Hard choices for Taylor
Brad Earl
05Sep06
SELECTION Tuesdays have been relatively pain-free for Jason Taylor since he became Parramatta Eels coach. Until this week.
He had 19 players vying for the 17 spots for Sunday's opening finals match against minor premiers the Melbourne Storm at Olympic Park.
The extra numbers came from the return of two props: captain Nathan Cayless, back earlier than expected from an eye socket fracture, and Michael Vella, who will resume from injury on interchange.
Taylor's biggest headaches were in the backline.
Luke Burt's goal kicking gave him the nod over Wade McKinnon at fullback, while Luke O'Dwyer and Brett Delaney were vying for a centre spot.
Parramatta finished eighth after losing 22-8 away to the North Queensland Cowboys last Friday.
It was the Eels' second successive defeat after nine straight wins.
``The boys are really positive,'' Taylor said. ``We talked [on Monday] about the two losses we've had. A lot of things conspired to put us under pressure.''
One of the main factors was not having enough recovery time between games and Taylor is appreciating this week's longer preparation time.
``We'll be ready to go when Sunday afternoon comes around,'' he said.
The Eels have played the Storm once this season, losing 34-22 in round 14.
* IN Premier League, the minor premiership-winning Eels kick off their finals campaign at Parramatta Stadium on Saturday and entry is free.
The match against Cronulla is at 3pm, preceded by the Sydney Roosters v Manly in Jersey Flegg at 1.15pm.
* PARRAMATTA will play the following teams home and away next season: Manly, the Bulldogs, Brisbane, St George Illawarra, Canberra, the Warriors, Wests Tigers, the Roosters and Souths. They play the other six only once.
The NRL this week released the 2007 pools.
http://www.parramattaadvertiser.com.au/article/2006/09/05/134_sports.html
