The Eels squad has relocated up north for this week, staying and training at the Lake Ainsworth Sport and Recreation Camp at Lennox Head.
Fortunately for our readers, the reach of The Cumberland Throw extends far and wide, which means you get this report.
It’s been a week of embracing the local community, with Jason Ryles and his staff generously opening the training sessions to the public, with hundreds of people taking the opportunity to watch from the sidelines.
The link to Lennox Head is via assistant coach Scott Wisemantel who has called the coastal spot in northern NSW home for over a decade.
Nathan Brown is also a Maclean boy, with his home town only another hour or so away from the Lennox Head facility.
One of the noteworthy features at training is how connected the entire squad looks in everything they do. Time away at camp should add further to these bonds.
Bailey Simonsson
Tuesday was intense and it was followed a Wednesday session with plenty of contact work at the back end of the session.
Drills have included touch, red zone opposed, contact scrimmages, and full field scrimmages.
A Wednesday highlight was a great short ball from Mitch Moses which led to a try to Zac Lomax. Our Aussie and Blues half also placed a perfectly timed kick to the wing of Sean Russell.
Zac Lomax
On the subject of Sean Russell, the likely round one winger looked confident in everything he did, and could be one of the big improvers this year.
In the warm conditions (mid 30s) that were not exactly ideal for rugby league, the experienced players and the youth in the team brought plenty of energy to the drills. The Foxx was leading the way there, with “partner in vibe” Richie Penisini. I can see the younger of the Penisini brothers becoming a real fan favourite once he makes his NRL debut.
You get a deeper understanding of the value that Addo-Carr brings to the team when you watch him up close at training, and it was great to not just see but also hear the Foxx when Mark Gasnier ran the outside backs through a kick-return drill.
Isaiah Iongi had locals talking
Just on another of the new faces, there was plenty of buzz around Isaiah Iongi and some of his touches. He showcased serious footwork on more than one occasion and impressed plenty of the local spectators.
As someone who never gets to see the players up close I was surprised with how fit both Junior Paulo and Wiremu Grieg look. Junior was heavily involved in the scrimmages and drills and looks set for a massive year.
Joe Ofahengaue looking fit in the foreground of this image
Kelma has a real presence about him and there was some solid contact when Sam Moa led a three-on-one tackle drill towards the end of the session.
At the end of every session this week, the entire playing squad and the coaches have all taken the time to connect with the community. This has been incredibly well received, with locals fronting up for repeat visits.
For any locals or any visitors to the region, you can catch the final Eels training session at the sport and rec camp on Friday between 9am and noon.
Up The Eels!
Lenno Eel
(image credits Eels media)
Good report. Happy to hear that Gasnier is back running some drills.
Lenno has done a great report here amend it’s much appreciated
My uncle owns a butcher shop in Lennox Head, mentioned the boys were there stocking up on meat. He’s a Dogs fan and I said please don’t poison them haha. But he said great bunch of blokes.
Good vibes all around from this lot.
Thanks for sharing LB.
Can we assume this is your nickname as in your from Lennox Head? I enjoyed your
post and notes on individual players, thankyou.
Wiremu looks like he has dropped some weights based off your photos, would this be fair to say?
Slippery, I’ve been commenting on how lean Woody is throughout this preseason. Now Lenno has also made that one of his major observations.
Nice report Lenno, loved it
Thanks for the report Lenno Eel, and what a lovely spot on the coast these boys have to train.
One player id be interested in an update on is Shaun Lane. Im assuming the lack of mentions relates to the fact he looks like the Shaun Lane of 2024
There have been numerous questions about him CPE. The reason he hasn’t been mentioned in reports is because he’s been in the rehab group. We leave rehab updates to official Eels media reports.
NSW Far North Coast is God’s own country. One day I will build my dream home on beachfront property just south of Cabarita Beach.
You and me both Brett; some superb spots on the nth coast….and some decent players to come out from there too.
Great report – special thanks to our Eels brother at the Heads. No doubt about it the Eels have a real diaspora of supporters. There are quite a few here where they make Australia’s favorite rum. I said before about Paulo. That injury gave him time off and a well earned rest and he has comeback ready to fire as a V8. He is in for a big season. I like Wiremu but its his leg speed that concerns me. Good thoughts about Longi and Richard P and Kelma. Five weeks and the season is on – can’t wait. Actually I believe the season will start with that trial game against the Tigers. They got some changes in their team and will be looking to assert themselves after that last game hiding for the spoon will want to return serve.
Zero, that’s an interesting point about the last up game against the Tigers. They were disgraced
Tks Lenno, your turn of phrase has Sixties’ DNA…TCT a product of consistent quality.
Building expectation for the key No. 1 role, but my gut feel is he’s up to it and will grow with game time. The environment around him on and off the park seems a big leg up.
Thanks BDon. Big shoes to fill trying to cover for Sixties but I enjoyed the challenge.
Happy to hand it back to him next week though haha.
We’ve got some depth across the board that a lot of experts outside the club either don’t know or don’t want to give us credit for.
I think a few new faces will really step up this year from what I’m seeing/hearing.
That’s great Jnr and Grieg look so fit.Im very excited.
But it also makes you question why they haven’t been in tip top condition in the previous 2-3yrs. Professional athletes with professional coaching set ups and dieticians. Especially Jnr who is on HUGE $$and meant to be a leader.
Raven, that’s a fair point tbh and can only be answered by the previous coaches. For me Junior needs a massive year or two…
It’s obvious we have a vastly different type of player this year it seems and let’s hope the Referees allow the game to be played the same way!!
Milo. Think back to pre 2023. Those previous years Paulo was flogged by BA. You might recall he had limited and poor use of the bench and Paulo was putting in big minutes on the field. Big minutes plus the end of season rep games – come 2023 he was one tired man – no matter how fit you are if you are run into the ground there would not be a lot left. That LaFranc injury in some sense was a blessing – he got a rest. Paulo is up for a big season – the battery has been recharged. Anyone who is overworked to the point of exhaustion will suffer one way or another. Let’s give him a break and see how he goes.
Zero, all I can say is I hope he’s up for a big season and more. I get he’s had injuries etc and he does look v trim. He’s one of our leaders and needs to be good / consistent each week. I’m sure he will go better
Hi Raven.
Probably more to do with changing body shapes to suit the way the game is going with more mobile packs.
Definitely not a crack at previous coaches or training techniques.
Grieg was one of our best forwards in 2023 before he had the Lisfranc.
Raven, there are a couple of comments here in response to your reply regarding Junior and Woody. I agree with Lenno about the changing of body shapes. There are other big forwards in the NRL not as lean as Junior, Offa and Woody currently are. I think all of the forwards have probably achieved some change to their body shape. They are preparing to play a different brand of football. The remit of the Athletic performance staff is to work towards delivering footballers who can physically execute the football that the coach wants them to play. I think junior might add two or three kgs before the season starts. We’ll see I guess.
Sixties, maybe we can send him to Ken’s at The Entrance? That may help to add a KG or two
Thanks for the kind words everyone.
I’m booked in for the Dragons game in April which can’t come quick enough!
Off topic but the junior squads are released.
Cannot believe Ocean and Carter didn’t make the Ball team