Trial: Parra vs Penrith

[Ashley Schaeffer]

Thought we were good without being spectacular. I was pleased to see commitment, effort and a level of intensity for most of the game. Ill discipline was still there but can be attributed to rust and a bit of fatigue.

Tim Mannah knocking on 1st set of the season summed him up. Hard honest footballer, but like i've always said he has 6 years of losing seasons that have worn him down and developed bad habits. So glad BA gave the captaincy to Foran. Tim needs to concentrate on his own game and what value he can bring to the team, and allow Scott, Watmough etc to instill winning edge in the young guys.

Junior Paulo, Kenny Edwards an Terepo were all great. Pleasing effort and no major injuries. Can't wait for Round 1.

 

[eels_fan]

Thought de Gois was poor. Passing was off, behind the players, would have preferred King or Kayssxto have jumped in there.
I don't see him being on the bench in round 1 on that performance

 

[phantom eel]

If there are no fitness/injury concerns with Peats, I'd almost say we just go in with four forwards on the bench? As long as Edwards and Gower are in the 17, they can cover a stint at dummy half if needed.

 

[WaznTheGreat]

Kenny Edwards gonna lead us to grand final glory

 

[eels_fan]

Agree

Assuming Tepai in 13 with Watmough out

14. Edwards
15. Terepo
16. Gower
17. Wicks

 

[Noise]

Positives: Kenny Edwards, we looked tuff in defense, Jennings and semi looked very solid in defence, foran's defence, junior Paulo, terepo and Norman were excellent, we won convincingly.

Negatives: discipline - too many penalties in the ruck, Gutherson looked weak and a bit lost, beau Scotts hands. I also would have liked to see at least one long shift involving both our halves rather than shorter side raids.

But positives certainly outweighed the negatives. Great pre season form hope it carries on. Also I don't see how watmough improves our team.

 

[phantom eel]

Agree

Assuming Tepai in 13 with Watmough out

14. Edwards
15. Terepo
16. Gower
17. Wicks

And Alvaro also in contention... I'd maybe have him ahead of Terepo, generally?

Csan't see how Watmough can earn a starting jersey, recovering from injury? He'll come back via the bench surely.

 

[Forty20]

Hot damn it was good to see Kenny Edwards back in action. He was a massive loss to us in 2015 and his explosiveness through contact gives us a massive boost out wide. He was also quite vicious in defence, laying on a number of stinging shots.

All in all it was a fair trial result. Rust was worked out and combinations were giving some opportunities to gel. Definitely some notable areas to improve on but we got away without any serious injuries and have some positive selection headaches to mull on.

 

[forward pass]

Watmough will come straight back in. Do you guys seriously think otherwise? BA wants him in the side.

As for our performance - I reckon we were holding back. I think we didn't want to show too much tonight - especially with the game televised.

 

[El Diablo]

Watmough will come straight back in. Do you guys seriously think otherwise? BA wants him in the side.

As for our performance - I reckon we were holding back. I think we didn't want to show too much tonight - especially with the game televised.

plus it was raining so they weren't going to do anything too fancy

 

[natheel]

I thought Gutherson redeemed himself in the second half. The first half everyone seemed down a gear and it stepped up in the second.

I wonder why they focussed on attacking down the right more than using Jennings and Semi.

Foran looked a natural leader out there barking orders.

I'd be tempted to give King or Pritchard a go off the bench for that spark. De Gois is not a bench utility anymore he offers nothing in attack.

 

[half_back]

Watmough will come straight back in. Do you guys seriously think otherwise? BA wants him in the side.

As for our performance - I reckon we were holding back. I think we didn't want to show too much tonight - especially with the game televised.

The plan is that Moeroa will be in the 13 even when Watmough is back.

 

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

$500k.

He's great, but that's a lot of money for a bloke who spends about 10 weeks of every season suspended, and is facing criminal charges. Can you imagine the reaction if we'd matched that sort of money and his court case goes the wrong way?

 

[TheRam]

He's great, but that's a lot of money for a bloke who spends about 10 weeks of every season suspended, and is facing criminal charges. Can you imagine the reaction if we'd matched that sort of money and his court case goes the wrong way?

I don't think you would have to pay him if it went the wrong way. We could probably tear the contract up or severely fine him for breach of contract.

 

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

I don't think you would have to pay him if it went the wrong way. We could probably tear the contract up or severely fine him for breach of contract.

Possibly, but if we signed him after the charges were made, that would be tougher (though I'd be surprised if the NRL will register any new contract for him til after the court case.....but I might be wrong). The problem won't so much whatever initial punishment (if any) may be metered out.......it'll be that he could be in a 'zero tolerance' situation for the rest of his career.

It's a risk factor that can't be ignored when deciding how much you want to pay a bloke.

 

[TheRam]

Possibly, but if we signed him after the charges were made, that would be tougher (though I'd be surprised if the NRL will register any new contract for him til after the court case.....but I might be wrong). The problem won't so much whatever initial punishment (if any) may be metered out.......it'll be that he could be in a 'zero tolerance' situation for the rest of his career.

It's a risk factor that can't be ignored when deciding how much you want to pay a bloke.

Again where's the risk if there is a no tolerance situation? We can simply tear the contract up or fine the bejesus out of him. No risk at all other then losing a very good player.

 

[hineyrulz]

I thought IDG was very average, service was slow and poor.

King or Prichard should be ahead of him for mine. I thought Peats went real well for his first game back and Kenny Edwards on the fridges was a beast. Tep, junior and Mau were also very strong and Peni added plenty of the bench. Thought it was a very encouraging hit out for the first time all together. It was also good to have a fullback who had a clue with posistional play.

 

[phantom eel]

The plan is that Moeroa will be in the 13 even when Watmough is back.

So who misses out? Ma'u was consistently selected above Moeroa last season, and Scott isn't going to start from the bench.... Is Watmough going to be a permanent bench player?

Personally I'd go with:
8 - Mannah
9 - Peats
10 - Paulo
11 - M'au
12 - Scott
13 - Edwards

14 - Gower
15 - Watmough
16 - Wicks
17 - Moeroa/Alvaro (one to be omitted)
18 - Moeroa/Alvaro
19 - De Gois/Pritchard/King (but only if a back-up #9 is needed)

And that still leaves Terepo, Tanginoa, Nelson, and a host of others as backups if needed.

#depth

 

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Again where's the risk if there is a no tolerance situation? We can simply tear the contract up or fine the bejesus out of him. No risk at all other then losing a very good player.

So your seriously reckon that there's no additional risk (beyond that which comes with signing a random player) attaching to signing a player in this situation?

Even if you did get a situation where you could tear up a contract....what good does that do your team mid-season?

 

[Bigfella]

Gutherson was very good in second half.

Some very smart plays in tricky situations. Him Gordon and semi as a back 3 is the best we have had as a unit for a very very long time.

We didn't notice the benefit as we were giving away masses of penalties so the sides weren't going set for set. That's the situation where a back 3 can help you win the arm wrestle.

Junior was great and is our best prop by miles and is the X factor in the pack - whatever bulkshit mr tackles per minute tries to spout. However he went into two or three tackles last night which could have ended up in dangerous positions. He still tends to lift and that could have a very negative effect if he gets pinged again.

Tepai will be well ahead of watmough by mid season or end of year.

Kenny was great - but gee he was puffing hard and maybe carrying some weight. He really should only get better.

The improvement in the right hand side is incredible. Defensively it is out of sight. Attack will also improve as the combinations get some time together.

Taka is a creative and. Impetigo be footballer and his lack of pace is overstated on here.

His real issue is the brain explosions in defence. He's not always a bad defender. But he gets into some comical positions sometimes.