Each day, in recording my training notes, I try to be as factual as possible. Readers want some level of assessment, so an element of the eye test and/or gut reaction also has to be included.
So when I wrote about the intensity picking up last Thursday, that was my personal take on the session.
Today, conversations with staff confirmed that Thursday was a marker point in the preseason.
The coaches were very happy with the effort and intensity of the squad, particularly in defence. The team is taking shape as it builds towards the trials, but the players in the extended squad are really taking it to them in the scrimmages. And that’s putting big smiles on the coaches’ faces.
Though this morning’s field session was shorter in duration than last Thursday and Friday, it still featured a significant period of scrimmages.
The work kicked off with unopposed set shapes, as each “team” worked through a standard set of six. From there the players ran a series of non-competitive sprints.
The ball spreads left
As a lead in to the scrimmages, the squad split into four teams, taking turns at rapid fire play driving through the middle.
It was now time for the footy to commence.
The first scrimmage consisted of four tackle sets, with a kick on the last allowed. In a contest played at a fast pace, the Cup and NRL teams went set for set.
From there, the opposed footy was mostly conducted in the red zone, with the sides taking turns with extended periods of possession – or conversely, extended periods defending their line.
Tries are always going to be scored in this scenario.
Kick return
The highlights as I saw them were:
* Bailey Simonsson taking on the defence to score a try for the Cup team
* Richie Penisini continuing his strong run of form in crossing for the Cup team
* A well timed jam from Sean Russell to shut down a right side shift from the Cup side
* A confident catch from Zac Lomax on a last tackle kick
* Will Penisini running a terrific line to touch down just to the left of the posts
* Isaiah Iongi returning kicks at speed and with confidence
* Josh Addo-Carr engaging in some football wizardry as he tip-toed along the sideline under threat of being smashed into touch, then kicked in field to draw an error from the defence. Unfortunately his foot just touched the line before getting the kick away. However, the play still drew an exclamation of praise from Moses.
* Kelma Tuilagi enjoyed another productive morning. At one point he found himself running in support down the right wing. Later, he had to suddenly dive in to a vacant dummy half spot, and in spectacular fashion executed a one handed flick of the ball off the ground and directly to the first receiver.
Defending the line
Extras were called after a lengthy team huddle signalled the end of the scrimmages. Of note, was a large number of spine players practising their line drop outs. Markers indicated that the group were working on kicks of varying length.
Finally, another shout out goes to the Foxx. Once more he spent time in extras working with a younger player.
Today it was Ethyn Martin as the Foxx showed him a drill that he could practise on his own to help his footwork and positioning in defence.
Stand by for Tuesday’s write up, same time tomorrow.
Eels forever!
Sixties
Thanks 60s, loving the positivity of these posts. You must be feeling relieved seeing how the changing of coaching has occurred so smoothly. Also, great to hear that Bailey Simonsson is back on the field. Do you think Richard P could be a smokie for the JAC wingspot rounds 1 & 2?
Again, thanks heaps for your work, I really look forward to these reports.
Cheers Kenny. The coaching team hit the ground running.
As for Richie, given that he missed all of 2024, I think the first goal will be getting back into consistent footy in an open age grade of NSW Cup.
Really enjoying the reports, appreciated as always.
JAC appears to be contributing positively to the group, I sense a big year from him and perhaps his exit from the Dogs has lit the fuse.
I look forward to seeing many of the Cup players getting a run in the Knights trial – Richie, Ryley and Joash in particular (I think all 3 will play NRL at some point during the season).
Has Toni Mataele been training in the middle or edge? He found some form through the middle when deployed there and he physically seems well suited to the more mobile pack Ryles seems to be creating.
BP, he’s been training as a middle.
Pre-season reporting has been brilliant as ever, always appreciate the insight! Trying not to get too excited about our chances as things are generally always positive moving through the pre-season.
In your opinion, would you say we’re looking better than we have in the past? Or that the pre-season showing thus far has been reminiscent of years past just with different voices?
Mark, preseasons for all clubs are about starting anew. This preseason has been all about the different methodology used in preparing the team. It’s created a very positive vibe, and of course all of the new faces recharge the batteries of the squad.
Hi 60’s – thanks as always for your report
In my mind Joash Papali’i could be a very good option as #14. Has he been training at dummy half at any stage?
I think so too but I’ve seen nothing as yet to indicate that.
Seems like there is a lot of competition for places in the NRL side. Also seems that our bottom/worst players are much better than our previous year bottom players. This is obviously a very good thing for our Cup and NRL side.
My only concern with reading the reports:
As a whole, the NRL team would still be substantially better than the Cup team during the scrimmages. I know the players rotate around a bit, but as a whole the NRL team would still easily be better. So my question is.
– Is it concerning when the Cup team are frequently scoring against our NRL side?
Is it saying anything about particular players in defence? Is it saying anything about our players fitness? Is it saying anything about our defensive system? Or am I just overreacting?
Let me clarify a couple of things. The Cup team are doing a good job of providing opposition in scrimmages. It is essential in training now and throughout the season. In recent seasons, esp after Jake Arthur left, the Cup side struggled to offer resistance during the season proper, which impacts preparation for matches.
All of that aside, when given similar amounts of possession, especially during prolonged periods, the class of the NRL team shines through.
When you say the NRL team shines through, does that mean they are able to withstand the NSW cup attack for long duration when the coaches do those type of scrimmages? Or are you just referring to your more conventional type scrimmage?
I expect tries to be scored from relentless red zone possession. I’m saying that the “NRL side” have a different capacity in both attack and defence – as you’d expect.
I understand the points EA is trying to make but in defense of the situation I have been reading 60’s reports for many years and reading in between the lines my guess is the second level (for want of a better term) is much more competitive than in previous seasons.
This can only be good as we know how severely we have lacked depth than past years.
The recharging of the batteries and change of routine is also a logical response and one that coaching staff would be very conscious of. Any proper planning would be cognizant of past years and making sure the apparent errors (we all know the defence problems) are addressed in an entirely different way.
People should try putting themselves tactilely as to what they would do to make it different and not look in the rear vision mirror to see what we did wrong last time.
Good to hear about how the fox is doing extras and going out of his way to be with the younger players, and also his positively at training.
It’s no wonder Ryles mentioned that although the fox had been through adversary, he absolutely knew what he would bring to this club, and he has already shown through throughout early season training, that he is absolutely a great addition to this club
The fox was also very accommodating as he signed autographs and spoke to the fans after training at a recent fan day. There was an elderly lady he spoke to who mentioned how far she had travelled to watch training, and the fox was so appreciative of her and her family.
There were a few fans against his signing, but it’s already been proven that it was the right move.
Yes there were fans against the signing and they should be looking hard at the nature of the game and then assess the type of “errors” said person made as the negatives and then look at the application of what he can offer as a positive. Now I say that not because of his potential but of his record as an International player. My positiveness was on the judgement of a coach who had past experienes with him, not judging him as a person I had no actual knowledge of.
Well put Poppa
I was against it due to the circumstances but have seen and heard enough to understand his value to the team, especially his voice at the back when we have a rookie fullback.
I too wasn’t keen but seems to have brought alot of enthusiasm and I like how he has mixed with our supporters.good to see
He excels in that regard
I hope the fox has a great year, good luck with injuries, and racks up a significant number of tries. A speedster like this playing outside brown will open up his game. Cam Munster also looked his best I thought when he had the fox to kick to and run set plays to out on the wing. Players can now mark up brown all they want. If he can get the offload or pass out to Peninsi, then out to the Fox, it’s going to cause a lot of teams trouble. Brown, Penisini, and the fox on one side is a very strong combination of ball runners. This would be very hard to defend against in full contact games. Iongi will be pushing up behind Brown as well. This will add a whole new dimension to our attack that we probably haven’t seen before. I rewatched a few of his old games and his highlights again, Iongi looks like a really good support player. If he can keep up with brown in support play, we might see parra shoot up the ladder. As the fellas here have mentioned many times. Brown creates plenty of opportunities. Let’s hope we have some additional speed now that will help support him on this runs. I don’t think I have seen a parra side look this dangerous on paper for many years. It’s only on paper at this point. But it damn looks dangerous. There’s speed and attacking threats all over the place. We now have several backline players who are just as fast accelerating as brown & moses. It’s going to be interesting to watch unfold.
That it is Muz. Can you check your emails mate
I can’t speak highly enough of his contributions so far. There are times when I’ve walked in to Kellyville after training has started. I can hear the Foxx before I get to the field. He brings the energy and the talk in a big way. And yes, one of his best attributes is the way he connects with fans. One of the best examples was when he came out of the gym when a session was over to offer taking a photo with a group of kids. He had left the field earlier in the session but when he saw them from inside the gym, he made sure he said hello. To be fair, whenever the players see kids at training, they make sure they say a quick hello (if they can) when a session wraps.
Brilliant absolutely brilliant love this guy’s input cheers Eels 75
Thanks for the insight you provide sixties!
I’ve seen you mention previously in the replies that it seemed Gideon Kautoga and Charlie Guymer looked to be a real chance of picking up that left edge spot.
I think most fans would be surprised with Gideon’s quick rise to a point of getting a shot at the starting side. Would that mean if he was to miss out on starting spot in your opinion is he then a shoe in for a bench spot?
What more can you share about his pre season so far?
Mitch, if you remember, he’s been a late addition to the preseason so there’s no much more I can add. But it looks as though he’s rated. He’s big, athletic and mobile. Almost like another version of Tuilagi.
Sixties!
Speaking of Kautoga; can you shed some light on our Development squad?
In December, Parra announced his signing as “development in 2025 and top 30 in 2026”.
To your knowledge, since we already had the maximum of six in that squad, has one been elevated?
Yes – Charlie Guymer.
Thanks mate. Made me feel good. He deserved the next spot.
I was very unsure about The Fox joining the Eels so it seems I was (happily) quite wrong based on the training reports. I know he will miss the first few games but I expect once he is back the Eels backline will be a force.
May “Fox on the run” be heard quite a few times at Parra this season.
Hope they play it at parra after the fox scores 😂
– https://youtu.be/qBdFA6sI6-8?si=lkFuhgZ9gYKVndDV
Great! We need something to replace the Sivo chant 👍
I’m hoping we get to chant Iongi Iongi Iongi (Yongee)
They must! How could they not?
Sounds sweet.
Interesting Simonsson scored a try, is he back to full contact? Ahead of schedule in his rehab? He suggested he was touch and go to be ready for the start of the season.
Still not finished rehab but getting slowly involved in scrimmage.
How is hopgood looking? Seems like he has barely been on the field this pre season?
Ditto..and was he injured at training? I’ve been looking forward to his contribution in a team that gets things right and plays for 80.
Still rehab
Has Williams played much lock does anyone know? I wonder who can cover at lock besides say matto? Just in the event Hopgood had to miss any games during the season.
We have plenty of depth for Lock ;
– Guymer
– Matterson
– Joe
– Williams
– Mataele even (probably last choice)
Joel I have no doubts Matto & Joe can cover there, but it sounds like Joe is still going to be one of our main props. I think 60’s said Charlie is training on an edge. Guymer did look solid coming into the middle off the bench in the past. I don’t think I have personally seen him play at lock before. But no doubt he is one option.
Even Moretti is a potential lock fill in not sure what the plan is from the club regarding him but he is looking fairly fit
That’s great Joel, I personally like Luca. I think his impact off the bench is good for a 24 year old middle.
Sixties as Shaun suggested “fox on the run” at commbank when the fox scores would be perfect:
https://youtu.be/qBdFA6sI6-8?si=lkFuhgZ9gYKVndDV
I’m on board
The greatest idea in the history of TCT!
For sure I agree Shaun. Somebody needs to tip @ parra eels off to the idea. 🔈 commbank will erupt.
Hi Sixties,
Haven’t seen much word of Wiremu, Lane or Doorey, how are they performing? and do you have any of them in what you believe to be our best 17 based on performances at training???
Doorey is training as a middle. Getting a little bit of NRL time in scrimmages. Woody is looking lean. Lane has been rehab.
i just hope Ryles and his team can elicit the type of training response that Madge
is up at the Broncos. He is a hard arse and I just dont know that we will get that from Ryles. Certainly we have with Browny , Ryles et-al great footy iq but in my opinion
Parra dna best responds to a bit of fear similar to what gibbo, smith , Anderson and perhaps to a lesser extent BA were able to mete out.
If we get our discipline right and a great attitude in defence then the parra laissez-faire style attack will flow because at our best we are a confidence team.
Matthew that’s a fair point and tbh any coach with a broncos team should be going ok but leadership for me is the key. We just need our key players / leaders to aim up each week.
Let’s see how well Madge does in a year or two…I back out halves over theirs for a start and work ethic often comes from mental side too which Parra also needs to amend.
That all makes good sense Milo , cheers
Matt
Has gasnier made any more appearances at training other than that one time ?
Yes, he was there about three times before Christmas
Another potential Fox theme song
https://youtu.be/c0fTlGdIVU0
Thanks for the write up Sixties – will be interesting to see how and who we play on the second trial.
It’s good the club has purchased some youth and depth players in key roles and as I’ve said countless times as long as we improve the defence we will be ok.
Do we see Hopgood and Lane being ready for round one?
Looks like Dylan brown is looking to test open market?
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/eels-star-dylan-brown-open-to-offers-to-leave-parramatta-20250115-p5l4jc.html
I hope this doesn’t cloud over the start of our season or even the remainder of our pre season.
FYI Brown is on almost a million (apparently) atm but has allegedly refused to remove those player clauses through his contract.