Eels in the media

[Happy MEel]

every club has loizous... sometimes you hit sometimes you miss...

our R and R has been more miss than hit of late. I have very little confidence that they can project Matt’s ability and subsequent value as a top 30 player in a few years time, having played just 1 game against men.

 

[Happy MEel]

Be honest, who would give a crap if his name wasn't Arthur.

To be honest, the majority on here have given an absolute crap about most of our top 30 signings this year and have been scathing (and rightly so). Don’t make up this bullshit that we’re just picking on the Arthurs. If it was just a development contract then no one would give a shit. When we’re handing out top 30 roster spots, it’s open slather for criticism.

 

[Pazza]

our R and R has been more miss than hit of late. I have very little confidence that they can project Matt’s ability and subsequent value as a top 30 player in a few years time, having played just 1 game against men.

yeah i dont have much faith in the front office either.

 

[Obscene Assassin]

Is it? Do you have some similar examples? Regardless, don’t we have the advantage that his dad is the head coach? We shouldn’t need to take these risks under these circumstances.

Jack Howarth from Melbourne was signed to a long, big T30 deal, 5 years allegedly at 500k a season. Desperate clubs are willing to throw more at younger players I.e Tigers signed Lachlan Galvin to a T30 contract from next year onwards, he will only be 19 and hasn't played a single game of Jersey Flegg.

 

[Happy MEel]

Jack Howarth from Melbourne was signed to a long, big T30 deal, 5 years allegedly at 500k a season. Desperate clubs are willing to throw more at younger players I.e Tigers signed Lachlan Galvin to a T30 contract from next year onwards, he will only be 19 and hasn't played a single game of Jersey Flegg.

Appreciate the info mate. I think the Howarth contract is insane by the way and I reckon I’d be critical if that was Parra as well. However, at least the Storm have a pretty shit hot record of recruitment and retention so you’d have to give them some leniency. The Tigers on the other hand, I think if that’s what their R and R are doing then that’s sufficient evidence to do the contrary.

 

[Happy MEel]

yeah i dont have much faith in the front office either.

As I’ve said, if it’s a club option for 26 then I have no problem with it.

 

[Obscene Assassin]

Appreciate the info mate. I think the Howarth contract is insane by the way and I reckon I’d be critical if that was Parra as well. However, at least the Storm have a pretty shit hot record of recruitment and retention so you’d have to give them some leniency. The Tigers on the other hand, I think if that’s what their R and R are doing then that’s sufficient evidence to do the contrary.

It was more that clubs at both ends of the success spectrums are being forced to make these deals. Given his 2023 playing trajectory of going from first year SG Ball to NSW cup after half (?) an NRL pre-season I think this deal is on the lower risk end. I believe he was already signed up to the end of 2025, this extra year may have been so that he can be promoted to the development list for the next season which given how important he was to the 2 grades he mainly played and his status as our #1 hooker prospect coming through is fair enough.

 

[Happy MEel]

It was more that clubs at both ends of the success spectrums are being forced to make these deals. Given his 2023 playing trajectory of going from first year SG Ball to NSW cup after half (?) an NRL pre-season I think this deal is on the lower risk end. I believe he was already signed up to the end of 2025, this extra year may have been so that he can be promoted to the development list for the next season which given how important he was to the 2 grades he mainly played and his status as our #1 hooker prospect coming through is fair enough.

He played one game in NSW Cup so it’s not as if he became our first choice hooker in that grade. Loizou played one first grade in 2021 and look how that has turned out. A single game doesn’t mean a lot, more likely it was just to give some experience.

There’s nothing stopping the club upgrading his current contract to a development contract in 2025 as far as I’m aware. We could have also offered an additional year on a dev contract and then upgrade that if it is warranted. The extra year in the top 30 was unnecessary to achieve that.

 

[Pazza]

He played one game in NSW Cup so it’s not as if he became our first choice hooker in that grade. Loizou played one first grade in 2021 and look how that has turned out. A single game doesn’t mean a lot, more likely it was just to give some experience.

There’s nothing stopping the club upgrading his current contract to a development contract in 2025 as far as I’m aware. We could have also offered an additional year on a dev contract and then upgrade that if it is warranted. The extra year in the top 30 was unnecessary to achieve that.

if not MA then who are you handing that sort of contract to? from what i read around these parts and i hear on the tip sheet and the parra podcast MA was basically the tip of the spear when it came to the success we had in Ball/Flegg this season.

 

[JokerEel]

if not MA then who are you handing that sort of contract to? from what i read around these parts and i hear on the tip sheet and the parra podcast MA was basically the tip of the spear when it came to the success we had in Ball/Flegg this season.

He wasn't. Our forwards dominated Ball and Flegg.

 

[Pazza]

He wasn't. Our forwards dominated Ball and Flegg.

so it was the inclusion of the ball forwards not the spine that lead to them making a deep push?????

 

[JokerEel]

so it was the inclusion of the ball forwards not the spine that lead to them making a deep push?????

Let's say yes

 

[Pazza]

Let's say yes

i know you know a lot about the juniors so im not trying to be rude but i was under the impression that players like MA, Sanders and lynn took the Flegg team to another level.

 

[Gronk]

Jake was playing 5/8 at Manly.

Not the 5 min ultilty role at the end of the game he was for us

He was playing 5/8 because their highly paid one went MIA. They have signed a new 5/8, he will be playing somewhere else and Jake will be going back to his familiar role of stand by guy. You guys know that, I don’t know why you are pretending otherwise. He played one game for us in 2023 and 6 for Manly. He played 16 games in NSW cup (11/6) in 2023. You’d think the way that some of you carried on it was something different.

 

[JokerEel]

i know you know a lot about the juniors so im not trying to be rude but i was under the impression that players like MA, Sanders and lynn took the Flegg team to another level.

My opinion is it was all the players that came up as they know each other's game and work well together,you can hand pick some but just bringing those 3 up would not have made a difference without the others.

 

[JokerEel]

He was playing 5/8 because their highly paid one went MIA. They have signed a new 5/8, he will be playing somewhere else and Jake will be going back to his familiar role of stand by guy. You guys know that, I don’t know why you are pretending otherwise. He played one game for us in 2023 and 6 for Manly. He played 16 games in NSW cup (11/6) in 2023. You’d think the way that some of you carried on it was something different.

Imagine if we paid Brown 800k after doing bugger all and then he continued to do bugger all like Schuster..

 

[Obscene Assassin]

He played one game in NSW Cup so it’s not as if he became our first choice hooker in that grade. Loizou played one first grade in 2021 and look how that has turned out. A single game doesn’t mean a lot, more likely it was just to give some experience.

There’s nothing stopping the club upgrading his current contract to a development contract in 2025 as far as I’m aware. We could have also offered an additional year on a dev contract and then upgrade that if it is warranted. The extra year in the top 30 was unnecessary to achieve that.

No he didn't, but when the NSW cup season ended and all 3 hooker prospects were eligible for Flegg finals he was the one chosen despite the other 2 being 2 years older. He's our top hooker prospect.


There is one thing, his manager. The club could've wanted to upgrade him for 2024 and 2025, taken that to his management who would've said they'll agree as long as he gets an extension for the following year. I'm not 100% sure but I think you can only be on a dev contract for 2 consecutive years max.

 

[Obscene Assassin]

so it was the inclusion of the ball forwards not the spine that lead to them making a deep push?????

There weren't too many ball forwards that made the full time jump to Flegg. From memory the only one was Sam Tuivati. The core of the Flegg forward pack: Brazel, Parker, Lenaz, Tupou and Latu had consistently been top performers in Flegg from round 1. There were cameos from Fualema, Guymer, Pryke but they were played when the others were pushed up into Cup.

What pushed the Flegg team to the next level were the backs: Talagi, Penisini, and Martin (not SG Ball but didn't come in until mid year) and the SG Ball spine. They won something like 9 or 10 of their final 12 games to make the finals and then beat teams that had finished higher than them in the finals.

 

[Happy MEel]

if not MA then who are you handing that sort of contract to? from what i read around these parts and i hear on the tip sheet and the parra podcast MA was basically the tip of the spear when it came to the success we had in Ball/Flegg this season.

No one. Prove yourself against men and then we’ll look at a top 30 contract.

 

[Incorrect]

No one. Prove yourself against men and then we’ll look at a top 30 contract.

Just catching up on today's posts.... Think I've just Liked about a dozen of yours Mr Happy MEel.... Read nothing in to the excessive Likes, I am not coming on to you, just appreciate your insights!!!