That headline of mine could be the title for a reality TV show. In this instance, it’s the moniker I’d assign to Parra’s preseason thus far. Though it’s early days, a pattern is emerging.
Hopefully you’ve kept up your compulsory TCT preseason reading and can see the reasoning behind my summation.
For now, I thought I’d mix things up a bit by compiling the Thursday and Friday run down into one succinct post.
Here’s what’s transpired.
Thursday morning began with the most fun I’ve witnessed in a warm up.
Picture this – touch footy with an invisible football!
Whether by circumstance or by design, the players were only moving like Olympic walkers. A call of “pass” preceded each pass, a call of “catch” was made upon each receipt, and I even heard calls of “grubber” accompanying a kick and chase.
Spot the football! Or not…
Laughter and smiles abounded throughout and a loud ovation from the players occurred when time was called on the game.
For me, it was a unique start to a session.
With warm ups behind them, it was once more all about those footy foundations and keeping the energy high.
In attack, relentless quick shapes, quick hands, and running decisive lines. In defence, moving quickly back into position then getting up to the ball carrier and keeping the feet moving. It was all accomplished by a variety of drills that focussed on being able to execute at speed.
After the field session, the gym awaited.
Arthur Miller-Stephen
Friday’s work was a little bit longer and a little more intense. Thankfully conditions were cool, and even a light drizzle fell during the session. Early on, the squad moved from drill to drill and the cumulative effect began to ask conditioning questions.
The footy games followed. With close to the full squad now involved, the group was split into four teams with two games played simultaneously. Each team looked to be a mix of experienced and emerging players.
Though all of the games were touch footy, they were played with changing rules. Each game was for a set period before time would be called and a new game introduced.
For example, one game would have defending players dropping out of their team for a tackle, resulting in extra questions asked of defence. Another might only have each team in possession for two or three tackles, so the ball movement would be a feature. Yet another might see the entire defence line asked to do Malcolms after a tackle.
Saxon Pryke
To be honest, it was difficult to track individual performances across the games. The action was fast, and the moment that my attention moved away from one game to the other, a player would burst into the open or a sharp pass would put a player into space down the sideline. At this point you may have determined that there was plenty of air being sucked into the lungs during these games.
After this extended period of games, some respite followed. Actually, at first it seemed as though training might have finished, and extras had begun, as the squad had separated into small groups working on specific skills – kicking, passing, play the ball etc. However, this was not the case as the session was far from over!
Tackle technique was next on the agenda.
Ryley Smith
Once more, the coaching was scaffolded. Beginning with the contact (or hit) component of the tackle, the instruction and practice then moved into the stick, and finally into winning the tackle with the leg drive.
It was then all put together in a task which saw each player asked to make multiple consecutive tackles on different players coming from different angles. I paid particular attention to the footwork of the defenders. Their feet never stopped moving until the drill was completed.
The defence work finished up with the players working in groups of three, with one player taking turns at making two consecutive dominant tackles, taking his opponent to the ground, quickly winning the contest, then repeating the process in a second tackle. They then paired with an opponent, competing to gain dominance on the ground.
Jordan Samrani
Finally, the last of the conditioning was completed with rapid running on the spot with Malcolms.
After extras wrapped up, a few of the players came over for a quick g’day. They were absolutely buzzing about the session and what the afternoon held in store.
Week two complete!
Before I wrap this up, I’d like to do a quick shout out to a couple of massive Eels fans in Tim and Yvette. These legends watched a chunk of Friday’s session with me, and of course there was plenty of talk about what next year might have in store.
Thank you for dropping in and saying hello Tim and Yvette. I really appreciated it!
Go you mighty Eels!
Sixties
Thanks 60s interesting to read. Hearing the lads are having fun is a good thing, we can’t underestimate the need for them to gel quickly given the amount of turnover. They will have the benefit of a lack of scars from playing together, which helps, but it sounds like things are going well.
Mick, the afternoon that was planned was all about furthering the bonds. I won’t go into what was planned in case there’s any upcoming Eels media on it, but the players were looking forward to it.
Thanks Sixties, awesome work as usual.
Love your work and thank you for the shout out ☺️
You’re welcome Yvette. Lovely to meet both of you.
Any news on Brazel or Volkman?
No. Never heard much about Volkman. I reckon if they signed him it would be second tier or train and trial
I feel we still need a backup 5/8.
Thanks for your contribution 60s. As the off-season progresses could you highlight some of the individual contributions particularly the new recruits and the juniors bought into the team. Also give your assessment on whether they’ll likely make the team during the year if any of the incumbents are injured or suspended or have regressed.
Thanks Glenn. I usually provide that and will aim to do so again.
Thanks Sixties. I would like your opinion on who of the Pathways players will be most likely to make an NRL debut in 2025?
John, I need to see how they go with full opposed work against NRL players. Both Artie and Char.ie have already debuted. Tipping one of the others to make a 2025 debut right now is probably too soon.
Awesome report as usual, thx sixties! It sounds Melbourne storm like, legs always moving. They all move together and never stop the feet moving in both defence and attack. Sounds like he is trying to instil the habit of having constantly moving legs, bodies in motion. They say “change is as good as a holiday.” It sounds like change is creating some positive vibes at training.
Muz, it’s early days in terms of getting a full picture of the plan but it’s all very positive thus far.
Ryley smith would have to have the best physique I’ve seen from a footballer who doesn’t appear overly tall , can anyone shine any light on him ability wise ?
I thought he was one of the best performers in the Flegg team last season. Dummy half, though had to play a few games in the halves earlier in the season, ultra fit, quite quick.
Thanks sixties. Everyone is dying to hear what ryles has for the players
With guth and mitch not present, can you see anyone being the voice or taking over the leadership of the team?
Thanks for the reply. There are plenty of voices out there but I haven’t seen the circumstance in such a brief time for anyone to step forward in that manner. And the senior players have only been back for three days. As the weeks progress I will report on that aspect. In the past, Joe O has shown that, and of course Junior. Dylan is currently in his rehab program.
Thanks.
When JACs joins, I reckon he would be quite vocal as I recently watched a YouTube Vid on him at the dogs being mic’ed up for a game
That video was added to a reply to our podcast. Handy to have that experience and on field leadership.
Eels vs storm @ melb for rd 1.
How did we get stitched up again against a team that never loses round 1?
Although – It would be amazing If coach Jason can snag his first ever victory at parra over his former Club and a team we hate.
Got to lose sometime mate hopefully 2025
I had to laugh Muz, but like Tanky said, all streaks must come to an end. I’m sure Ryles had a chuckle when he saw the draw.
Didn’t expect any different. But it’s almost a free shot. Expectations will be low. If we jag a win, it becomes the best possible draw.
Free shot, I like that. Melbourne will be at unbackable odds.
I love it if we win and stop their streak. 🙌 especially for Ryles first game coaching against his old employers.
Thanks Sixties. Do the Eels have a dedicated wrestling coach, or did Ryles and Moa look after that part of training?
Good to see Ryley Smith in action
He only played three games last season. Do you know why this was.
He has been primed to start in first grade in previous years and from what I understand has the ability to.
Do you think he could challenge for a start at Hooker this season under Ryles?
Ryles and Ryley the surprise packet Rookie.
It is an omen
Has pace as well. Good offseason and a few more games in cup. Not unreasonable to believe he may find himself on the bench later in the season.
Sounds like we got ado car on a 1 year deal? That’s awesome.
Nice to see we got a short deal at his age. Hopefully Josh plays well with us under Jason and can get his personal life in order.
Jason coached Josh with Bellamy and would have experience on how to use him, and how to communicate with him to get the most out of him.
What I’ve noticed with players who leave storm is they often decline at clubs who are softer, with softer voiced coaches and less hardcore in regards to standards.
Jason Will probably be able to get Josh playing well for us. Apparently Jason is who told him to go do labouring work to ground himself (like the storm does for new recruits to give them a reality check & discipline).
Having a top tier halfback like Moses to have another strong kick chaser in Josh will help us with additional attacking options. Munster used to kick cross field to Ado car and create plenty of opportunities.
Moses will now have both the Fox and Lomax as kicking targets. The fox is great at chasing a grubber and delivering a strong kick chase down field.
It’s going to be interesting to finally see a fast back 5 line at parramatta for Moses & Brown to work with.
My prediction is that if the back 5 stay healthy and with brown & moses as our halves, the parramatta eels will score a massive amount of points in some of these games as soon as they start to click in attack. 🔥 brown & moses have never had speed like this in our backs before at parra.
Muz this could end up being some of MON best work. One year contract then an option in the clubs favour. On top of that the money is well short of what he was receiving from the Dogs.
All we need now is for JAC to stay fit. On and off the field
Good to see options in our favour, making good decisions, and finally adding speed to the roster. The fox is still one of the best wingers. He will thrive playing with far superior halves than the bulldogs, at parra we love utilising our wings in attack and score plenty out wide. He will see plenty of good ball.
Great to finally see defence as a focus as well as skills. For too long this has been neglected at our club. Looking forward to it paying off next year.