By now most of you would have watched Project PARRAdise. As a behind the scenes look into one of the preseason experiences for the players, it ticked many boxes.
It was evident from the footage that this was an unexpected overnight camp for the squad. The playing squad and extended staff travelled to Wiseman’s Ferry on Thursday and returned on Friday morning.
As an aside, I had fronted to Kellyville on the Friday morning to catch what I thought would be a typical Friday session. An empty car park signalled that something was different, and as I hit the phone to find out whether it was a later start, car pools of players started to arrive, and with so many travelling together it was apparent that they had been somewhere overnight.
A few enquiries confirmed the camp and the positivity arising from it. I was also informed that there was likely to be some media coverage for supporters to watch.
The players captured doing some problem solving in Project Parradise
Just on that, I wanted to give a shout out to everyone who made that happen. From the staff and players to management, everybody has to be in agreement with what the media team wants to capture.
There are limitations as to what will be shown from training. Teams will be protective of their methodologies as they look for an edge. I noted that the work done at 1am and 4am was not part of the vision. I’m acutely aware of my responsibility in that regard in my own pre-season reports.
I was interested in the engagement of the players in this variation to the schedule. The unity within the group, especially with how seamlessly the pathways players have become part of an NRL squad was there for supporters to witness.
Going through shared experiences is all part of the bonding experience. After last season, I’m happy to see experiences that build unity.
This overnight camp was simply part of the overall pre-season program, and it’s important to see it in that context. It was followed up the next week with a typical Monday but then a really challenging Wednesday. The week was then finished with another “unexpected excursion”, this time to the Wanda sand hills.
Once more questions were asked about the capacity of both individuals and the squad to push through barriers.
This week, the players were given a break from the field session on Monday, but it was back to work on Wednesday. Unfortunately, circumstances prevent me from attending this week, so it with great thanks to Parrathruandthru that I can provide his observations from Kellyville.
And fortunately he was able to inform me that contact opposed work had commenced.
Wednesday Field Session
The technical and tactical dominated in this session.This was no surprise considering the conditioning load from Wednesday and Friday (sand hills) last week.
Apart from some “Malcolmesque” work, the session was composed of a number of passing and defence drills, along with full field and part field touch footy, and finally some contact opposed.
The pace of the session was very sharp, with the squad running between the two fields as they alternated between drills.
Some of the highlights included:
* Blaize Talagi burning his opponent with sheer pace in a touch game
* Kelma Tuilagi running an exquisite line off a Matt Arthur pass that put him through a hole and on a 50 metre gallop
* Carty putting Will Penisini away with a Gidley special
* Ethyn Martin emulating Blaize by burning his opponent with pace
* Saxon Pryke delivering a big shot on RCG
Friday Field Session
Although there was a conditioning component to the session, it was once again all about the football.
After working through their shapes and sets unopposed, it was time to get into some contact opposed footy. The main observation was that defence won the day. This was important to note as for many Eels fans, defence remains a major priority.
Split into two teams, blue and green, the play was allowed to flow until a mistake was made, and was mostly confined to the area between the red zones.
Such was the strength of the defensive work, it was difficult to identify any genuine attacking highlights. Ofahiki Ogden provided one charge of note when he carried a number of defenders through impressive post contact metres.
“Pole footy”, where the last defender has to run around a sideline pole before rejoining the game, M runs, and tackle bags, were all interspersed between the opposed work.
For those who like to keep track of effort, the stand out M run performers were Dylan Brown, Saxon Pryke, Sam Tuivaiti, Ethan Sanders and Will Penisini. Sam was an impressive improver, and looks to be showing the benefit of an NRL pre-season.
Once again, my thanks to Parrathruandthru for these training notes.
Eels forever!
Sixties
I have seen a lot of criticism of the “Project PARRAdise” mini doco. I enjoyed it, it’s a different look at what is involved in the pre-season rather than just “the boys are training hard” videos and photos we usually get from different club’s media.
On the training reports, it’s great to see Talagi and Tuivaiti having good pre-Xmas sessions. The big test for both of them is if they can come back in the new year and hold their positions in the runs, it’s cliche but it’s a long pre-season. Both are blue chip prospects, let’s hope we can hold onto these ones. And we have to lock down Ethyn Martin sooner rather than later, I imagine barring injury he’ll feature in at least 1 trial game and he may not look back from there.
Hi Ham, you mentioned 3 young guys although I know little of the first two, but know they must have a big future with all the wraps on them. Martin I’m a big fan of and am glad you also see that. Love your take on our young bucks.
Ethyn is a rough diamond in terms of rugby league. The building blocks and raw talent are there in abundance and he made an immediate impact on the wing in Flegg after joining the club during the year. But in terms of life experience, he’s travelled a bit with his rugby Union background and been away from home at a fairly young age. That makes him a bit different and possibly gives him an advantage in terms of mindset.
Sam has really warmed into the preseason. Blaize looks physically ready for NRL now. Considering his foot injury meant he didn’t get a full preseason last year, and then the mid season rib injury took away Flegg games, I wonder where he’d be at without those set backs?
So Ofahiki is still with the club ?
I was under the impression the club had released him.
I’m glad if he is, I thought he was ready to breakout for us last season.
Yes Brett. Ogden is still with the club and has been training for the entire preseason
Good
Love this!! Love to see the club having such a huge preseason, let’s hope it translates on the field come round 1 🔥🤞
Cheers Nat. Yes, it always has to translate to the actual NRL. What I appreciate seeing is whether someone is adding something different to the preseason – be it a new face, recruitment or pathways, or another player who has maybe benefited from getting a shot in the previous season. Of course, it can also be what they are working on in terms of structures and shapes that might also provide a big difference, or even the vibe in the group.
I can’t help but feel that Blaize Talagi will be named at left centre concerned 1.
Come round 1
No chance !!!
Brett, I hope he does get a chance at some stage as I’ve done v good things abt him.
Brett I watched him closely in the semi final loss to the roosters and defensively he is well short of a first grader , he needs a good 7/10kg of muscle to play first grade , that said he glides like Kenny in full flight imo and let’s hope he becomes as great as bert
He isn’t that far off now in size if he gets a run in the halves. He’s 90kg.
Brett Kenny was an excellent defender. His attack speaks for itself
Indeed he was John and spent that latter part of his career at lock.
Ah sixties, Kenny (in his last year I think) and Glen Liddiard (at 5/8) put on some of the best attacking football, it was mesmerising. Unfortunately we leaked points rather badly.
BDon, it’s interesting watching footage from those years because as you said, there was some good attacking footy. But of course there are two major components of the game, not one.
Crikey The kids 18 ivan and missed a bit of footy through injury, can tackle can play , give him time .
He will play at some stage. Round 1? Big call
I wouldn’t be overly surprised either if Blaize was named in Rd. 1 if he continues post Christmas in a similar vein. At the very least I expect him to get plenty of minutes in the trials.
Tuivaitu is a great prospect, and he should be the guy to ultimately replace Junior/RCG in the coming years.
Pleased to hear Kelma has been training strongly, he could be a weapon for us on the edge next season – BA is going to have some tough calls to make in the pack if we have everyone fit and available.
BP, there are big calls to make with the pack.
BA is conservative by nature. To throw Blaize or any rookie in for that matter round one be a huge call based on BA’s history.
Remember how good Penisini was playing. Made his debut in the finals because Jennings was suspended. BA knew how good he was.
Having said that we probably don’t have anybody of MJ’s class in the left centre position. I believe Simonson is playing good enough to hold his position right now.
Penisini made his debut in 2021. You’re thinking of Dunster who made his debut in the finals. BA may be “conservative” in bringing players in but he has brought young players in when they’re talented. Brown, Moeroa, Russell, Penisini.
Blaize is a huge talent undoubtedly. But I’d prefer to see him play at least half a season in reserve grade, it’s a huge step up from aged competition to go straight into first grade.
I have to agree. There is a huge step between age and open footy.
Thanks for the reports Parrathruandthru and 60’s.
I enjoyed the Wiseman’s Ferry part and it was different and to me abt the team / squad being one.
I would’ve had all in tents as it appeared and I may be wrong that some didn’t stay in tent. One in – all in. Unless I saw it wrong.
I just hope for the clubs sake and team, that a couple of young ones come on well for the season; and we have less injuries / suspensions than this season.
I agree Milo. It seemed to be all about the unity. Hope you’re doing ok mate.
I am not sure where this comment fits 60’s given its a training commentary, but I do believe something needs to be said about our recruitment deficiencies.
I am becoming very concerned about our board in the post administration environment. It appears to me that we have a board that is so WOKE in respect to political correctness that the management of the club compared to our competitors is being damaged by a lack of practical business dealing.
Parra has gone through a hiatus of damage since the corruption era culminated in 2016 and the club was placed in administration. The new board that evolved out of this process was sound in principle but has proven so conservative that they are doing damage they probably still do not realise to this day.
There is a lot of rhetoric in discussion re TPA’s.\ and that’s what I am alluding to.
We seem to agree in the principle but never the less we seem to fracture at the “old arms length” scenario. In a city the size of Parramatta to the point of being able to get sponsors (albeit unofficially) should not be a problem.
This is where the naivety of the current board and leadership becomes the problem. They were fine in the post “administration stages” but now in the after-recovery stage they lack the “commercial nous ” and where with all that is practically required to having “unofficial” people out there hawking our cause.
I have been a great supporter of the board through the administration stage but now we need a change in direction from the Chairman and CEO. Yes, the board appointment structure is fine but the leadership is not and we need to be rotating some new directors with a better practical understanding of our footballing needs.!
I am not sure we have anyone outside of the structure that is proactive and understands these needs with the possible exception of Bernie Gurr …..now this is not a problem just endemic to Parramatta RLFC…… many companies in Australia are ruining their very existence because of their lack of understanding in terms of management and its consequences, look no further than our banks and major corporates, they have no understanding of the needs of their customers, only the value of their shares…..we in my day once had a philosophy of “win win”…..boards now are as big a cancer to our country, up there with the “greens” and for people that think that is politics, just understand there are no right and left arguments, just decency in results for what we stand for.
I am writing this to say we have a wonderful environment emerging for our football club, lets not stuff it up through conservatism… I feel this problem is not being addressed appropriately at the level it needs to be…..Accountants and Lawyers bring bad management to many organisations our board is basically one of being contained by such people.
The current CEO and Chairman should be looking at recruiting a CEO that is football aligned and one of the Current CEO or Chairman stepping aside. A good example would be a Frank Ponissi type person to take such a role.
I realise this maybe confronting to some, but at least on the Cumberland Throw some one may think about what I am saying.
Poppa pretty much agree with your comments here. Can I give you an example. Roosters going after a rugby union player. They realise there is going to be cap issues.
Part of the way through the negotiations the NRL announce that they are considering cap benefits for signing ARU contracted players. Can you imagine the Eels putting that sort of pressure on the NRL.
The Eels are currently a sound club commercially well run. We have good following, good revenue and plenty of members. Despite that we do lack success on the field.
However we have no equity in the game. As a result we get poor commentary from the media, and ordinary treatment from the NRL. Our draws year on year are bad and we are not challenging the NRL for the treatment we receive.
For example last season we were one of the better clubs for penalties conceded yet we had almost twice as many games lost to suspension in the NRL.
Dyl did not do himself any favours last season but the treatment he received was over the top due to Woke ideals.
In Australia currently we get poor value from politicians, company directors and decision making committees. The thing those groups all have in common is that the decisions they make involve spending other peoples money. Not their own. If it was their own money the decisions would be different in many cases.
Thanks JE, it’s reassuring to know there are some thinkers left and at the same time prepared to challenge issues that need to be debated and discussed. I do not pretend to have all the answers, but we have come a long way since 2016 and we are a well-run club…..in the face of that we should never rest on that laurel alone because we need to still be better give the competition we are up against.
What I don’t think people may understand is that there is no blame or criticism of the incumbents as much as a need to be better in the circumstances we have evolved into.
One of the miscreants said he did not understand the convoluted nature of the post but it seems because he did not understand it, it must not be right….Hmmm
Firstly MitchelL Moses is a brand ambassador for Parramatta BMW.
Clubs are not allowed to organise TPAs
Fear of getting caught as the club is full of leakers does not make them woke.
Woke is a term that was used by Black Americans meaning that had become aware of their political situation.
Semi, I am not sure what world you live in but my comments addressed the legal issiue i.e. arm’s length policy and if you do not understand that “woke” is a general word in just about every level of society on the planet……its time to head back to Fiji.
PS, please explain why Mitchel Moses is pertinent to the post.
Actually the more I read your convoluted post the less sense it makes.
But that is pretty standard for all your posts.
Yep, his post is the ramblings of someone with too much time on their hands and doesn’t really understand the true meaning of ‘woke’, in which it’s actually a good thing to be ‘woke’ and completly irrelevant to this post,
he’s just regurgitating the RWNJ’s rhetortic spewed out by Sky News and echo chambers in social media
Woke is a buzzword that obscures more than it reveals. It has limited force as it is so constantly misused (as is the case here). It is not a whole issue. The club cannot organise 3rd party deals per rules but it could try being more attractive commercially (I suppose) to tacitly entice 3rd parties to invest in the team and its players. I don’t know how much each club spends on 3rd parties but any advantage is a good advantage for clubs like broncos, storm etc who apparently get big 3rd party deals (the Munster deal with Betr who is owned or run by storm ceo is a joke). Also, there are still snitches at parra who would like nothing more than to see the team crumble for their own personal gain. I just think we need to move some players on or wait till tell expires at end of this year snd regig the balance of the squad.
Thanks Ron, at least it shows your thinking. reading the two guys who posted before you is pretty representative of the general malaise that continues to exist in our society.
I could just about guarantee they are strong left wing supporters who have been brainwashed into having no original thought.
It’s a shame that they don’t understand that they don’t understand.
Perhaps I wasnt clear enough. I wasn’t agreeing with your use of the term woke. Nor your artificial distinction between left and right when it comes to rugby league. I was merely saying that the club is very hamstrung by the nrl in comparison to other clubs like storm and broncos and roosters. The dogs for example tried to give Tino a pub and cited Melbourne with the Munster/betr deal in support of their application to nrl but got knocked back. some Clubs just manipulate the nrl better (see roosters with recent rugby union signing and the likely salary cap concession they will get for it). We just need to clean out some players and regig the balance of the squad + continue to leverage our brand. How we do that is a wait and see as we have the fanbase. It just needs to be mobilised better to hopefully attract more corporate sponsors and implicitly, third party deals. It should be noted that only the top dogs really get third party deals and gutho, Moses, junior already probably have them.
“I was merely saying that the club is very hamstrung by the nrl in comparison to other clubs like storm and broncos and roosters.”
Thats your quote Ron……. why were you “merely” saying It?
“We just need to clean out some players and regig the balance of the squad + continue to leverage our brand. How we do that is a wait and see as we have the fanbase”.
That was your next quote…..do you want to put some context into it. Saying it like you have means nothing!……..I may add that “waiting and seeing” is the comment of someone with no solutions.
In finality clubs like Storm Broncos and Roosters are progressive, throw in Penrith with that lot…..my comments are we need to become progressive as well, given we have done our penance, and my suggestion is we need to become less woke. Now interpret that like you want but implies less politically correct, the word is slang and as far as I know you have no real understanding of any of the message that is being delivered
He actually agreed with Semi more then u.
Just too obtuse to see it.
Irrelevant post on a training blog but your ego requires you to spread your ignorance on more then one forum.
Support for your team should be above politics. Sad some have to display their political biases and resort to labelling when we should be united behind the mighty Eels.
Go Parra.
The Eels have TPAs.
Sixties, If we have TPA’s already, are they recorded on the NRL register, because if they are not, they are not TPA’s…..every TPA has to be approved by the NRL.
Obviously if they are registered they would be legal TPA’s and in accord with the “arms length process”…… is there a reason why people on here, even on this thread think they are illegal and Parra doesn’t/can’t have them.
Why do we have so many problems competing with other clubs over players that we seem to miss on price?
Don’t confuse my comments, I have tried to explain the evolutionary process that we need to go with……these include the positive happenings of our pathways and even the brilliance of the Kellyville complex and for that matter TCT, you guys have come a long way in a short space of time and I do not think that any club has a communication piece as good as what you guys have developed.
The naysayers in this thread are examples of the type of thinkers that have held Parra back for years.
Just accept you are wrong and go away quietly before you further embarrass yourself.
If you think you can embarrass yourself on social media, maybe you are the one to go quietly.
PS What am I wrong about? I suspect you wouldn’t know and that is your problem to think about. You see when giving opinions and making suggestions you are putting yourself into context……you have none!
Can’t see why they wouldn’t be recorded at the NRL Poppa.
As for missing out on price, I would say that we have Moses, Brown, Gutherson, Junior, RCG, Matto all on significant deals. Lane not far behind. So our big coin is spent on retention. We’ve got one space left in our top 30. Mark O’Neill discusses this on our podcast with him.
Yes I heard that interview 60’s and I thought it had JAC written all over it, in saying that though I don’t think for a minute that he implied he had him.