Bevan French's NRL career may need to be reborn following the start the Eels have had this season, with many of the plaudits going to Parramatta's back three of Clint Gutherson, Blake Ferguson and Maika Sivo.
The back trio have all had outstanding starts to 2019, with them totalling a whopping 2,300 running metres between them so far. All three are in the top 21 metre eaters and are the only back three of any club to appear in the top 21. For context, not a single Eels player made the top 50 for running metres in 2018.
The value of having three big backs cannot be underestimated and their strong start to the sets have laid the platform for the Eels forwards to do their job in going deep into the opposition's half late in the tackle count and therefore giving the halves space.
Against Cronulla, those three produced one of the best games ever seen by a Parramatta back three. Gutherson ran for a game high 294 metres, with 49 post contact metres, Sivo had 194 metres for 62 post contact and Blake Ferguson ran for 240 metres with 66 post contact. Also noticeable were the extra runs during sets from both Gutherson and Ferguson. There were sets where the two of them took four runs between them, essentially allowing the forwards to take a set off and recover.
At this elite level, allowing your entire forward pack to basically rest for a minute can swing the game as it allows them to put more energy into their defence, keeping their opposition pinned inside their own half, forcing a poor kick and then giving you good field position to attack the following set. Combined with Moses' kicking game, the Eels were able to control Cronulla's field position as the game wore on.
This brings me to the issue of what to do with Bevan French. He struggled severely with his game in 2018. At just 181cm tall and 86kg he's the lightest back on Parramatta's books and this is in contrast to Gutherson (190cm, 96kg), Ferguson (191cm, 102kg), Sivo (186cm, 105kg) and George Jennings (185cm, 100kg).
Bevan is a very talented and natural footballer with a knack for scoring tries. His speed and elusiveness mean he's a natural threat against a tired defence or in setting up a one-on-one situation. But wingers these days are more than just try-scorers. As our back three have shown, they are now part of your engine room.
Bevan benefited greatly from playing with Semi Radradra. A big charge from Semi meant Bevan could slot into dummy-half and use his speed to get between retreating defenders. No Semi last year meant Bevan was running against set defenders and he wasn't going to win those battles.
French reportedly ran out at five-eighth for Wentworthville on the weekend and had a blinder of a game. But it's unlikely he'll be seen as a long-term halves option given Dylan Brown is seen as the future and Jaeman Salmon acquitted himself nicely on Saturday night. Also having French in the line gives the more structured and ruthless NRL players a chance to target him.
So, where does French go from here?
At 22 he's still got growing to do, he can get heavier. Teammate Will Smith is three centimetres shorter but two kilos heavier. The same can be said of former teammate and NRL veteran Michael Gordon who has pretty much been a starting player ever since his debut for Penrith back in 2006. He could look even closer to home, at centre Michael Jennings who is 180cm but 96kg and very rarely is dominated in the tackle.
If there's one thing you could never accuse Michael Gordon of, it's shirking his workload. For a back who is on the smaller side of the ledger these days, he's always been willing to put his body on the line.
I'd like to imagine French would be willing to develop himself more at the Eels before heading off for a club like the Titans where he could be a starting player but would ultimately not allow him to develop.
French is never going to be the huge metre-eater like his contemporaries but he does possess blinding speed and acceleration. It's the one thing that has really allowed him to always be considered for the NRL side.
At this stage of his career, he's probably fifth in the pecking order of outside backs at Parramatta, and rightly so. He's really got to prove he has the mentality to push himself to make those changes.
Ultimately, the big question for Bevan is, does he want to fight for his place at Parramatta and build himself into a starting NRL player?
Comments
I’ve mentioned on here for eighteen months that French needs to reinvent himself as a half.
He has all the skills including frontline defence now. I’d like to see him kept as a back up half albeit on a slightly higher wage than your average back up.
The fact he has apparently been playing and playing well for Wenty at half means others agree.
If French is to remain an eel, it must be in the halves imo.
Defence in the front line? Really? He'd be your weakest defender and he played at 5/8 for Wenty as a last minute decision on the weekend. His previous matches have been at fullback.
He’s just gonna have to get better defensively
How'd he go, Superman?
French's defence improved out of sight towards the end of 2017. He was even smashing some opponents and when I looked to see who made that tackle, it was French on numerous occassions.
The old line of this or that player can't play in the halves because he is weak defensively is old school. Train them.
Look at Maloney, Lockyer and several others, they couldn't and can't tackle for shit.
It's half or nothing.
Unlike Maloney and Lockyer, Bevan doesn't have half their playmaking and kicking ability.
Doesn't he?
I disagree. He can kick quite well and has a great passing game. Have you followed Bevan since before he made the NRL squad?
Say he couldn't kick or pass for shit. So...that's it then? He can't learn anything new because he's 23 ffs? This site was all the better when you were scarce last week, Thooper.
Also, read a few responses on here. There are many who agree it's halves for Bevan or nuttin'.
Grunts, agree its hard not to remember some of his plays on the kick chase and gather for tries a couple of years back before his injury, Short memories for many, and usually still stuck in 2018.
Love to see some replays with the commentries from many of the experts who were singing his praises and a common word in them was to call his plays Freakish.
This from TCT...
"They improved to a 2-2 record after putting the Newtown Jets to the sword 42-10 on the back of Bevan French’s superb game in the halves. Although French is missing from the initial team list today, expect him to drop off the NRL shadow bench to feature at halfback once more for the Magpies".
Thanks Tad, I believe that as each week goes by and he plays in the 5/8 spot for went he will regain what he and so many believe he lost after the injury. He may in fact be offered a new contract with the eels, as he's being picked on the extended bench, has a VG coach at Wenty who can only him get back to what he was.
Did you post the link to a free streaming site? I tried to find that post but could not, and the link has been lost, any chance of a repeat please.
Thanks Tad, At least I have it bookmarked now, don't know what happened last time though.
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