Imagine being involved in recruitment and retention at a development club.
On the one hand you risk criticism for your club either not producing enough local first grade products or losing young talent to other clubs. On the other hand, supporters will haul you over the coals for not clinching big recruits in the player market.
If you get it right, or the stars align for a golden period, you get a Penrith Panthers result. Four consecutive NRL grand finals, a premiership three-peat, a season of winning every grade down to SG Ball and a production line of pathways players ready to fill any void.
Over the last couple of seasons the Panthers have bled talent and not just at NRL level. That will continue moving forward with Jarome Luai already a confirmed departure to the Tigers. Thus far, they haven’t missed a beat with either pathways replacements or selective “Stormesque” recruitment getting the job done .
How long will their success last?
Penrith’s core players will keep them near the top, with Nathan Cleary proving he can literally drag them to win the big matches from near impossible situations.
Nathan Cleary – the Panthers premiership key
However, if you watch their lower grades and pathways teams, the player drain has bitten. They aren’t winning those titles which is because of an inevitability. There will always be years that aren’t as golden in pathways. Which isn’t a bad thing as clubs don’t want to be constantly losing players because of a lack of opportunity.
In terms of success, it’s impossible to compare the Eels to the Panthers at the moment, but as a “development” club, Parra still faces the same issues in recruitment and retention.
I was critical of the Eels roster in 2023, and what it looked like coming into 2024. We were lacking depth and quality in the backs and the roster was never full. I wrote multiple posts on the topic and won’t back down on the criticism.
But let me be clear. I also wrote about the perfect storm that unfolded in 2023 – the suspensions, injuries, poor form of individuals, tough officiating calls and a ridiculous draw. We just didn’t have the depth to cover the hurdles.
Mind you, through covering pathways football, I was acutely aware of the emerging talent. It was simply two to three seasons away from having an impact. Furthermore, there is always an unknown about age grade footballers being able to transition to NRL level players. Ability isn’t the only factor.
Back to the top 30, let’s acknowledge the decisions that had to be made around retention prior to the last couple of seasons.
The Eels had been on the rise from 2019. It’s well established that over the years Brad Arthur has developed those on his roster to the next level. Fringe players had become quality NRL regulars, others had gained Origin jerseys or were in the mix for selection. There were international caps earned.
That meant one thing. You can’t keep them all, and we saw the fallout coming into 2022.
The King
We don’t need to go back over old ground, but Parra was forced to invest big in key retentions. Gutherson, Moses, Brown, Paulo, Campbell-Gillard, Matterson, Lane, Penisini have all been re-signed on significant deals. Locking in a chunk of the cap in eight players leaves a price to pay. It’s there to see in the list of departures, the capacity to recruit, and even in future retentions.
Examining individual deals might open an avenue of criticism regarding money paid or the length of the contract, but there’d have been an uproar if any of those players were lost, and there was market interest that impacted most of those negotiations.
Now to 2024. Eight players are off a top 30 contract at the end of this season. However, the only established first grade player on that list is Bailey Simonsson. A new recruit competing with Simonsson, Morgan Harper, is also off contract at the end of the year.
Morgan Harper at Eels training
Immediately, that points to two scenarios.
Firstly, there are top 30 places up for grabs for either recruitment or retention. A couple of those are already known, with Luca Moretti and Sam Tuivaiti to move up from Development contracts. Regardless, when you have pathways talent coming through, you need these opportunities for them so that’s not a bad thing. It also pushes the fringe players at the end of their deals to perform at their best.
Secondly, there is a pressing need for a centre to be signed. Whether that’s filled by extending Simonsson or Harper, by promoting a rising pathways player, or by recruiting an established NRL talent, is the decision facing the recruitment committee.
Shifting Gutherson to centre could also be a solution, with a new fullback taking his place as custodian, whether it be via recruitment or internal replacement.
If you go down that path, the recruitment question then becomes a choice between centre and fullback. Extending the question to include form, Sivo’s fluctuating performances in 2023 point to a need for more selection options on the wing. Should that also be a signing priority?
Recruitment always carries the risk of potentially blocking a pathways player. Furthermore, just as elite retention limits the ability to recruit, elite recruitment significantly eats into the coin that the club could use on retention.
Ethan Sanders
Case in point, Ethan Sanders. Though Ethan should probably have been locked in to a Development contract earlier, it may have only kept him at the club for another year. As things stand, the Eels spent big on retaining Moses and Brown on long term deals. Keeping them was a no-brainer.
However, that decision, as obvious as it was, makes it extremely challenging to keep a high profile teenage halfback, especially when he is likely to attract highly lucrative offers in a market devoid of playmakers.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. If only the perfect balance could be achieved as easily as Penrith has managed to do. But even they have eventually lost their representative five-eighth.
This is how I see the Eels landscape changing with regard to emerging players.
In 2023, the lack of depth in backline players in the NRL squad bit hard. The coach faced injuries, suspensions and lack of form without selection options. Pathways players were two to three years away from potential NRL debuts. More needed to be known about the capacity of the young players to advance to open age football. However, coming into 2023, a number participated in a reduced preseason to help transition them towards that goal.
In 2024, there remains the same depth issues regarding experienced backs. The pathways players will be mostly one to two years away from a debut, though a couple might get the opportunity during the season as they are now filling those depth roles. More is known about the players following success in the SG Ball, finals football in Flegg, and for some, a taste of NSW Cup. They have also completed a full preseason.
Mitch Moses
In 2025, the majority of the current pack will either be off contract or well north of 30. Throw in Moses and Gutherson who will both turn 31 in that season, and Sivo 32 who will be 32. It doesn’t mean that they’d all be finished but history informs us that such an age places most players on the cusp of retirement, and from a club perspective, the succession plan would already be in action. A number of current pathways players should be on NRL contracts.
Back to the current question facing the Eels recruitment committee. Do they hit the player market and make a significant backline signing now, and if so, what position? If, as I believe, they should recruit an outside back for 2024, should it be a short term “stop gap” solution or a significant long term investment?
Or, do they believe that the current first grade team will get the job done and have faith that the pathways players will be ready to step up if required? After all, the pack is premiership quality, Moses and Brown are an elite halves combination, Gutherson is still a fine fullback, and Penisini is a game breaking centre. Sivo, at his best, wins games, whilst Russell threatens to have a break out season. The centre choice is between an attacking Simonsson and a defensive Harper.
Dylan Brown
And finally, is there enough quality in the emerging players to justify limiting the club’s participation in the player market?
In 2023, the answer was much clearer. The roster was lacking. In 2025, more will be known about the emerging talent.
But in 2024, big decisions will have to be made. With at least one spot available, and some money to spend, one call could decide the Eels fate in this season. But it could also have future retention ramifications because of the cap which would be spent and any opportunities which might be blocked.
Parramatta’s two western Sydney rivals offer vastly different approaches.
The Panthers model of development and selective recruitment, even in juniors, is well documented. It’s been a successful formula.
As for the Bulldogs, their approach seems to be to sign whoever they can that’s on the market now and work it out later. Their pathways teams also appear to be filled with externally sourced players. They can still call that development of young players but it’s weighted heavily towards recruitment. It’s not working for them as yet, and I’m not sure about what they are creating in the long term.
The methodology at the Bulldogs seems to be the antithesis of the Panthers, but that’s probably the difference between having the resources for long term success, versus chasing a quick fix and creating a system for success without local resources.
Parramatta has a model which is much closer to the Panthers than the Bulldogs. Will it bring success some time soon, or after such a long premiership drought, do we want the club to go hard in the immediate player market no matter the cost?
We all enjoy speculating about recruitment and what star player could make a difference to the fortune of our team. The reality is much more complicated. The lack of a trophy in the cabinet tells us that the Eels haven’t got it right to date, but are they on the right path?
What calls would you make?
Eels forever!
Sixties
This is a very thoughtful and intetesting article. Our situation has been made more complex by the knee 8 njury to young Penisini; unfortunately it may be two years before he has full power back in his running. We simply can’t wait for him and hope. Given the trust we’ve expended in Blaize Talagai we do need to give him every opportuniy – centre seems his likeliest spot. It’s also worth wondering if Dylan Brown would be a success maybe at fullback. The position would suit his running game but the loss of his defensive abilities in the galves would be considerable. Maybe Blaize has potential as a fullback. It will be a great help if a couple of the younger forwatds take great strides this season. The trials give us a wonderful opportunity to experiment.
Thanks Noel. That loss of Penisini is problematic. It’s another reason why I feel they have to add to the outside back depth chart. It was interesting to see Dylan used at fullback in the final match but I’m not sure that a change of position for him is on the cards.
While they’d lose his defence in the halves, you’d have the best defensive fullback in the game moving into the centres, and Brown at fullback could be bloody good to watch (and he’s got the defence + speed for it).
I think he could do it. Will it happen? I think it’s unlikely, but I wouldn’t oppose it should it happen.
We saw what happens when Gutho goes off. Vs sharks, vs warriors, and vs penrith round 26. He’s great defensively and he’s so far superior setting the defensive line than we have. All the guys being mentioned for fullback have never done so, there’s more to it than being quick and elusive.
Spot on Ham
Exactly ham. Brown stays at 6. Gutho stays at fullback. Defence is more important than offence for parra as we can score enough points but I shudder at the thought of our defence if gutho wasn’t organising it. Also, Kini at the titans should be a cheap target for parra re: fullback depth. He’s got a lot of potential and stuck behind Campbell and brimson.
Correct. Gutho is probably the fittest FB in the comp, strong defensively, is an extra playmaker and marshals the defensive line well. I wouldn’t move him.
What I would consider is Talagi (when ready) comes in FG as a centre to gain experience while Gutho works with him off field to get him ready for FB for when the King retires
We all know how big a srep it is from age competitions to NRL; many many very talented and brave kids have failed to make it over the years despite the optimism tha t surrounded their early years. We can only hope for Blaize. Still, the pathway suggested is a sensibke one.
Personally, I think you need to look at 2 factors in deciding which route to take. 1) what does the market have to offer (can’t rely on an early release, and anything not a step up to what you have currently as a sideways move at best) and 2) what do you have coming through.
If the club had come out last year and said that we have a crop coming through that we want to invest in, but it will mean we are in a holding pattern for 2 seasons, I beleive some (not all as some are impatient and don’t see the big picture) would accept that. The title winning Ball side has more than a few with alot of potential, and they showed that by stepping up to Flegg and making the prelim.
However, I do believe we are one back short. Ideally, you’d want someone who is like grease lightening but not many players are. Personally I feel we just need a left centre who is defensively strong (come back Opacic) as the left edge of Lane, Brown and Sivo has more than enough strike.
I can see the club has faith in the next gen, but that will take time. And at this stage, I would not swap Gutho at fullback for anyone.
RC, well noted about the market. And it’s a fact that other clubs are doing what we are doing – waiting to see if a quality back becomes unexpectedly available for this year. There really isn’t much around.
What call would you make, Sixties? I would have said hold off, but after R. Penisini ACL, I think we have to sign an outside back. 2 year deal shouldn’t block anyone’s path. If Talagi is impressing he’s always an option at 14 given his ability to play multiple positions.
In line with Joshua’s comments it is not just Richard Penisini missing but also Arthur Miller Strevens.
Given AMS has already made his debut he would have been very handy to have around in 2024 as backup. Furthermore he has a great turn of speed.
Ams looked terrible , way of nrl standard in foreseeable future and penisini was no where ready as it was and now will take 2 seasons to get back where he was , the loss of neither of them affects nrl squad 24/25 , sorry for them but move on ,its a business wether we like it or not.
I don’t have a view on Penisini as a backup for 2024.
However I disagree that AMS would not come into consideration as a backup if we were to lose a couple of backline players in 2024.
I’d sign an outside back, and possibly hedge towards a winger/fullback. Not that I’d knock back a centre, but that yardage role is critical. If Maika or Russell are injured or lose form, we have to hope that Haze is ready for first grade again.
For me the Panthers system is the one to be emulated. Even in the unlikely event of them having a poor season in2024 or 2025 they do have the systems in place to recover.
Storm also do similar processes to Panthers. However for Storm they do not have the long line of juniors in place so they do a lot of junior recruiting. My view for the Eels would be somewhere in between these two successful systems.
Harold Matts gives an idea of what junior talent the club has in but from SG Ball onwards they should be looking to plug the talent holes with recruitment.
It doesn’t matter how skilled they get at recruitment and retention, mistakes will happen, inevitable. Happy Days.
Agreed, we need to understand why Penrith and Melbourne have had such great success over many years and try to emulate the best parts of that. What can we offer to players like Ethan Sanders to keep them interested in our club and wait their opportunity in NRL? How can we bridge the current gap between NRL quality and junior players not yet ready to step up? It’s like we are lacking in players like Sean Russell, Will Penisini and Haze Dunster – ie players with limited NRL experience but who can be relied upon to fill a role. We really do need a broad range of players from Rep quality to juniors to have a sustainable crop of players at the club.
Longfin, I think Will is a bit better than filling a role but I get your point. That’s why I said that those pathways players are one to two years from that level. And as such, 2025 would potentially provide a different landscape.
Artie was watching reps at Windsor on Saturday. He told us he’s on track and at a pinch might be back right on finals time. But we know that recovery to something approaching best form takes closer to two years.
John, when Brian Smith was in charge the roster had numerous juniors coming through as he was invested heavily in the JETS programme, which he set up. It yielded players like Mateo, inu, Ben Smith, Hayne, Chad Robinson snd the Hindmarsh brothers and others.
It was allowed to fall apart by a lack of interest from the succeeding coaches with little attention paid to that area. It’s taken 10 years , interrupted by the salary cap nonsense for the juniors to be reprogrammed into a semblance of success basically by BAs focus. Coupled with the current board setting up the financial independence of the NRL side and funds from the leagues club being directed into pathways.
Now comes the quandary of keeping some elite players and junior prospects like Sanders being poached. I understand he is currently receiving offers of $500k pa for a 3 year deal and further interest once round 6 comes into play. We did make a decent offer for a 19 year old yet to play even cup, but were blown out of the water by Ricky.
Feel confident that we are on the right track, but need the recruitment committee to match the clubs intent.
Good points, B & G. Smith set up great systems and 2001 was a heady mix of developed and recruited stars. Smith also made some calls about releasing players that was hard to comprehend. Some were those players who had come through our systems and they then went on to win titles and Rep honours elsewhere. Recruitment and retention was in error even then, and the depths of 2003/2004 was frustrating as Smith kept calling it a rebuild. I think our best mix will come in 2025/2026, but we also cannot ignore the present. Challenging calls to be made any current rosters spots await.
I see the issues from last season and for me we were light on in centres etc. but they didn’t stop us from making the 8.
Discipline / defence issues and injuries hurt us….as John said AMS is a loss like Penisini, and i would invest in some of the kids we have now and look at how they go.
I also feel we have too many highly paid forwards and DB also has a question mark in terms of maturity and consistency and this season has to be his best .
Junior for me also poses a problem as he’s paid very well but a question also has to be asked abt his best role? Off bench or leading on field.
Sivo too needs to be consistent.
Every significant contract presents that opportunity cost doesn’t it Milo? Spending big on the retention of a star, or an elite recruit can mean not upgrading a rising player. If the Eels have enough money for a strong signing, and they do so, supporters will need to understand that it can impact retentions.
Agreed that’s why I think keep the kids with us and see how we end up.
We didn’t do too bad stats wise last season…and I say again discipline and injuries hurt.
The weeks lost on suspensions was absurd.
To me BA has very poor bench management. Imo he leaves the starting middles on far to long. But hopefully this year that’ll change as we have very good replacements. I’d start RCG with either Woody, Joffa or Odgen (or another) and at 20-25mins MAXIMUM change to Junior and Matterson, Keep the middles fresh and able to produce good metres and defence.
Also control the ruck much better. No quick releases but keep the tackled player moving, either upright and moving slowly or slowly lowering them to the ground, and lock the bloody ball up allpwing our D line to be reset. Even give away a penalty/6 again if a team is on a roll with quick ptb’s, anything to slow their momentum down. Two simple fixes that’ll hopefully improve our defence. We need to stop just one extra try per match being scored to become a top defensive team.
How’s Morgan Harper been at training? I saw the clip of him speaking about his son being a mad Parramatta fan, and I’m really hoping he has a cracker of a year for the kid.
I think he’s had a very solid preseason. It’s neck and neck between him and Simonsson for that centre role.
Any chance we could see Ethan Sanders at fullback/centre some time this year?
I don’t see that happening Dave.
What a detailed, insightful and strategic post. Thanks because the post also gives me insights into players that I don’t really know. I need to do some research. Martin
Cheers Martin
Sixties, any chance you think Talagi could by mid year take a Centre spot? He could be a future option at Centre, if Harper and Simonsson are injured/out of form Talagi would be next but is he ready for consistent FG?
It is a big year for all three, all off-contract (Talagi has an option) and one spot available.
I really don’t want to push expectations on the young players, certainly not individually. I believe that opportunities might present for a couple, but I think it would be unfair to declare they could force their way in.
Let me rephrase, would Talagi be ready body wise and skill wise for NRL at some point this year or is this year a developing year?
Who knows? Probavly not. Let’s find out.
Well presented sixties. We’ve thrown coin at a strong core of players, Hopgood will play Origin and become even better, he needs to be considered core. The dilemma of managing R Penisini and Talagi (and possibly Miller- Stephen)into the mix versus splashing cash is probably the key roster issue. Harper will be interesting to see if he and Simmonsen can play a positive role. It’s getting very late for a name signing and who’s available (Nofoaluma? can’t quite get my head around that one).
BDon, given their injuries we probably need to completely remove Penisini and AMS out of discussions. They should only have one focus – recovery, and we know how long that can take.
No club should take Nofoaluma for anything more than a train and trial
Nice, thoughtful piece. It seems to me that Parra is starting to see some return from their junior pathways. I have no idea what it takes to get them right but it has been a long road since the neglect in the late 2000 and 2010s. And even with an outside back short of a complete roster, I’m happy for Parra to sit back and wait till the right one comes by worth throwing bog money at. I don’t see this fascination with hoping the club is linked to any outside back regardless of quality that is on the market. Barring injuries etc, it is a side that if if plays to its best will challenge for a top four spot.
And maybe Gus Gould is indeed a mad genius that will prove us all wrong but I still can’t see the reason in their recruitment strategy. I feel some players will just be thrown aside very quickly.
46 days to go.
Shaun we need a countdown clock!
Thanks for the countdown again mate. I agree that the top of the roster is top 4. I have concerns about experience in the depth charts, but equally feel good about the talent of the emerging players.
Very well written, and explained Sixties, even the layman Parra suporters should understand the R&R dilemma. Summed it up perfectly, ” damned if you do, damned if you dont”.
As far as Sanders goes, I don’t think he will stay but, I would be in his ear and try and get him back in 2-3yrs to be our long term half, take over from Moses, or Brown if he decides to execute one of his options. Tell him we don’t want to lose you but, we don’t want to hold you back from any 1st grade or financial offers you will get. Just a thought.
Mick W, for mine you should never burn bridges, so if Sanders departs, I’m sure it won’t be on bad terms. He’s had a great preseason, he’s being up-skilled, BA has said in that interview that he’ll be used if needed, and he’s also part of the young leadership group.
Agree with all the congrats here 60s… good article.
I’m in the camp of impatience and no more waiting. I’m not too close to the juniors coming through, but if many are 1-2 years out from NRL debuts, then they would be 3-5 years out from being experienced first graders. Between now and then we will lose players to the market and retirement and what I imagine we would see by 2028 or so, is a rebuilt team.
So what does this mean? Well in my mind, for Moses, Brown, Gutho, RCG, Paulo and Matterson to take us to a premiership, it likely needs to be this year or at a push 2025. It’s hard to imagine 2026 will be any stronger than it is now. Therefore some astute recruitment in the outside backs is a must.
Also if the likes of Sivo and Paulo (who are expensive and had sub standard 2023s on form) don’t lift this year, I’d look to move them on sooner rather than later.
I understand your opinion about get it done now Mick. I would move on a quality outside back if one is available. If not, I wouldn’t waste money on recruiting for the sake of it.
Spending money on a recruit at this point just for the sake of filling the 30th spot is not something I would support.
Unless there is a quality recruit available keep the gun powder dry. Without knowing the way things are likely to unfold in the future. We may be desperate in the middle of the season to cover a short fall due to unforeseen circumstances.
Unlike last season where we had a few spots open. This season we only have one and that should be for a quality recruit or an emergency need to fill a spot.
I think we have been the victims of hanging onto players too long especially those that are approaching the back end of their careers and it has happened to the best of them. I use Nathan Hindmarsh and Nathan Cayless as prime examples of top tier players chewing up plenty of cap space when their best is past them.
I’d be looking at offloading Paulo especially if he continues to regress. There are always clubs in desperate need of props that could use them. The Bulldogs are a prime example. I agree with 60’s that Simonsson and Harper are the only two I would consider extending until Blaize Talaigi or another outside back is ready. The rest off contract I’d let go.
The Ethan Sanders questions keeps being asked but I think we have made a call on our halves and it is probably best he move to another club and gain experience. I can actually see us trying to get him back once Moses is done similar to what we did with Jason Bell, David Penna and Michael Buettner in the past which all had varying degrees of success.
The only player that I think deserves to be given the utmost respect and be included in the conversation with any positional switches or recruitment decisions affecting him is our captain, Clint Gutherson. Easily our greatest recruit and competitor since Ray Price.
Nailed it with regard to Gutho
There’s an aging but experienced ex-Tigers winger that could be useful. I favour some sensible short term fills rather than forking out crazy money for star players on long term deals. Parra fans can wait for emerging pathways talent to bloom.
I thought we were instilling a no dickheads policy.
Jeff, no club should sign Nofoaluma for anything more than a train and trial
Big Outside Back signing now. Its a no brainer.
Dogs have shown this year you can sign 20 players and then shuffle the decks.
We have a finite time left with Moses and Gutho, no point waiting for 2-3 years. Needed to make it happen now not when we lose either of them.
Cant say the club doesnt understand that we lack a gun centre, considering Crichton, Wighton, Farmworth, Best, Staggs, Manu are/were all available to sign
Geez George, you aren’t surely suggesting following the Bulldogs lead!
No, just pointing out that plenty quality centres available. Parra cannot use excuse of salary cap constraints when clearly other teams have no issue moving players to accomodate. We need to be more aggressive to ensure we win something before we no longer have Moses and Gutho. Stop being a sympathiser for our club, we need immediate success considering we are waiting 4 decades
I don’t think 60s was being an apologist or sympathiser, I took his comment as a bit tongue in cheek.
But I agree with your sentiment George. I said similar things.
As an example, it would seem we could have afforded to lose Paulo and gained one of the gun centres you mentioned (albeit I don’t rate Crichton). I hope Paulo finds form again this year, but if it was based on what we saw in 2023 + the more pressing need for quality back depth over middles, it seems a no brainer.
Whether that was executable is another question I guess ….
Paulo’s numbers weren’t drastically down on the year before. What changed from the year before was the players around Paulo. The year before 6 other forwards played 20 games or more. In 2023 only 2 other forwards played 20 games or more.
One unqualifiable aspect Paulo brings too is his leadership skills.
Hope to see us go forward with placing most of these kids in Cup. Play them in Cup as much as you can. BA’s comment of getting them ready for 2025 would be an indicator of their plan to do that but hope they go through with it.
Players like Talagi, MA and Tuivaiti would benefit most from massive exposure to Cup footy, with latter two already debuting. All three of them can make an impact in the NRL 17 as early as 2025.
Whilst I agree with you I think we put too much pressure on young kids not only to be first grade ready before the age of 21 but be great from the moment they step onto the field. Yes it’s true that an earlier debut is a marker for career success it is not the be all and end all. Damien Cook didn’t really become a regular first grade player until the age of 25 and it wasn’t until the age of 27 that he became a regular starting player.
Well noted Ham.
Unfortunately, there are fans that will expect these kids to be stars from one run. One missed tackle and they are rubbish and should be gone and Parra cannot develop a junior.
MA of all will have the hardest time convincing some fans he is good. But I trust the coaching staff of getting these kids ready mentally as well physically but mentally more so. BA seeing what happened to JA will prepare MA well but BA will then pass that onto the other juniors also.
I will rephrase that when I say make an impact in the 17 doesn’t have to be a week in week out started more so make an impact when picked in general. Even if it is doing their job in a game then that helps the team.
BA has done it before with Niukore, Mahoney, Stone, Kaufusi in 2018, he can do it with these kids.
As for late bloomers, players like Jock Brazel could very well be one like that. The 2020 and 2021 COVID impacted years has made being a late bloomer an acceptable thing within the game and it is a good thing.
Sixties I will say, I am drinking the Kool-aid on Russell that you have been sprucing. He looks bigger and committed. He could have a sneaky good year. He is a kid that gets better as he goes wherever he plays. NSW cup he started slow in 2021 then got better. Playing Centre started slow then got better. Playing Wing in 2023 looked ok to start then was one of our best late in the year.
Has the work ethic of Gutho and commitment too. He may never be a rep Winger but he can easily be a consistently great Winger for the club.
LB, Don’t forget that Sean and his cohorts missed a year of football in 2020 due to Covid wiping out the lower grades. He would have played Flegg in that year. I think they had one round.
Yes exactly, he had no footy in 2020, half the year gone in 2021 and missed half of 2022 due to injury, missed start of 2023 due to injury. He is tough as nails.
That stupid X factor story will haunt us for years by putting it on the table that Gutherson could switch positions. He’s paid too much to play anything but fullback, and any other realistic combination weakens the side. He’s a top 5 FB in the NRL and should stay there for us until he physically can’t play the position anymore (at which point he takes a haircut and moves to the centres) or we somehow fall into the recruitment of a Mitchell, Walsh or Trbojevic. That second option ain’t happening.
It’s a rock and a hard place for me, we should only be recruiting for one year, knowing we’ve got several backs coming through, but we also need a top line player who frankly isn’t coming for only one season. Maybe we luck into something like what Pangai Jr did with Penrith a couple years back, but I’m an Eels fan, I know what banking on luck gets you.
The current NRL recruitment rules don’t help either, at the end of 2022 coming off a grand final did we know we’d be in dire need of a centre not just for 2024, but 23? Now we can only recruit for ’25. While people remember all the mid-contract and immediate moves, they are far from common, so unless you want David Nofoaluma (you don’t) you’ll end up where we were at the end of last year: hoping for something to fall into your lap that never comes.
So what do we do? Personally I’m getting way over-excited about Sean Russell’s development and hoping that between Harper and Simonsson we get a first grader for the whole year.
This reply has just left me hanging for a grades or a preview mate. Sean Russell is enjoying his best preseason. Hopefully it translates to the NRL paddock. He looks ready!
Obviously Russell has the inside running but Dunster had the position before he was injured so if he has a great preseason he will provide competition/ depth.
There has been some speculation over who is now the quickest out of Russell or Dunster.
Has there been any competitive sprints between them or anything to glean an opinion from?
The whole X-Factor comment has been overdone by the media. Even Crawley did it in his interview with BA with a slight headline of “Gutho to Centre” when BA said clearly only if there is a Fullback better than him available, newsflash there is not many he said as I paraphrase. Gutho will eventually move to Centre to prolong his career but not for another 3-4 year minimum. Gutho is seriously an underrated player, my mates all hate him and laugh at him, then again laugh at every Parra player as it is fun to knock Parra every chance you get apparently, even though one of them is a Wests fan. But no matter who Parra buy it will get knocked by fans and non fans. We could sign Billy Slater in his prime and people will say it is a bad signing haha. But we as fans need to cherish the moments we have with Gutho as he is on the later side of his career and he is one of the best players this club has ever seen put on the jersey.
As for recruitment you are spot on that there is nothing in the market. That is due to how the cap is increasing massively year in year out. Teams sign there players then there is another $1mil available sign the next players, then another $1 mil. It is making teams easier to re-sign players, well big name players. As soon as the cap starts to steady on a certain number that is where you will see big names start to appear again on the market as they look for an increase.
Even then Parra make a good living with their moneyball type recruitment of getting players on cheap with massive potential, their strike rate shows it should continue.
Bellamy has been buying cheapies and improving them ever since he went to the Storm. It has worked for him.
He may not have had a threepeat like Panthers. What he has done though is make them one of the more feared teams in the NRL with a high level of success.
Gutho is the best. Wouldn’t swap him for anyone. If you think about the alternative outcomes, no one is as balanced as a footballer as Gutho is.
It’s criminal how underrated he is. Deserves a shot as NSW #1. Unmatched in defence. The man decimated Penrith on a busted knee. Stopped a try by slipping the tip of his foot under the ball at full pelt without even touching the bloke carrying it. Makes more try-saving tackles than any other player. An incredible energy and creativity in attack. And he never bloody stops.
I think others could do a good job of it if needed. But this man can lead them to a premiership. Bloody hell I hope so.
Wish I had read Gol’s post before I posted myself. He said it so much better.
Yes we knew we were in dire need of a centre since the gf. Opacic was allowed to leave to sign in England and he was only a stop gap. We have needed a centre since Michael Jennings was banned and still have no foresight to replace him.
Too late again this year to purchase a centre as 6 top class centres have moved on already. Take a chance with Ethan at 7, Moses at 6, Gutho in centre and Dylan at fullback