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The new, more 'experienced' Eric Grothe may be heading overseas, writes Glenn Jackson.
DEPENDING on the result of today's match against St George Illawarra, Eric Grothe could bid Parramatta a fond sayonara or au revoir at full-time.
Grothe is believed to be on the verge of leaving the Eels for Japanese rugby, while France is also an option.
Without saying when he might leave Australia, the former international admitted he had seriously considered both rugby competitions, but the fact he could be overseas with 12 months on his contract will shock most Parramatta fans.
Grothe's career, however, has always had an expect-the-unexpected flavour. He's a hard man to pin down.
On the field he runs straight and hard, taking his opponents head on.
Off it he is unique, too, although in a vastly different way. He is the player who could not be contacted by the NRL judiciary because he was at a mate's place with no mobile coverage, and who has called himself a musician who plays football to pay the bills.
The Sun-Herald thought he was up to his old tricks last week when he pulled out of an interview because of food poisoning, only for him to miss a game as a result.
''Mate, I lost four kilos,'' he said this week. ''I was that crook I lost the old mid-season gut.''
Grothe is the riddle no one can solve. He is the football player an army of coaches could try to unlock without success - a ''novelty'' as he puts it.
You could say he is a square peg in a round hole but he certainly ain't square. He oozes teen spirit even though he is now 29.
The Sun-Herald asked him if he now considered himself experienced, to which he replied: ''I've never heard my name and the word 'experienced' in the same sentence. I don't know about that. If you put that tag on me, I'm probably expected to be a little bit mature.
''That 'enigmatic' one's good because it means I can do what I want. 'He's enigmatic - don't worry about him.'
''I like to play dumb, too, because then less is expected of you.''
Maybe that was why former coach Michael Hagan hung on for so long last year before dumping him to NSW Cup. Grothe said he ''dreaded'' the axe for some time before it was finally swung.
''Hages was a bit of an easy-going bloke and I must have taken advantage of it - not on purpose, it just happened,'' he said. ''I didn't sit down with a pen and paper and plot how to take advantage of him, it just happened that way.''
But his stint with Wentworthville turned out to be the ''kick in the bum'' he needed, making him realise utilities weren't just players who could fill a number of positions.
''It just made me realise how lucky we are as full-time footballers,'' Grothe said. ''Blokes were turning up in their work utes buggered from work, jumping out of their skin to kick a ball around, and I just thought, 'I'm just ungrateful'. They'd work all day and train all night.
''It made me think I was a bit spoilt: 'Stop carrying on like a tool and just enjoy what you've got.'''
Grothe stops short of saying he has more maturity but his band has taken something of a back seat. So has he changed?
''No, not really,'' he says. ''I guess I know I have to work harder now to keep my spot. But I'm still pretty lazy, or whatever, at home. I'm a lot less lazy at training, I know that.''
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/lhqnews/eric-may-have-outgrown-eels/2009/09/12/1252519678869.html
DEPENDING on the result of today's match against St George Illawarra, Eric Grothe could bid Parramatta a fond sayonara or au revoir at full-time.
Grothe is believed to be on the verge of leaving the Eels for Japanese rugby, while France is also an option.
Without saying when he might leave Australia, the former international admitted he had seriously considered both rugby competitions, but the fact he could be overseas with 12 months on his contract will shock most Parramatta fans.
Grothe's career, however, has always had an expect-the-unexpected flavour. He's a hard man to pin down.
On the field he runs straight and hard, taking his opponents head on.
Off it he is unique, too, although in a vastly different way. He is the player who could not be contacted by the NRL judiciary because he was at a mate's place with no mobile coverage, and who has called himself a musician who plays football to pay the bills.
The Sun-Herald thought he was up to his old tricks last week when he pulled out of an interview because of food poisoning, only for him to miss a game as a result.
''Mate, I lost four kilos,'' he said this week. ''I was that crook I lost the old mid-season gut.''
Grothe is the riddle no one can solve. He is the football player an army of coaches could try to unlock without success - a ''novelty'' as he puts it.
You could say he is a square peg in a round hole but he certainly ain't square. He oozes teen spirit even though he is now 29.
The Sun-Herald asked him if he now considered himself experienced, to which he replied: ''I've never heard my name and the word 'experienced' in the same sentence. I don't know about that. If you put that tag on me, I'm probably expected to be a little bit mature.
''That 'enigmatic' one's good because it means I can do what I want. 'He's enigmatic - don't worry about him.'
''I like to play dumb, too, because then less is expected of you.''
Maybe that was why former coach Michael Hagan hung on for so long last year before dumping him to NSW Cup. Grothe said he ''dreaded'' the axe for some time before it was finally swung.
''Hages was a bit of an easy-going bloke and I must have taken advantage of it - not on purpose, it just happened,'' he said. ''I didn't sit down with a pen and paper and plot how to take advantage of him, it just happened that way.''
But his stint with Wentworthville turned out to be the ''kick in the bum'' he needed, making him realise utilities weren't just players who could fill a number of positions.
''It just made me realise how lucky we are as full-time footballers,'' Grothe said. ''Blokes were turning up in their work utes buggered from work, jumping out of their skin to kick a ball around, and I just thought, 'I'm just ungrateful'. They'd work all day and train all night.
''It made me think I was a bit spoilt: 'Stop carrying on like a tool and just enjoy what you've got.'''
Grothe stops short of saying he has more maturity but his band has taken something of a back seat. So has he changed?
''No, not really,'' he says. ''I guess I know I have to work harder now to keep my spot. But I'm still pretty lazy, or whatever, at home. I'm a lot less lazy at training, I know that.''
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/lhqnews/eric-may-have-outgrown-eels/2009/09/12/1252519678869.html
