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Rumours and Stuff

T.S Quint

T.S Quint

Coach
Messages
14,600
O

oldmancraigy

Coach
Messages
11,950
Gronk said:
Hooper won't stop stirring the pot.

==================

The Parramatta Eels position on captain Clint Gutherson is as disrespectful as it is confusing.

It’s fair play if new Parramatta coach Jason Ryles no longer thinks Gutherson’s best position is fullback at the Eels.

But the notion of playing him as a lock forward or in the middle of the field or even as a hooker seems a total stretch.

Reading between the lines it feels like the Eels won’t stand in the way if a rival club comes knocking about Gutherson come November 1.

And that looks like every chance of happening in the form of St George Illawarra.

As good a player as Gutherson has been for Parramatta it’s hard to see him all of a sudden transitioning into a lock or a hooker at 30 years of age.

The reality is Gutherson is on a contract worth in excess of $900,000 next season and is the Eels captain.

For all the criticism about his form over the last few rounds of the season Gutho was playing with three broken ribs and had a quad injury.

Parramatta forward Ryan Matterson had broken ribs and didn’t play.

Gutherson got pain-killing injections so he could still take the field.

Are they the actions of a player not invested in the club?

Which brings us to the next question.

Can the Eels really afford to have a $900,000 bench player next season?

Of course not.

Despite Parramatta rolling out the PR charm offensive about new coach Ryles on Tuesday it feels like there’s still a few pieces of this puzzle missing.

Where it could turn into a live hand grenade for the Eels is Gutherson’s popularity amongst the Parramatta playing group and membership base.

At the Eels Ken Thornett Medal Awards night last week the Parramatta fullback cleaned up winning the Players’ Player award, Coaches Award and the Members Player of the Year Award.

The other amusing twist was Reagan Campbell Gillard winning the Ken Thornett Medal as the Eels player of the year and Blaize Talagi winning the rookie of the year award.

Both players have now finished up with the Eels after RCG was tapped on the shoulder with a year to go on his contract and Talagi opted to sign with arch-rivals Penrith.

There’s no doubt there’s been a divide between the Eels dressing room and club management over the back half of this season.

Despite the denials out of Parramatta it exists. That’s now a job for new coach Ryles to try and fix.

When Brad Arthur was sacked the spin coming out of the club was the senior players had been given too much control and it was time for a reset.

There’ll be a major reset if Gutherson ends up being forced out because he’s one of the biggest figures amongst the Eels playing group.

LINK
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Yeah... we won our final game to avoid the spoon.
Management wants a new direction
Players like the status quo
Let's be sure to do whatever the players want who drove us within one loss of the spoon.

It's testimony to the ineptitude of the Tigers that somehow they managed to get smashed in the last round. Credit to them!
 
Obscene Assassin

Obscene Assassin

First Grade
Messages
6,358
Poupou Escobar said:
Do you reckon he plays anything like him? He’s 19 years old and still attending trials? All the good ones are contracted by that age. I guess there must be outliers, but they’re probably all rugby converts.
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Or he was playing volleyball and someone told him he should try his hand at footy.

These trials don't mean much, we have around 30 external kids "trying out" for the SG Ball squad tomorrow. Some would have already been selected but we may want to see how they fair in a simulated game day.
 
Joshuatheeel

Joshuatheeel

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
20,182
Obscene Assassin said:
Or he was playing volleyball and someone told him he should try his hand at footy.

These trials don't mean much, we have around 30 external kids "trying out" for the SG Ball squad tomorrow. Some would have already been selected but we may want to see how they fair in a simulated game day.
Click to expand...

Poupou Escobar said:
Do you reckon he plays anything like him? He’s 19 years old and still attending trials? All the good ones are contracted by that age. I guess there must be outliers, but they’re probably all rugby converts.
Click to expand...


Definitely agree with all this, only thing with the QLD kid, is pretty sure he is only 18 this year.....so has some time on his side...if he was 19, I wouId have expected him to be playing 1st grade with Redlands, not under 19's....to be any chance..
 
Soren Lorenson

Soren Lorenson

First Grade
Messages
7,583
Joshuatheeel said:
Definitely agree with all this, only thing with the QLD kid, is pretty sure he is only 18 this year.....so has some time on his side...if he was 19, I wouId have expected him to be playing 1st grade with Redlands, not under 19's....to be any chance..
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Well, there's people on the Facebook who reckon he's going to be a gun just based off his photo, so, he better crack on.
 
Tiger5150

Tiger5150

Bench
Messages
3,877
Soren Lorenson said:
Well, there's people on the Facebook who reckon he's going to be a gun just based off his photo, so, he better crack on.
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I have this wild theory that there are certain players who become stars or increased value because of their appearance. They grow long hair/mullet/wild afro/bleach blonde/tats and they stand out on a field and their actual abilities and performance are overestimated because of how they look. Think Aaron Woods, Bunty Afoa, Nicho, 50% of the AFL.

If I was a player manager I would recommend all of my kids grow a wild mullet and bleach it blonde
 
King-Gutho94

King-Gutho94

Coach
Messages
15,547
Tiger5150 said:
I have this wild theory that there are certain players who become stars or increased value because of their appearance. They grow long hair/mullet/wild afro/bleach blonde/tats and they stand out on a field and their actual abilities and performance are overestimated because of how they look. Think Aaron Woods, Bunty Afoa, Nicho, 50% of the AFL.

If I was a player manager I would recommend all of my kids grow a wild mullet and bleach it blonde
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So your telling me Aaron Woods played 17 tests for Australia and 14 Origins based off his hair.
 
King-Gutho94

King-Gutho94

Coach
Messages
15,547
Gazzamatta said:
Did you ever watch him play ffs. 🤣
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Yeah he was garbage.

The front row depth wasn't great in that era.

And also how rep sides are picked now its harder getting out then in sometimes.

Once you establish yourself after a couple of games.

Rep coaches are more loyal then what they were 20 years ago when it was just picked on form. Not a boys club

Now players like Woods, Tedesco get another 10 rep jumpers based on loyalty.

It's a joke.

Andrew johns had to play off the bench sometimes during his peak because they decided to go with Kimmorley after he won the premiership with Storm in 1999 as he was in better form
 
D

DaveMc

Juniors
Messages
1,256
Tiger5150 said:
I have this wild theory that there are certain players who become stars or increased value because of their appearance. They grow long hair/mullet/wild afro/bleach blonde/tats and they stand out on a field and their actual abilities and performance are overestimated because of how they look. Think Aaron Woods, Bunty Afoa, Nicho, 50% of the AFL.

If I was a player manager I would recommend all of my kids grow a wild mullet and bleach it blonde
Click to expand...
I had a junior footy coach who much earlier had coached a bloke who went on to become a Wallaby. The coach said this fella made every rep team growing up because, while he was an extremely talented footballer and evidently deserved his spot, his shock of red hair meant it was impossible not to notice what he was doing on the field.
 
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