opening day but even so there were plenty of encouraging signs for our Under 21s.

Corey Fenning played at centre last week with Arthur Miller-Stephen coming into the team at fullback before kickoff but this week they trade places. Miller-Stephen is SG Ball eligible in 2022, likewise for Charlie Guymer, Ethan Sanders and Larry Muagututia but clearly the priority is player development for this quartet as they all retain berths in the Jersey Flegg for Round 2.

The only notable omission this week is that of Tevita Taumoepenu who I believe was cited during the game against the Dragons and has possibly received a suspension.

The young men of our Jersey Flegg team will play in the curtain raiser to the NRL game this week at PointsBet Stadium. Naturally their opponents are the Cronulla Sharks and they kickoff at 3:15PM on Saturday.

 

1. Corey Fenning (c)
2. Arthur Miller-Stephen
3. Josh Tuipulotu
4. Charlie Guymer
5. Matthew Komolafe
6. Dantoray Lui
7. Ethan Sanders
8. Jack Colovatti
9. Kruz Niutili-Schmidt
10. David Hollis
11. Nikau Wrathall
12. Felix Niutili-Schmidt
13. Ryan Jones

14. David Tui
15. Brock Parker
16. Larry Muagututia
17. Jayden Skinner
18. Ben Olsen

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12 thoughts on “Team List Tuesday – Titanic Fallout Edition

  1. BDon

    Was looking forward to seeing Marata on the park. He lifts the team’s energy and I don’t think we’ve seen the best of him yet. The injury doesn’t sound minor…really bad luck.

    1. John Eel

      I am very disappointed with Marata being out injured. This is a big loss and calf injuries can take a long time to heal.

      I hope for his sake they get him back to fitness quickly.

  2. John Eel

    I was pleasantly surprised by the 34-6 victory over St George on the weekend. Did the win signify a weaker Dragons or a lot of depth for the Eels

    Either way or even a bit each way having a four Try centre to bring in to an injury ravaged team is a bit of a godsend for BA and all Eels fans.

    I like how he has gone about replacing Sean Russell by using Tom Opacic by moving Waqa out. This keeps us in a good place for NRL experience. The temptation would have been to play around with rookies like Perham, Cini and Loizou.

    The bench is a little light for Middles but others can cover such as Oregon, Papali’i and Brown

    This is a good opportunity for our boys to show their grit in adversity. I was confident of a win last week. It was a lot closer than I anticipated but in the end our class got us home.

    I am anticipating our class will do it again for us this weekend despite our horror run of injuries.

    1. Forty20 Post author

      I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Dragons settle in as a mid-table/Top 8 contender in the NSW Cup. Saturday, felt to me at least, as a continuation of the excellent stewardship of Ryan Carr over an exciting team more than the Dragons struggling.

      There is definitely part of me that was banging the table to see more young blood replace Russell in Loizou but I think Brad Arthur made the correct call.

      Like you said John, looking forward to seeing our boys get the job done this week regardless of the injury handicap.

      1. Gary

        Loizou looks strong. Interested to see how Hollis develops. Big season for him. Not much in NSW cup as far as young guys playing above grade. Is JA the only guy?. But still some interesting prospects in Greig,Rodwell, Hands and Morretti. ButnI get impression there are more future NRL players amongst our Jerseg flegg squad

  3. Dday

    Injury crisis after round 1!

    That’s still a good looking team, highlights the depth. Bringing Opacic in makes sense; good form from him on the weekend, lots of NRL experience, knows the Eels structures. It pushes Waqa to the wing – interesting to see how he goes with more room on the kick returns.

  4. Milo

    Good balance side out wide for me; and some good nrl experiences there in the backs.
    Shame about Matterson and Marata, as we could do with there muscle. This is going to be a tough one as cronulla would be v confident from last week. Endeavour / Caltex / Ronson / Shark Park etc. is always a hard trip.
    When was the last time we had our three wingers injured..? Probably back when we had Neil Hunt and Eric Grothe……

  5. pete

    I’m guessing after Rapana last year and Campbell’s knees this year it’s open season on Parra wingers. If that was the Rooster’s the media would have been frothing.
    Three wingers out and another still settling into his combinations… At least it’s only round 2. Hopefully, we get all our injuries over with now and get a relatively injury free home run.
    Go Eels!!

    1. Forty20 Post author

      Nuggety forward with plenty of power. He played a bit on the edges back in the pathways but definitely spent more time at lock/middle. That is where is likely projects long term. He also has solid experience as a captain.

      I figured he would be a candidate to spend time in the NSW Cup later in the season but was pleasantly surprised to not only see him there for the opening game but also making an impact from the bench.

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