After finishing last week with a big opposed session on Thursday morning, and the annual cricket challenge on Thursday afternoon, the Eels hit the training track today fresh off a three day long weekend.
Warm ups and sprints commenced this session, before the footy got serious with an opposed hit out under the control of NRL referees, including Adam Gee.
Despite extended periods without possession (by design), I thought there were some excellent defensive reads from both the NRL and NSW Cup teams.
Junior and Woody were back to full contact in a session that featured interchange players for both sides. And Mitch Moses delivered one of the highlights of the pre-season, one that perhaps many might not have expected.
NRL refs officiated the opposed work
Opposed Highlights
* Haze Dunster snatched a terrific intercept in his own quarter and was off for the prize. The coaches pulled up the play so that time wouldn’t be wasted, but I had been hopeful of watching Haze in a foot race against his opponents. That said, his initial acceleration had given him a 20 metre break as he neared halfway, so I’ll give the NSW Cup side a try there.
* An early try to Sivo after the work from those inside created space on the wing
* Shaun Lane exhibited great anticipation and execution in shutting down a sharp inside ball close to the line that looked like a certain try.
* Seriously good hands from Gutho on a right side shift inside the quarter to open up an opportunity for Will Penisini who then bamboozled the cover with wonderful footwork to cross
A snapshot of the opposed
* A dangerous grubber kick towards the in-goal from Josh Lynn created a scramble for the ball. Haze Dunster picked up the scraps and forced the ball for a NSW Cup try.
* Gutho again showed his classy passing game to set up a try for Sean Russell.
* Matt Arthur used clever deception to put Wiremu Greig over for a try under the posts
* Kelma Tuilagi ran a terrific line to split the defence open around halfway, with Sean Russell finishing the play with a try in the corner.
* Mitch Moses put the exclamation mark on the morning with his goal line hit on a crash play (on Ky Rodwell?). It was a full body collision that knocked the player off his feet and would have featured on a season highlight reel had it happened in an NRL match.
The debrief
Final Observation
The King looks in absolutely outstanding shape. He appears fast and sharp; re-charged if you will.
Today we were able to hear the messages of Gutherson in his captain’s role. At the time, the squad were in a drinks break, receiving messages from the coaches and team leaders.
I won’t go into all of what was said, but Gutho was hammering the importance and the benefits of staying in their systems.
In his recent interview with Paul Crawley, Brad Arthur spoke about Gutherson’s value as the captain, and that he becomes like an on-field coach. This morning we were given a snapshot of that in action.
Eels forever!
Sixties
That’s awesome mate, I noticed last year Moses was throwing himself at defenders and putting good hits on, let’s hope we see a few this year.
How did blaze look for the cup team?
It sounds like Greg is training with the cup team and may start there ?
Blaize is a player of great talent and promise. I’m trying not to hype him too much, as it’s unfair to do so. As for Woody, he’s only just joined in the full contact opposed. Don’t read too much into what team some players are in. Players are filling roles as needed in opposed sessions.
What a great update. Punchy and to the point. Martin
Cheers Martin. It was a fun session to watch.
Thanks Sixties. Love reading your updates especially in the pre season.
Who do you think is a smokey to make the starting 17 in round 1?
To be honest, I don’t see any smokeys, only choices between players for a couple of spots. Harper/Simonsson, Lussick/Hands. BA has indicated he’s unlikely to opt for a second hooker on the bench, though if he went for a utility, that could be Hands. If it’s four forwards on the bench it’s Greig, Matto, Ofahengaue and Tuilagi.
A bench Smokey might be Ogden.
Loving your confidence of Tuilagi. Seems to be making a real impact at training so far. Hopefully he finally reaches his potential now he will have a quality half inside him.
He is a surprise packet of the preseason at this stage.
To be fair he was pretty impactful at manly
Simmonson will be there. He will go well this season. I hope Morretti also break into top 17 consistently
Thanks for the update 60s. To be honest, I’m a bit concerned about ba’s comments re bench composition in the media. It is pretty archaic to go with four forwards on the bench in the modern game where concussion and injuries to backs is not uncommon at all. The balance and flexibility of a bench of 4 forwards would be very skewed. And this is not to mention how poor BA is at using his Bench more generally. The fourth spot surely has to be a utility that, knowing BA, will get limited mins but provide adequate cover. Also, when the more successful teams in the nrl are running two hookers (Australia, qld, blues, panthers, roosters, Melbourne, broncos, cowboys etc) we seem behind the tactical 8 ball yet again (see our seagulls attacking scrums and associated defence, our short goal line drop out defence/success rate and the lack of wrestling catastrophe last year).
* should say subpar not seagulls at the end
You’re welcome Ron. I’m going to wait for benches to be selected and then how it works. Personally, I think if BA selects a utility it would be Hands. The argument could be that if a back is selected on the bench it would be a player that might not need to be used in many games. BA has been criticised for giving minimal time to bench players. I understand the logic, but if there’s no injury, that player wouldn’t be required.
As usual You would know best ron .
That’s terrific confidence about Bailey
Good read Sixties.
Moses defence has improved out of sight since he came back from Tigers. Kenny Bromwich got pole-axed and now poor Ky Rodwell.
Shame you didn’t get to see Haze really stride out. But sounds like he’s coming along well.
Pete, he was very quickly into stride. They might have been struggling to catch him.
Thanks for the updates sixties. Have you noticed any improvements in the teams defence structure and processes? This is an area that really hurt us last year. Needs to be the focal point of training sessions if it isn’t already the case. I.e accountability in one-on-one tackles, numbering up, communication, line speed and all that fun stuff. Our edges were constantly exposed last year for these reasons. Perhaps the NRL team can spend their training sessions defending extended periods with a man short. Looking forward to the trials.
I understand you might not read every training report but this question gets asked in every blog and answered every time.
It also got addressed in the last training blog in the opening paragraph. Not to mention this training report specifically states that there were great defensive reads by both squads.
60s obviously can’t comment on things that would give other sides a leg up if they found out nor the time to attend every training session and record every detail.
They are working on improving their defence, will it translate to NRL? Who knows, time will tell. If it doesn’t I’m sure a lot of the coaching staff will be under the pump. Let’s hope it does and they finish in the top 4.
Sounds like a pretty healthy squad now. Much better prep than last season. Bring on the season!
Adam, thank you for taking the time to reply. As Eels93 just replied, I’ve had this question many times. I don’t expect people to read every report but Eels93 has answered you as well as I can. For my full take, can I direct you to my last report – from Thursday last week. I began by discussing defence.
Concerned about the NSW cup side scoring against the NRL side.
Doesn’t bode well for the season.
Agreed. We should not be allowing any team to score against us ever, even if its at training, with contrived position and possession created by the coaches to simulate defensive fatigue
Ham, I can’t add anything to this.
Right on ham ,what a stupid call by glenn , unfortunately has no idea of coaching or training , its all easy from the lounge .🤪
Glenn, the best thing that can happen is for opposed sessions to be competitive. At the very least, you want them to ask questions when they are given multiple repeat sets. Plus, there are players in the Cup side that you want to be competing for first grade. If we had sessions where they never scored we’d be in bigger trouble.
There must be two Glenn’s now or someone is using my name to create mischief.
Apologies to real glenn then
Great reading sixties
Cheers Ken
I’ll be interested to see how BA uses the backrow this year, particularly with Tuilagi who I thought was a good signing when announced.
BA usually asks his backrowers to be 80 minute players and the extra backrower on the bench last year often get very few minutes (Doorey, Murchie etc)
I know there was some experimenting with Lane playing in the middle for periods of time a few seasons back and whether we will see this again (or Tuilagi also spending some time in the middle).
Good points BP. The rotation might be interesting.
I don’t understand the uproar and confusion around BA’s bench comments. From memory he said he’d rather pick a utility than a specialised hooker off the bench. Hands is a bit of a utility isn’t he? Having covered hooker, halves and lock in reserves? He could mean he’s starting Lussick and having Hands on the bench rather than the other way around. No need to shit our pants yet, a trial team list hasn’t even been named
100% Ham. It may in fact give Hands the edge in the battle for a bench spot. He can cover the halves, lock, dummy half. Yes, an injury to an outside back might mean a reshuffle p, but an injury to a back is never ideal, and you’d probably require a reshuffle of some kind even if you carried a specialist back on the bench.
This is a discussion for another time but this is why I’m in favour of increasing bench sizes. With how specialised positions have become I don’t think it’s fair on anyone to only have 4 players on the bench. An increase to 6 is what I’d like to eventually see happen
Hasn’t the NRL looked into it? I know the media have discussed that. Having it like 18th man but have 19th man where they can only be activated for certain reasons but having 2 of them opens up more variety as you can have a half and a back in those areas.
I agree – if we are dead set about improving the quality of games + protecting players we would copy soccer and have enlarged benches (say 6 as you note ). Would bring some interesting tactics into it but also ensure the quality of a game is maintained even if a team gets a few concussions or injuries instead of completely ruined. The nrl seems to prefer silly little changes to goal line drop outs instead but hopefully they rethink it
Interesting. I think 4 on the bench is enough. Is the game faster than the 2000s? Not in my view and there are enough stoppages now for slow play etc.
My reason has nothing to do with how fast the game is, it’s about allowing coaches to pick a few different positions on the bench for injuries.
Ham, would you increase the interchanges?
I’ve thought this for a while 6 on the bench but you can only use 4 of them. The 18th man still to apply if concussion is an issue. Back in the day the coaches would have a dozen guys on the sideline who had played a full game in the lower grades. If you lost your half, the reserve grade half got a chance. 6 would allow coaches to throw the odd curve ball in the mix as well
This is how I’d have it too. Once you’ve used 4 it cancels out the final 2. Coaches generally don’t substitute their 4th bench player until the 2nd half anyway
That’s a fair comment and I’d agree to have use of four only. You can have as many as you want on bench but I’d say four to be used only. Strategy would be good.
The game needs to keep the attrition factor for me.
Totally agree ,thought it for ages , sensible and good for the game
I think this is something that makes sense and should be examined. Still only four players that can be used (18th man activation aside) but that opportunity to cover multiple positions would ensure that matches aren’t ruined by injury to a specific position.
Pretty sure coaches get it right , people whinge when we dont use full 17 , were not only ones doing it , sometimes its a bad move to make a change just for sake of it , it disrupts continuity and when teams are in the moment its just plain dumb .
You’re right Ziggy, multiple coaches do that, or leave the last interchange for the final few minutes if they want to let that final player get a run on the field. Eels supporters mostly notice that BA does it without realising it’s not uncommon.
I doubt it is a bad claim to say Tuilagi could have similar impact that Papali’i did in 2021. Coming to a club that wants him and giving him confidence plus having a clear goal, becoming an 80min back-rower. He signed with Manly to play under Des and got Seibold, so of course you are on the back foot having a coach that didn’t plan to have you and his system would not suit his play style. Confidence can drop and focus on development can drop also.
BA has a terrific track record getting the most out of forwards; RCG, Wicks, Brown, Papali’i, Cartwright, Lane etc. Plus no expectation, similar to Papali’i, in starting straight away. Flying under the radar will help Tuilagi.
Never a mistake to add talent and never a mistake to add competition. Tuilagi is competition to Cartwright to not be a one year wonder.
Astute observations LB.
Thanks for the ongoing pre season updates Sixties. I get so much greater a sense of what’s happening than I would if I just read the press and Parra official output.
Don’t understand why it took me so long to get onto this site. I enjoy everyone else’s input and ideas as well. Keeps me thinking and changing my own view from time to time as well as instigating some interesting dinner table debates with my son – much to my wife’s dismay.
Cheers Namrebo. Very happy to have your input in the replies mate. Our aim is to be all about the footy and Parra and I reckon that resonates with fellow Eels supporters.
Glad that we can add to the dinner table conversations. We had some terrific supporters travel down from Queensland to watch an Eels game in 2022, and they then ventured to the club after the game to watch our live podcast. The ladies in the group were arguably the biggest footy heads. They came over to us to say g’day before we started and then they were the most vocal during the “show”. Maybe there’s hope that you can convert your wife to share the footy passion – in time…
Tks sixties. I’ve read comments on Tuilagi like he hasn’t fulfilled potential, but ability is lurking somewhere. When Papali’i arrived, if you dug around a bit you could tell we had signed a real smokie, his pedigree, not only NRL, was top tier, the Warriors had benched him for disciplinary reasons, he needed to re-set. What can you tell me about Tuilagi, that creates this possibility of talent?
He was a prodigious teenage talent that we came close to signing when he was 16. There are two things that BA seems to succeed in doing:
1. Players are genuinely coached in his systems
2. Players feel like they belong.
Now I’m not suggesting that every single player that’s ever been at the club during his time has been a success. Or maybe some will feel that they deserved more of a shot. That’s not unusual in footy. But from the players that I’ve spoken to over the years, those two things above have been a common thread. And most recently,
Bryce Cartwright has basically said that he’s found his home and doesn’t want to be anywhere else. Look at what that has done for his game.
Hey Sixties. You and your team are doing amazing reporting keeping us all up to date. Thank you.
I’d love to ask a question – i assume you have seen quite a few pre-seasons – and have a general feel in advance for how our year will go.
What’s your feeling for 2024? How does what you see at Training compare to years past. (Maybe a 2022 comparison would be good).
Thanks
There’s a combination of 2019 and 2021 coming into this season. 2019 had a group of emerging players bringing energy to the preseason. 2021 saw the arrival of Papali’i and he simply looked like he could be a huge addition.
But this preseason definitely has its own identity. The sessions are fresh, challenging and the structure has been a bit of a change up. Plus we’ve had the external sessions/camps. And some senior players look noticeably re-charged. I’m not going to lie – I had concerns after the 2023 season. But it’s all looked very positive.
Mondays are much more bearable these days when these reports drop.
Moey really does have a big bag of tricks, and he seems on fire, really showing them off! And if he wants to run faster than the fullback and tackle like a forward…he should💪I’m here for it.
And it’s good to hear the king is back to his king things. The pictures show that smile/laughter that we all want to see…this was missing for a bit post op.
One week closer.
Gutho’s definitely got a new lease of life. Last season would have taken its toll but he’s been ultra-positive on the training track
Thanks 60s for your in depth reports looking forward to the trials .will be interesting to see how things fall into place after a intense preseason. Starting to get excited
I’m also ready for the trials now Tanky
any idea why Elijiah is not in the sg ball team list. Is he injured cause he didn’t play the trials from memory.
Isn’t he Flegg?
he was listed in the sg ball team on the website.
My apologies – so he was. I was sure he was in the hit out between Flegg and Ball that I watched last week. Just got the wrong side. So, I don’t have any knowledge about why he isn’t in the team for round one. Sorry.