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Wagon rolled out at right time
By Paul Kent
September 12, 2005
THE beautiful part of it was the timing.
The beautiful part was that the same week that Nathan Hindmarsh goes down clutching his knee Daniel Wagon is running around in Premier League, having his first game back in 10 weeks, and the Eels find themselves with one quality player readymade to replace another.
Given that, the Eels' machine barely skipped a beat yesterday.
While St George Illawarra will retain their standing as premiership favourites the Eels are looming very large in their rear-view mirror - particularly now that one of the few remaining questions has been answered.
There is life after Nathan Hindmarsh.
It was important to answer because winning grand finals is as much about timing as it is about talent, or form, or experience.
You don't win premierships with your best team sitting next to the coach.
Hindmarsh's loss was a large blow for a Parramatta side that had come to rely on his talent for the exceptional.
Like everybody, they realised you don't replace him, you just do the best you can.
So yesterday Wagon was the man slotted into the job.
"I don't put any pressure on myself to play like Nathan," he said.
He had got through the week reasonably well, yet yesterday he found himself more nervous than normal, thinking about returning to first grade in front of a full house, and in the playoffs at that.
"I haven't played first grade in 10, 11 weeks," he explained.
On top of the Hindmarsh loss - his return date is unsure -- the Eels will be without Fuifui Moimoi for the finals series, a formidable blow to a Parramatta's forwards roster that, better than most, hunt as a pack.
So yesterday shaped as some test. Some could argue just how successfully the Hindmarsh hole has been plugged is yet to be answered.
The Eels started so quickly yesterday that there was very little arm-wrestle. By the time Manly realised it was game on it was already 10-0.
The next question also came early, after an injury to Nathan Cayless in the fourth minute. How would it affect the bench rotation?
Cayless was off after he was cartwheeled in a Jason King tackle and, almost simultaneously, had Luke Williamson throw his body weight on top of his falling body.
It looked like a combination spear tackle-head slam, and Cayless left the game wobbly, returning nearly half an hour later.
Still, even with coach Brian Smith needing to push a player on earlier than normal (it was Michael Vella), the change in rotation caused the Eels few problems.
Again, it is noteworthy as Hindmarsh normally plays a full 80 minutes and Wagon would later need to be rested.
"Glenn [Morrison] had missed two or three weeks with a hand injury and it was Daniel's first game back in NRL," Smith said.
"We didn't anticipate that Daniel would go the full distance and Glenn deserved a break. He'd done a mountain of work.
"I had some beefy boys on the bench and we had some nice rotations there today."
All answers in the affirmative, though, and you still have to ask: was Manly that bad, or were the Eels that good?
It was probably a case of both.
So far as anyone knows, Wagon's inclusion at Left Three (coaches no longer call them second-rowers, but label them according to what side and how far in from the sideline they play), has hardly caused a hiccup in the Eels' machine.
One of Smith's great strengths as a coach is his ability to get each player to fulfil his individual role, which all then fit perfectly as a team.
What individual impact Wagon had at Left Three was hard to answer.
The Eels punched holes through the Manly defensive line from one sideline all the way across to the other, with no part of the field left unspared.
There was no problems as a team.
Perhaps the only area missing from the Parramatta game is Hindmarsh's rare ability for the exceptional: the solo break after punching one up straight after a kick return, the long chase in defence, the second run in a set of six, all the plays that make Hindmarsh what he is.
But then, there are very few players capable of this, if any.
Instead, Wagon's inclusion changes the Parramatta game subtly.
Whereas Hindmarsh basically roams, popping up in the middle of the field and then next minute turning up on the edges, Wagon sticks to the edges and completes his job.
His teammates have confidence to leave him to it.
Also, Wagon is tidier in defence, and a better line runner on the edges than Hindmarsh.
The evidence was in the sweet line he ran off Vella's hip to score in the 67th minute, admittedly a try after the contest had been fought, but a sure sign of his benefit.
"I'm more relieved than anything," Wagon said after the game.
"Glad I got through the game. My fitness wasn't too bad."
There was a spot of blood on his right shoulder, the damage from an injury inflicted, not suffered. It spoke for the Eels, an insight into their future.
The Daily Telegraph
http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,16568837-23214,00.html
By Paul Kent
September 12, 2005
THE beautiful part of it was the timing.
The beautiful part was that the same week that Nathan Hindmarsh goes down clutching his knee Daniel Wagon is running around in Premier League, having his first game back in 10 weeks, and the Eels find themselves with one quality player readymade to replace another.
Given that, the Eels' machine barely skipped a beat yesterday.
While St George Illawarra will retain their standing as premiership favourites the Eels are looming very large in their rear-view mirror - particularly now that one of the few remaining questions has been answered.
There is life after Nathan Hindmarsh.
It was important to answer because winning grand finals is as much about timing as it is about talent, or form, or experience.
You don't win premierships with your best team sitting next to the coach.
Hindmarsh's loss was a large blow for a Parramatta side that had come to rely on his talent for the exceptional.
Like everybody, they realised you don't replace him, you just do the best you can.
So yesterday Wagon was the man slotted into the job.
"I don't put any pressure on myself to play like Nathan," he said.
He had got through the week reasonably well, yet yesterday he found himself more nervous than normal, thinking about returning to first grade in front of a full house, and in the playoffs at that.
"I haven't played first grade in 10, 11 weeks," he explained.
On top of the Hindmarsh loss - his return date is unsure -- the Eels will be without Fuifui Moimoi for the finals series, a formidable blow to a Parramatta's forwards roster that, better than most, hunt as a pack.
So yesterday shaped as some test. Some could argue just how successfully the Hindmarsh hole has been plugged is yet to be answered.
The Eels started so quickly yesterday that there was very little arm-wrestle. By the time Manly realised it was game on it was already 10-0.
The next question also came early, after an injury to Nathan Cayless in the fourth minute. How would it affect the bench rotation?
Cayless was off after he was cartwheeled in a Jason King tackle and, almost simultaneously, had Luke Williamson throw his body weight on top of his falling body.
It looked like a combination spear tackle-head slam, and Cayless left the game wobbly, returning nearly half an hour later.
Still, even with coach Brian Smith needing to push a player on earlier than normal (it was Michael Vella), the change in rotation caused the Eels few problems.
Again, it is noteworthy as Hindmarsh normally plays a full 80 minutes and Wagon would later need to be rested.
"Glenn [Morrison] had missed two or three weeks with a hand injury and it was Daniel's first game back in NRL," Smith said.
"We didn't anticipate that Daniel would go the full distance and Glenn deserved a break. He'd done a mountain of work.
"I had some beefy boys on the bench and we had some nice rotations there today."
All answers in the affirmative, though, and you still have to ask: was Manly that bad, or were the Eels that good?
It was probably a case of both.
So far as anyone knows, Wagon's inclusion at Left Three (coaches no longer call them second-rowers, but label them according to what side and how far in from the sideline they play), has hardly caused a hiccup in the Eels' machine.
One of Smith's great strengths as a coach is his ability to get each player to fulfil his individual role, which all then fit perfectly as a team.
What individual impact Wagon had at Left Three was hard to answer.
The Eels punched holes through the Manly defensive line from one sideline all the way across to the other, with no part of the field left unspared.
There was no problems as a team.
Perhaps the only area missing from the Parramatta game is Hindmarsh's rare ability for the exceptional: the solo break after punching one up straight after a kick return, the long chase in defence, the second run in a set of six, all the plays that make Hindmarsh what he is.
But then, there are very few players capable of this, if any.
Instead, Wagon's inclusion changes the Parramatta game subtly.
Whereas Hindmarsh basically roams, popping up in the middle of the field and then next minute turning up on the edges, Wagon sticks to the edges and completes his job.
His teammates have confidence to leave him to it.
Also, Wagon is tidier in defence, and a better line runner on the edges than Hindmarsh.
The evidence was in the sweet line he ran off Vella's hip to score in the 67th minute, admittedly a try after the contest had been fought, but a sure sign of his benefit.
"I'm more relieved than anything," Wagon said after the game.
"Glad I got through the game. My fitness wasn't too bad."
There was a spot of blood on his right shoulder, the damage from an injury inflicted, not suffered. It spoke for the Eels, an insight into their future.
The Daily Telegraph
http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,16568837-23214,00.html
