It’s time to be blunt.
Right now, the Eels main goal for 2024 appears to be avoiding the wooden spoon. Any hopes of the season extending beyond the regular rounds were finally extinguished with the Eels second half collapses to the Bulldogs and the Roosters.
Fingers have been pointed about how the club has reached this point, and I’ve done my share of that.
Like many, I dread the arrival of another spoon. I want the players to give their all to avoid it, to fight and scrap to win every game between now and the end of the season.
However, simply avoiding that wooden kitchen utensil is not good enough. We need a genuine re-evaluation about what the Eels must do to drive a positive from this season, and that means looking ahead through the windscreen and not checking the rear view mirror.
This isn’t about the appointment of a new coach. Hopefully the end of that quest comes sooner than later.
It’s been a disappointing season
Nor am I referring to the recruitment of quality players. Whilst that should be a given, it’s something that won’t happen without the club cutting contracted players to create cap space, a task that might be easier said than down. It’s the domain of the hypothetical.
What the club can do, right now, via the coaches or internal edicts, is to blood younger players in higher grades.
It’s time to learn more about any potential the club has in its own ranks.
There’s no guess work involved.
Any pathways player of genuine promise has already been earmarked. Resources have been put into their development for years, from junior reps, to JETS program inclusion, and for those already hitting senior ranks, a full or partial NRL pre-season.
In a season such as this, the time is right for many of these players to be moved up to the next rung on the development ladder.
This isn’t meant to disrespect players who are giving their all in each grade and might pay the price of such a call. The fact remains that the NRL team is completely out of finals contention, and both lower grades are only an outside hope of qualifying.
Who am I talking about?
The list should probably be longer or more considered than my suggestions, and injuries rule out the likes of Richard Penisini, Arthur Miller-Stephen and Ethyn Martin. But for the purposes of this argument I would include the following:
Jersey Flegg
Winger Dom Farrugia and edge forward Jezaiah Funa-Iuta are already part of the squad but should now get regular game time. Space becomes available via promotion of players into NSW Cup. There are already players just starting to get some experience such as Tyrese Lokeni and Devonte Vaivela.
Dom Farrugia
NSW Cup
Saxon Pryke, Sam Tuivaiti, Will Latu, Tyrese Lokeni, Jock Brazel, Ryley Smith and Mohamed Alameddine, need to be included on a rotational basis. Whilst they can’t all be elevated at once, they need to start getting significant exposure to this grade from both an experience perspective and for the club to make a fuller assessment of their potential.
NRL
Charlie Guymer and Matt Arthur are ready for NRL debuts. The capacity exists for their introduction via the interchange bench. We need to stop speculating about their talents. Let’s actually see it.
Matt Arthur
Outside of Ryley Smith, every one of the players I’ve named has emerged through the Eels pathways. So, let’s walk the development club walk.
The elevation of each of the named players involves not one iota of rushing. It could be argued that each has earned their shot and.it could even be argued that some are overdue.
Though it should not be a factor, such a move would also engage supporters. Eels fans have been asked to tread water as the club looks to name a new coach. There’s little for punters to look forward to.
Likewise, players are also in a holding pattern. Whether they are waiting for a coaching appointment to sign a contract, or playing in a mostly unchanged team, it has to be a challenge to find motivation. New blood might just provide that.
Hopefully the club decides to make something more out of this year than a 12th to 14th place finish. Let’s steer 2024 away from the highway to hell and into the avenue for opportunity.
Eels forever!
Sixties
Good read Sixties.
It seems a no brainer to promote the young guys. Especially if they have had a preseason.
We have the opportunity to aim for the future and they are already playing open age.
Cheers Pete. I know they don’t want to throw players to the wolves, but I think you can give them the experience but still find a balance in the teams.
I agree wholeheartedly with this. Time to give younger players a REAL pathway and opportunity to first grade instead of wasting spots in nrl 17 (and wider top 30) on older players that are bog average or severely on the decline and should be moved on at end of year (lane, sivo, Ogden, maka, harper, dunster, Lussick)
Ron, when the opportunities are there, and there are players that we need to look at and develop, it surely has to be the course of action in a season like this.
It all started in 2021 when the club was advised that 6/7 players would be leaving at the end of 2022. Somehow , all that happened was a number of journeymen and project players were signed , with the hope that lightning would strike twice and they would turn into genuine NRL players similar to Papali’i, Nikore also losing Mahoney, Nathan Brown and Kaufusi.
How that was acceptable became the downfall of the club, an injured and old hooker also joined and retired in quick time, No depth and no backs and a short roster has haunted the club since. The junior reps started to perform well and new recruits from outside the junior league have also been added and has given some hope. Unfortunately, the reserve grade side has continued to disappoint with so many holes filled by players outside development and contract status.
Until the recruitment and retention is up to standard at senior level, and somehow emulates the success in Flegg, Ball and Matts it will remain a problem. The need to blood the better players from junior reps is paramount and needed as is the need to recruit genuine NRL players and reinvigorate an aging roster.
B & G – this gives us the opportunity to look into filling the lower end of the top 30 roster next year with more emerging players rather than trying to find a nugget of gold in fringe players from elsewhere. If we aim to be that development club, there needs to be faith in the players we develop ourselves. Their success or failure can also direct what needs to happen in pathways moving forward.
1. Development/recruitment needs to be driven by the new coach. Those responsible have had long enough to consider options since the pretty fanciful pursuit of Bennett fell through. The new appointment needs to be annpunced.
2. Trent Barrett needs to be left in charge of week by eeek team preparation while our new person takes a thorough look through the grades and syructures.
3. The appointment should be for three years with no talk of a replacement within that time. Brad’s team reached its very admirable peak in 2021. It’s taken some time to fall to its current level; the rebuild will take at least as long, probably longer.
4. You can bring kids through too early but pnce they’re thoroughly comfortable in Cup it’s time to take a look. NRL is a very different world to anything they’ve experienced before. Thete’s only one place a youngster can prove he can handle it. I eent to my first game at Cumberland Oval I think in 1953. The number of talented youngsters I’ve seen who have been coddled, trained only to find that being smashed up by some of the hardest men on the planet wasn’t for them – the names would fill several pages. On the other hand, Paul Taylor, among others, didn’t look anything special as a youngster then, what a warrior!
5. Finally, the blokes who have served us nagnificently in the past do need to be raken care of. They havd entered into contracts in good faith, some tu r ning the backs on offers to move on. We must be determined to honour all contracrs without pressure unless the player can be mived on to something at least as good. That’s the sort of club we need t o be.
Noel, you make some apt points but seriously all this should have been corrected and planned for years ago. You don’t just suddenly wake up and have the answers as your crashing headlong towards the bottom of the table. To many have accepted mediocrity for to long.
Noel, I admire your thinking, unfortunately those days are long gone, life is cut throat these days. Only politicians and our board can perform poorly and keep their jobs.
Our players have been rewarded, most are on contracts they wouldn’t secured elsewhere and they will be paid in full wheather it’s with the Eels or another club.
Noel, you raise some valid points but what needs to happen is that our recruitment and retention processes need to change. We need to move much faster or more decisively on roster decisions. The bullet needs to be bitten on getting a player across the line. There are going to be times when securing a player mighty be ideal in terms of the length of the contract or the coin, but if the alternative is missing many, many targets, then the cost of not taking the plunge might be greater. A new coach won’t change that. It must be an executive decision because there’s a five person committee and the coach is just one person.
Agree whole heartedly on those promotions 60’s. Another name I’d throw up as Apa Twidle. I’ve only seen 1 full game from him in the halves and highlights but he looks so much more comfortable there than he did at fullback. I’d like to see him really focus on his long kicking game for the next 18 months. I think he could be a potential first grade half.
Apa has certainly gone to a higher level with the move to 5/8. I didn’t include Apa only because we’ve had Lynn playing 5/8 in Cup and he fits that bill. But it’s a fair call and he could easily alternate with Lynn. It’s interesting that with Lynn back in Cup this week, Apa returns to fullback. Maybe if Asi is recalled to first grade should Moses be rested, then Apa gets the call up.
Excellent write up Sixties, few would dissagree.
A dead season is the best season to blood talent and push talent through to Cup.
Matt and Charlie must be blooded now, we saw how the team lost momentum when Lussick was brought on and had to taken off, I will literally scream if he’s named on the bench again. I’m confident Matt would have brought energy at that point in the game.
There is no better timing for Charlie now that Hopgood has been ruled out for the season.
Give our kids a go and give us poor suffering fans something to be excited about this season.
Woohooo!!! I screamed anyway, congrats to Matt, now I’m looking forward to this game.
Great to see Doorey finally rewarded.
Great news with both Boods and Matt Doorey.
Arthur, Doorey named Gymer extended reserves list. Good news!
I’d expect Makatoa to drop off bench and Gymer to also make debut.
This is a very winnable game
Really happy for this.
Great news mate. Best Parramatta news I’ve heard for a while
Some positive news indeed
I hope you’re right about Guymer, that would be exciting.
Hope so too Joseph
I’m not sure that Charlie will get a run this week, but hopefully he gets the warm up, which is a stepping stone to a debut.
A few years ago Brisbane had no choice but to throw a heap of juniors into the NRL squad and let them sink or swim. With that came a rookie head coach with some new ideas. Now they are back to being one of the NRL heavyweights with a real potential to take out the premiership.
I can see some similarities with Parra. Just a couple of years ago we were the ones dishing out the floggings to Brisbane, and we have now fallen as hard as they did then. As you rightly say, our juniors are our strength, so why not use them to our advantage. Like what happened at Brisbane, we will continue to struggle until the juniors come good with experience, but would you rather see that or the team going backwards with ageing players? It’s a no-brainer. It’s a strategy we have no option but to employ.
True Longfin the baby Broncos.
It seems simple doesn’t it? Get the need for balance, but the circumstances are right at the moment.
Don’t despair! I’ve done the maths and if Parra wins 13 out of their remaining 9 games they will comfortably be in the eight!
Well done mate. I’ll trust your numbers their Shaun and book my grand final ticket.
While I agree that we must blood new players; and now is the time for this, we still have this forward-heavy system.
Of the eleven players you have nominated Sixties, only two are backs!
Many of our juniors in the lower grades become forwards after filling out. Guymer is a prime example.
It would be interesting to know what kind of contract status these guys all have. With our lack of backline depth and majority of our forward pack off contract next year there could be a big changing of the guard, particularly in the forwards. It would be good for a lot of these guys to push through for top 30 and dev spots.
I’m hoping players like Brazel, Guymer,Latu, Tuivati, Pryke are all locked down.
I’m not sold on Brazel but the others are quite promising.
Leigh, when we do this sort of blooding, it should be shaping our recruitment and pathways. Where do we have holes. At the moment, it sticks out like dogs globes. Unfortunately, we not only have a depth issue in the backs, we have injuries with emerging backs.
Eels95, I’m fairly sure that Guymer has recently extended and Tuivaiti moves up from Dev to Top 30 next year. I’m not sure where the others are at.
Good post 60’s thank you as always.
Good point about giving the young players time now, we need to start preparing for the next season and beyond, we can benefit from longer term thinking & the value our club will get from having our younger players gaining NRL experience.
We have nothing to lose at this point, and the young players getting a shot does make this a lot more exciting even for us fans like you mentioned.
Cheers Muz. And the other point is pushing up players down through the grades. Let’s look at them at the next level.
You’ve changed your view my friend. Parra have allways had plenty of talent coming through the juniors, unfortunately some where never given the chance, plenty of Nsw origin & Australian school boys players but parra never gave them the opportunities more recent juniors are receiving, maybe if they did get opportunities they wouldn’t be playing for other clubs.
Favoritism always existed. No I’m not talking about the Arthur’s but we have had plenty of quality players who deserved an opportunity but never got it. Plenty of players from the 2017 SG Ball winning team and that age group and the year below