Dyldam Parramatta Eels Head Coach Brad Arthur says he’s expecting a physical and enthusiastic encounter tomorrow night when the Blue and Gold take on the Cronulla Sharks at Pirtek Stadium.
Forward Junior Paulo will move into the first grade side replacing Fuifui Moimoi who played for Wenty yesterday, and Arthur says Junior is in good form.
“It’s not the case about Fui being dropped, it’s more about promoting Junior,” Arthur said.
“He played one game for us against the Broncos and he was one of our better forwards, and he’s been playing well at Wenty and I thought he deserved his opportunity this week.”
“He’s got a very good carry and is hard to tackle, and all the feedback we got out of the Broncos game is that they weren’t real impressed tackling him.”
After a long turnaround since the Blue and Gold’s Round 8 game against the Cowboys, Arthur says the side has used the break to rest up physically for a tough part of the year ahead.
“Going into those last couple of games we were playing with blokes who were doing one or half a session to get out on the field, so it’s been really good for Peatsy and a couple of our forwards,” he said.
“I don’t think anyone is 100 percent at this stage of the year, but everyone is keen to get back out there after a loss and a 16 day turnaround.”
Asked about whether he thinks there are inconsistencies with the referees in relation to other incidents in the game across the weekend, Arthur says he’s unconcerned.
“We have enough of our own inconsistencies with our own performance which we need to tidy up, and that’s our focus; we’re back at home, and we want to come with plenty of energy tomorrow night and be nice and strong defensively,” he said.
