Rumours and Stuff

[King-Gutho94]

I'm unsure here. D.Browns shown glimpses but not a lot. Mahoney prior to this season looked average then stepped up. Rheed will always be small and has a ceiling of a very good hooker. Brown I am unsure. Still maybe just an average NRL half but wouldn't be suprised of he just exploded and become a star half and one of best in comps.

Dylan Brown is key if he can explode like Luai has in the past 2 years and become an elite player the pressure that takes off moses will be enormous

 

[Gazzamatta]

I'm unsure here. D.Browns shown glimpses but not a lot. Mahoney prior to this season looked average then stepped up. Rheed will always be small and has a ceiling of a very good hooker. Brown I am unsure. Still maybe just an average NRL half but wouldn't be suprised of he just exploded and become a star half and one of best in comps.

Im hoping Drowns development mirrors Rheeds. Get the basics right then add flair. Before this last season Rheed was effective but mostly a tackler with a good pass. He added to that this year which I reckon Johns had a bit to do with. Drown could be anything. My hopes remain extremely high for him.
BAs requirements of a hooker arent massive and Rheed is a tad injury prone. BAs game plan probably more suits a Brandon Smith type. Disappointed if he leaves but its always great to see new faces.

 

[Gary Gutful]

I'm unsure here. D.Browns shown glimpses but not a lot. Mahoney prior to this season looked average then stepped up. Rheed will always be small and has a ceiling of a very good hooker. Brown I am unsure. Still maybe just an average NRL half but wouldn't be suprised of he just exploded and become a star half and one of best in comps.

Possible with Brown but unlikely imo. His defence is superb but thats about all he has. Mahoney was very good in 2020 but added some nice touches and has become a top level No. 9.

If you rank Mahoney against other hookers in the comp where would he sit? Top 3 or 4? I suspect Junior Paulo would be the only player ranked higher when comparing props. Moses might be at a similar level to Mahoney when considering halfbacks.

 

[JokerEel]

No, it’s one position we don’t have any promising juniors in, pushing for an NRL / NSW cup / top 30 start….so obviously we looking at developing some depth in the position. Rather then looking for a cheapie each year for depth …

This kid goes alright..

 

[zuke]

Anyone from the eels official site on here. Please remove Papali as the opening image that mentions his unbreakable bond with his mum. Looks like he is laughing at us supporters with his missing teeth. Too bad that there was not a similar bond between him and the eels. POQ Papali.

 

[hindy111]

From what I read on Dogs forum a few in the know reckon Rheeds a done deal and will be announced this week.

 

[hindy111]

On Rheed its a shame to lose him but he just isn't worth 700k. I can understand BA thinking he can get away with a solid hooker who costs 300k behind a good pack and controlling ghalves.

 

[emjaycee]

Possible with Brown but unlikely imo. His defence is superb but thats about all he has. Mahoney was very good in 2020 but added some nice touches and has become a top level No. 9.

If you rank Mahoney against other hookers in the comp where would he sit? Top 3 or 4? I suspect Junior Paulo would be the only player ranked higher when comparing props. Moses might be at a similar level to Mahoney when considering halfbacks.

I sometimes think we (Parra fans) expect too much too soon from our players, which is our right as fans but isnt really fair.
Drown has great defence, great speed (and yes acceleration) and is pretty friggen strong. We saw in his debut year that he has good ball skills as well.

So I reckon we just need to give the 21 year old with already 50+ games experience a break. Reynolds, Keary, Luai, Cronk, all debuted older than Drown.

 

[hindy111]

Possible with Brown but unlikely imo. His defence is superb but thats about all he has. Mahoney was very good in 2020 but added some nice touches and has become a top level No. 9.

If you rank Mahoney against other hookers in the comp where would he sit? Top 3 or 4? I suspect Junior Paulo would be the only player ranked higher when comparing props. Moses might be at a similar level to Mahoney when considering halfbacks.

Mahoneys long kicking and passing game I rate no 1.
Short kicking maybe top 5. Run game he would be outside the top 10. Tackling he is a small body. Was he better then Lussick? Unsure. He may not miss many but he is not a bruiser and doesn't dominate in the wrestle. But yes he is top 5.

D.Brown has a nice kick game just doesn't get to use it as Moses is chief. He has natural speed and strength. And a calm head. Unsure if he can or can not get better but he has the athletic side to be great. I do agree he has to start step up big. And if he doesn't improve this year we either put him at centre and Guth at halves or cut him.

 

[The Predictor]

I reckon we will end up losing Mahoney. It’s not looking good but as long as we retain Dylan Brown long term and keep Paulo I’m fine with it. When we had Lussick we were still going well. Shame he went however and that’s the part that annoys me. We were a bit arrogant and assumed they would stay and we let a quality player like Lussick go.

If he starts leading the team song next year and I know he won’t be here the year after I could dead set slap the disloyal little merkin.

I’d f**k him off now and ask for another player in return. I can’t bear to see them be all ‘professional’ and give it their all in their last year.

Just f**k off now. All of them except Marata. He is one is the only one leaving that is acceptable seeing he’s going home.

My personal opinion is, we can more than cope without Mahoney, and will not be a deal breaker if he goes, I think we have a little gem in this young fella Hand and an experienced player in Rein, I think Mahoney should go on stop this disrespect, I believe he has made a decision, so announce it!

 

[Gazzamatta]

But Gus said The Dogs havent made an offer. Surely thats the end of that. Fickle supporters. Sheesh. In Gus we trust.

 

[hindy111]

My personal opinion is, we can more than cope without Mahoney, and will not be a deal breaker if he goes, I think we have a little gem in this young fella Hand and an experienced player in Rein, I think Mahoney should go on stop this disrespect, I believe he has made a decision, so announce it!

Have you seen much of Hands?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Starling, Kenny and Brailey are still off contract

and Fainu’s is off contract too and his case should be finalised this year.

Obviously none as good as Mahoney but there are some options

I reckon Fainu is better than Mahoney. At least in attack.

 

[I bleed blue & gold]

Im afraid i don’t share the optimism like alot of you. IMO it’s bad news if we lost Mahoney. All these other options are if’s.

A good hooker is hard to come by. We haven’t had a good one as good as RM since Riddell or Marsh.

Peats, King and De Gois all did a job for us but as we all know they didn’t last.

We can’t keep em all, but geez, Mahoney will be a but loss.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Brendon Hands might be a surprise packet

He's not a surprise now ffs

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Well we can't have it both ways. We can't all sit back and applaud and pump up his tyres when he gets selected for Origin (subsequently ruled out because of injury), but then downplay his abilities when it comes time to negotiate a new contract. 600-700K would be bare minimum for an Origin-calibre spine player.

Either we rate him and have faith in him that he will continue to improve and consolidate his status as a rep player and pay him accordingly or we turf him and go looking for a new hooker ASAP.

Should there be a price difference for a bloke who has been picked for Origin once compared to one who's been picked a dozen or more times?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Reed hasn't played origin ffs. I don't give a hoot what anyone says, Reed is unproven in Origin and until then, he ain't worth 599k.

Hasn't played much finals footy either. He really doesn't bring much big game experience.

 

[hindy111]

Hasn't played much finals footy either. He really doesn't bring much big game experience.

Hands may take his spot

 

[Incorrect]

Should there be a price difference for a bloke who has been picked for Origin once compared to one who's been picked a dozen or more times?

Well that's the point I was alluding to. Are we offering him, for arguments sake 450-500K tops, because we think he has reached his ceiling and he's gone as far as he's going to in terms of representative footy and won't play Origin again? If so, that's a pretty harsh narrative to sell and I'm not surprised then that he and his mgmt are listening to other offers. Or, are we simply low-balling for the sake of it even though we think he is going to develop in to a genuine long term rep level hooker but we're just hoping to land a bargain. Either approach doesn't lend itself towards retaining him I wouldn't have thought.

 

[Incorrect]

Hands may take his spot

You seem obsessed with Hands.... I guess they've always been there in those lonely times....