Hello old friend. It’s good to be back. Returning to the normal training report schedule feels like climbing back into the comfortable chair, beer on the table beside me and remote control where it belongs – in my hand. With…
Broken Pathways – Have The Eels Dropped The Development Club Ball?
Around this time every year, The Cumberland Throw keeps you up to date with junior system players to follow. We try do this with a little bit of knowledge and from a place of passion. It’s never been an onerous…
Eels Pre-Season Training – November 20, 2019: They Hit Them All Morning Long
Defence wins titles. It’s a truism applicable to all team sports, not just the NRL. Nonetheless, the 2019 NRL Grand Final epitomised the importance of defence as a 12 man Roosters team held out the Raiders for a critical period…
Eels Pre-Season Training – November 18, 2019: With A Little Help From My Friends
All in! That’s the philosophy of the Eels club and their supporters in the charge into 2020. As Trent Elkin asked some tough physical questions at Old Saleyards today, there was strong evidence that the players will be all in…
Eels Pre-Season Training – November 15, 2019: Hit And Run
It’s the last day of the first week of pre-season training. You’ve got about a third of the squad in attendance. You ease into the weekend, right? Wrong! Though I wouldn’t describe this week as the most demanding week of…
Eels Pre-Season Training – November 12 & 13, 2019: The Kids Are Alright
Watching training on Tuesday wasn’t in my plans. With Monday’s opener done and dusted, the next field session was set for Wednesday. The team was only due to work on basic shapes around set starts on Tuesday. However, a bit…
Eels Pre-Season Training – November 11, 2019: Hello. Hello. It’s Good To Be Back!
Off season? What off season! There’s certainly no rest for the wicked on TCT. But when it comes to NRL footballers, it’s an eight week break and then the pre-season kicks in with all the good stuff, like conditioning runs.…
The Spotlight – Mutually Beneficial Recruitment
It’s the eve of November 1, and right now the silly season is big on recruitment speculation and small on confirmation. We are learning all about “war chests” and little about rosters. That’s probably fair enough, given that there are…
The Spotlight – The Evolution Of Leadership
What constitutes good leadership? In the world of the NRL, it’s historically been a metric commonly associated with the team captain. “Strong” captains were celebrated as being important components of successful teams. Leaders like Arthur Beetson, Steve Mortimer and Wally…
Editorial – Farewelling Bernie Gurr
The final whistle in Sunday’s Canterbury Cup decider brought a full stop to the Wenty Magpies spectacular late season surge, and in doing so it concluded the Parramatta Eels 2019 football program. Significantly, it also brought us closer to the…