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Please note, this podcast does not contain any reference to the news surrounding Shaun Lane that broke this afternoon after we finished recording. Sixties and myself will comment on the matter soon but in the mean time we simply wish Shaun the best in his time away from the game and ask fans to respect his decision.
The traditional Easter Monday clash with the Wests Tigers has arrived and there are some bizarre inverse relationships between the Eels and their rivals this week. While the Tigers are traveling smoother than the Eels, they have dropped their star half Lachlan Galvin in controversial circumstances. The Eels, for all their struggles, finally welcome back the heart and soul of the the team in Mitchell Moses while Jack Williams gives the squad a double boost.
Sixties and Forty20 run through all of the action on the long weekend starting with the Jersey Flegg on Saturday and running right through to the non-double-header action on Monday between the NSW Cup and NRL. Can the Eels snag a crucial win ahead of their bye? How much does Moses elevate this roster? One way or another some big questions will be answered on Monday.
The cuts are getting deep now. Matterson & Cartwright will be feeling the heat I would imagine.
No doubt. Increasingly, Ryles is showing that he is more than willing than embrace the short term pain that comes with an aggressive rebuild. He probably has a few more calls to make there but the season is still young.
Committing to that philosophy is the right call and what remains now is to see whether Ryles (and company) have both the vision and ability to execute said vision in the coming years.
I’d love to see a team list from the same round 12 months ago. Wow.
Anyway that’s footy – it will all be for the better imo
Hope Shaun is ok.
Will be an interesting game again…
1. Gutherson
2. Simonsson
3. Penisini
4. Harper
5. Russell
6. Asi
7. Brown
8. Campbell-Gillard
9. Lussick
16. Ofahengaue
11. Lane
12. Cartwright
13. Hopgood
10. Paulo
14. Moretti
15. Matterson
17. Talagi
So seven players will turn out on Monday that played back in Round 7 against the Dolphins last year. Ryles has definitely embraced the roster churn.
I like it!!
We failed due to a few reasons post 2022; this was needed. Next 12 months will show signs of what we will look like 👍
Good luck to Lane. He’s s good guy who hasn’t been the same since he busted his jaw. Just been injury after injury since then.
The people who are going to jump down his neck and say he is taking time off because he got dropped have no idea what’s actually going on with him.
I laid it out very clearly in the blog but unfortunately some people can’t help themselves and I have removed comments. Don’t be a dickhead about this matter – this is not negotiable.
I apologise for the reasonable replies that were made to the deleted comments but I am not opening the door to a pile on when mental health is concerned. Please show some respect in this matter.
Hmm..sorry missed the memo and can’t possibly listen to all content posted.
I had absolutely no idea he had previous MH issues.
Can’t keep up with everything.
I believe he freely admitted that he left the Warriors because they chucked him in reserve grade and he refused to play there. One can only draw conclusions.
I hope he receives all love and support that he requires but if he pops up at Newcastle next year ….
I really hope lane finds himself and comes up with whatever solution fits best for him he is a nice bloke and probably from that shocking broken jaw onwards his times have been tough. I really hope Jason Ryles can find the players to build out this team, a mid year roster cull often is very difficult if you cannot get players to fill the hole guys like Joffa leave behind. The comps very competitive, the only teams with 1-3 wins are panthers eels roosters. I really don’t want to see us get a wooden spoon because that grey cloud follows you around long afterwards and suddenly you’re paying 15-40% overs for players. I don’t want to see us get back in that hole. I hope Jason knows what he’s doing because once you are on the bottom it’s very hard to get off it.
Another echo of best wishes for big Shaun.
He’s tackled pretty well this year and could have done much more with the ball if there was a playmaker to help.
He showed he can still score tries if he gets decent ball.
A team is the more than sum of its parts.
Last year we had a team that needed some new parts.
Unfortunately for some like RCG & Gutho you can’t just change one shock absorber.
What we need to see is solid improvement game on game.
Last week was a step backwards but Darwin is jinxed.
This week is ours to win.
Shaun Lane can bounce back. He can look to someone like Angus Creighton for inspiration. Lane is still a young man. He has his life ahead of him. May be time away from NRL will do a world of good