1Eyed View

In my opinion, if there is one position that truly sets the top four teams apart from the rest, it's their hooker.

A good hooker is the key to your attack. They set the tempo, have their hands on the ball more than any other player and direct traffic around the ruck.

Take the 2018 grand finalists. The Roosters have Jake Friend, Melbourne have Cameron Smith. Friend is one of the most consistent hookers in the game, and were Smith not a future immortal, he'd likely have a lot more rep jerseys under his belt. Everything that needs to be said about Cameron Smith has been said. He's been the benchmark for hookers for a decade.

You could also attribute much of South Sydney's turn around to the performances of Damien Cook, who is now the NSW and Australian rake.

Parramatta has really struggled to find the right hooker since Mark Riddell and PJ Marsh left. We had Matt Keating for a while who was simply your pass-the-ball dummy half and solid defender.

Then it seemed our hooking issues were solved when Nathan Peats arrived. The angry ant was tough as nails, quick out of dummy half and a future Origin player. Alas, his stay in Parramatta was cut short due to the salary cap scandal.

Isaac De Gois then deputised admirably for a couple of years before his career was abruptly ended due to medical issues.

Since then, it has been a continued headache with high quality rakes not exactly easy to come by on the open market.

That leaves the Eels with only two NRL experienced hookers in Kaysa Pritchard and Reed Mahoney as well as some possible makeshift options.

Now, I think a hooker has to have at least three out of these four characteristics to make it at NRL and even rep level. They have to have a mix of guile, speed, a kicking game and defence. If you look at Cameron Smith, he's not winning a foot race, but he has the football nouse to pinch metres, a well-documented kicking game and is a great defender. Damien Cook is explosively out of dummy-half, has a good footy brain and is a reliable defender.

Kaysa Pritchard

Touted as an up and coming star in his junior years, Kaysa as shown glimmers of his talent but has had his career consistently interrupted by serious injuries. It's actually a wonder he's still playing given he's had everything from a concussion to torn pecs, knee ligaments and busted shoulders. Kaysa, when fit, is a bundle of energy around the ruck but does seem unsure of himself at times. At 24 time is definitely on Kaysa's side to continue his development and prove he is an NRL player. After all, Damien Cook didn't make his NRL debut until he was 23 and he was cut by two NRL sides before settling at Souths. Kaysa's poor form in 2018 could partially be attributed to Parramatta's lack of direction courtesy of a halves pairing that seemed to be constantly overcalling one another. I also think Kaysa needs to take the foot of the gas in defence and learn to pace himself more. It's fine for the hooker to lead the line but getting knocked out every few weeks doesn't help anyone. It would also help for Kaysa to develop a kicking game out of dummy-half. Even a grubber close to the line would help to alleviate pressure from the halves. So as I see it, Kaysa has two of the hooking characteristics. He's a tough defender and quick when he runs, but he's still learning his position in the middle.

Reed Mahoney

The debut of the young gun in 2018 was one of the few bright spots in otherwise shocking season. Due to injuries to Kaysa and Cameron King, Reed ended up playing a lot more than he probably expected in his debut season. Whilst small he's acquitted himself well in defence and he's been a breath of fresh air around the middle when on the attack. At only 20 years of age and 86kg he's bigger than Kaysa Pritchard with room to put on some more size. By all reports Mahoney is developing quickly this off season and if the latest round of training is to go by, he's challenging Clint Gutherson for fittest in the team. I think Reed has the most upside of any of our hooking options. He seems a very confident player and is young enough to add more strings to his bow. He's proven himself a good defender and fast off the mark while he's developing his football smarts. Queensland also have an eye on him for future rep duties after he played Under 20s Origin last season.

Clint Gutherson

Speaking of The King, I'm sure this well will have Phil doing somersaults if he could manage it. Yes, I'm seriously considering Gutherson a hooking option this year. With only two real front line hookers available and one of those almost destined to spend some time on the physio table, Gutherson will likely be called upon to spend some time at dummy half. Gutherson is a crafty player and will give 100% in any position he plays. At 190cm and 94kg size isn't an issue for him while his experience playing in the halves means he already has ball-playing and kicking experience. The only issue I have is that defending in the middle is a lot different to defending on the edges. It requires a lot more second efforts and he'd also be learning the position on the run, having never played there in his junior or senior career. Clint is probably the smartest of the lot when it comes to football brain. His experience across multiple positions means he has a better grasp of what the rest of the team needs from a hooker and he's got that kicking ability. He's a solid defender, although I've never really seen him defend in the middle, while he's not really going to be burning someone with his speed off the mark.

Ray Stone

Stone has been raised as an option given his experience as a lock in the juniors. He's a hard ball runner and very good defender who had a nose for the try line in his under 20s career. He's no stranger to the middle, but for me he is an absolute last resort. You could fashion him into a dummy-half but that would likely take more than one pre-season as Stone has never played in a spine position. He's also no bigger than Reed Mahoney according to the Eels website, in fact has a kilo lighter. So it would be odd to take a career-lock and fashion him into a hooker while having a career-hooker in the squad of the same size. My opinion would likely be different were Stone a middling halfback with explosive pace, similar to Damien Cook in his younger years. With a lack of experience in the spine, Stone would likely be out of his depth here. I'm not sure of his passing game and I've never seen him kick a football, nor does he look the fastest off the mark. The one big tick for him is that he'd be the best defender of the four. But we've had a serviceable passer with good defence in Matt Keating and that didn't really serve us well.