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Parramatta Eels Juniors

Twizzle

Administrator
Staff member
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150,969
Love to see some of the Tarsha Gale Cup but I doubt Fox will give it any air time.
 
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694
Both are coming back from injuries and while neither are serious they are a little bit short on match fitness. The options in front of them are also handy players that won't just roll over and gift their spots away.

100% right. Although our team is young it will be very competitive for spots. We do have a lot of depth throughout our squad. From what iv been informed and please correct me if anyone knows otherwise.

Utoikamanu was only cleared a few weeks back for contact after surgery last year to a dislocated shoulder, No sense bringing him back too early and under done. No trial games under his belt I personally think this is a smart move bye Parra

Schneider was concussed 2 weeks ago against the Panthers and although was cleared the following week to play Wests the club thought it was better to rest him up for round 1. Schneider also without any trial games under his belt is being eased into the season from the bench. Again a great move from the Parra officials.

Eventually I believe both boys will be in the starting team as Utoikmanu is part of the leadership group and Schneider I hear is captain.

Good luck to all teams competing this weekend representing the Parramatta Eels.
 

The Colonel

Immortal
Messages
41,810
Both are coming back from injuries and while neither are serious they are a little bit short on match fitness. The options in front of them are also handy players that won't just roll over and gift their spots away.

Thanks mate, makes much sense....
 

hindy111

Post Whore
Messages
59,101
Hey 40/20.
Opinions on Under 20 graduates Twal and Morris. First graders? Rep potential?
From times i saw Twal i thought Aaron woods style.
Morris limited times saw and never noticed him tbh.

Thanks.
 

Forty20

First Grade
Messages
7,677
Twal should hopefully turn into a solid first grader. I'm not expecting rep-upside but I think a fair projection will be a valuable contributor to first-grade. Aaron Woods is a reasonable comparison. Big motor, high quantity, solid quality type prop. Twal has some ball skills before the line - like any good, modern prop. He has added a nice bit of size over the pre-season but I wouldn't be surprised if it took him another year or so to find his ideal playing shape in 2018.

Morris is an interesting one. We are currently very deep in the backrow so odds are he just plugs away in the ISP this year. He was very good in the NYC last year. Not in a flashy way nor through stat-padding but consistently there would be plays where you sit-up and go 'who did that?' and invariably it would prove to be Morris. Someone forced an error due to a big hit? That was Morris. There was a massive cover-tackle made to prevent a break? Morris again. We scored an improbably try due to a big kick-chase? Yep, Morris.

Luck may be an element to it but he was consistently putting himself in the right position to make these splash plays through out the year. 100% effort player in that sense. Never stopped playing and as such he made plays.

As for who he comps well to in the NRL...I don't think Josh Jackson is an unreasonable play-style comparison. Busy backrower that makes an impact on both sides of the ball while lacking some of the prototypical size of a modern edge forward. Physical profile wise (185/186cm, ~103kg) I think he is actually a great match to Beau Scott and I believe he has spent a fair chunk of time working with our enforcer in the pre-season.

Morris was the only depth player to pick up a multi-year extension if I recall correctly (which stood out to me at the time because we have made heavy use of 1-year deals for depth players under BA), so there seems to be some hope that he will progress forwards in 2018 if not this year.
 
Last edited:
Messages
988
Twal should hopefully turn into a solid first grader. I'm not expecting rep-upside but I think a fair projection will be a valuable contributor to first-grade. Aaron Woods is a reasonable comparison. Big motor, high quantity, solid quality type prop. Twal has some ball skills before the line - like any good, modern prop. He has added a nice bit of size over the pre-season but I wouldn't be surprised if it took him another year or so to find his ideal playing shape in 2018.

Morris is an interesting one. We are currently very deep in the backrow so odds are he just plugs away in the ISP this year. He was very good in the NYC last year. Not in a flashy way nor through stat-padding but consistently there would be plays where you sit-up and go 'who did that?' and invariably it would prove to be Morris. Someone forced an error due to a big hit? That was Morris. There was a massive cover-tackle made to prevent a break? Morris again. We scored an improbably try due to a big kick-chase? Yep, Morris.

Luck may be an element to it but he was consistently putting himself in the right position to make these splash plays through out the year. 100% effort player in that sense. Never stopped playing and as such he made plays.

As for who he comps well to in the NRL...I don't think Josh Jackson is an unreasonable play-style comparison. Busy backrower that makes an impact on both sides of the ball while lacking some of the prototypical size of a modern edge forward. Physical profile wise (185/186cm, ~103kg) I think he is actually a great match to Beau Scott and I believe he has spent a fair chunk of time working with our enforcer in the pre-season.

Morris was the only depth players to pick up a multi-year extension if I recall correctly (which stood out to me at the time because we have made heavy use of 1-year deals for depth players under BA), so there seems to be some hope that he will progress forwards in 2018 if not this year.

^^^^^^^
I agree 40/20 well said.
Will be interested to see at years end whether injuries, 2nd tier cap and table position will allow the club to give them a taste of 1st grade to see where they are at
 

hindy111

Post Whore
Messages
59,101
Thanks 40/20.
I have a good feeling about this Twal kid. Not sure why.
Best of luck to Morris to he sounds like his attitude is 100%
 

Forty20

First Grade
Messages
7,677
I covered most of the squad members that will fill out the squad internally but here are the external recruits that I know of:

Ray Stone - Two-time Australian Schoolboys backrower who joins us from the Tigers. Undersized but plays well-bigger than his frame. Pristine hitter in defence. Massive motor.

Kamren Cryer - Goal-kicking half from Cronulla. Pretty sure he may have been part of their National Championship SG Ball squad a couple of years back. Not sure on how he goes compared to our incumbent NYC options.

Timoli Vatabuli - A big winger of Fijian extract. Played quite well in early pre-season in-house trials.

Greg Leleisiuao - Powerhouse back from the Titans. Titans fans say he has some questions over his effort in his time there. He joined training a bit late but has seriously impressed since moving permanently down here. A candidate to push up to ISP later in the year.

Dion Solaese - Another promising outside back who comes to us by way of Manly. Junior NSW rep and a pretty handy player from what I gather.

Tyrone Faulkner, Metani Masima, Dom Murphy, Mitch Butfield are some of the depth/development guys we have picked up so it is a decent sized squad.

One thing worth noting is that the Rd.1 SG Ball team featured none of the SG Ball eligible NYC squad members. The team - and all the young players taking part - impressed in their first hit out against the Raiders last weekend and competition for spots is going to be fierce for Round 1.
 

hindy111

Post Whore
Messages
59,101
I was curious to see weights and heights.
First grade looked like a photos upgrade and cut and paste on weights
 

Joshuatheeel

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Staff member
Messages
19,605
Does anyone know how French's younger brothers are going? Think they have joined the eels, the young one might be staying at home and not coming down yet, but thought the older one was joining the club this year ? Playing 20's?
 

Obscene Assassin

First Grade
Messages
6,085
Does anyone know how French's younger brothers are going? Think they have joined the eels, the young one might be staying at home and not coming down yet, but thought the older one was joining the club this year ? Playing 20's?

Luke (the middle one) is no longer with us, apparently wasn't up to it. He currently has no club AFAIK. Dion is at home and still contracted to the Eels.
 
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