Eels Blogs

Out of all the players that are off-contract in 2022, Clint Gutherson is the key we all know that, he is the priority. After that i becomes priority for the likes of Mahoney and Paulo, Dylan Brown has an option for 2023 therefore taking pressure of parramatta to urgently sign him back up. However, with only Moses snapped up past 2022, Gutherson, Mahoney and Brown are all up for grabs and realistically one has to go. Who is that 1? well it has to be decided upon who is behind them at the club and what is available. Now with Gutherson he is going to be signed as long as BA is there, he's the captain and has it good at the club with a coach he loves playing for, there leads to Mahoney and Brown as the odd ones out. Could both go? perhaps depending on if we want to keep Paulo, Matterson and Niukore all past 2022, though out of them i believe Matterson could go and also Ferguson money will free up some room added to the possibility of an expanded cap for 2023 with new TV rights deal and some outlets reporting (not sure how true) that we have some cash still left over for this year. So therefore, though possible, i feel we wont be put into a postion of losing both of them, though one of them i believe could go and may have to go.

Now which one is more expensive? well you could argue both with gather the same sort of valuation as each other, both are young, experienced, played for a constant semi-final outfit and play important positions that alone up the salary automatically. Mahoney with being on the books for Queensland could push him up to possible top 5 hooker money, while Brown got a big paycheck in his rookie year to sound off other suitors, particularly NZ rugby, considering he has been consistently in the side since youu would expect he would demand the salary or more nothing less. Plus Brown is already heavily sort after by clubs like Canberra and Warriors (bare in mind they already have a hooker too), and with every team having 2 halves to 1 hooker ratio there are more spots available for Brown than Mahoney, Canberra with Wighton at 6 would be looking at Brown for 7 so he's not just a 6 to most people. With that Brown can up his price even pushing for close to 1 mil, or even try for all-blacks. Mahoney on the other hand not so much, will demand a massive pay increase but i do not think on the level Brown can demand with the interest in code and out of code that he is gathering.

So then you could look at who will replace them and which position is more important? Well Halfback is always seen the important position within the NRL, if you do not have a halfback your chances of winning a title decrease substantially. If you have a good one you keep them no matter what as, like fullbacks, when teams have a good one they never let them go unless they are ageing or there's someone ready to take their place. This is why getting rid of Gutho is pointless, to feel better about replacing him you would consider someone of a Tedesco or Trbojevic level to replace him and it is not realistic as if there is someone of that level they are snapped up and never let go of, as it is an important position. There have been cases like Latrell to Souths but that was due to Tedesco being at the Roosters, and a club like Parramatta cannot be hopeful of a scenario like that opening up again.

So start with which position is more important? Well this is opinion based to me but both positions are important to the make-up of a team, the hooker is in charge of defence in the middle while maintaining vision and precision with directing the team around the park, feeding forwards and their playmakers, the hooker touches the ball more than anyone a bad pass or choice could lead to a break down of a set. FIve-Eighths were known as the running playmaker, where these days Halfbacks and Five-eighth can occupy the same sort of roles just at different ends of the field, a five-eighth can also be the chief playmaker (i.e. Munster) and if a halfback goes down the five-eighth majority of time is the expected to take over mid game and there after, adding importance to the position with running game and eyes up approach being a weapon in most attacking schemes. To me though, i feel the hooker is the most important position on the field, we are lucky with Lussick being our back-up to have things run smoothly, therefore Mahoney would be my priority.

Then comes the next possible answer, who will replace them. Now looking at the off-contract players in 2022 at each position, hooker has more options in terms of players at i would consider first grade standard or more, none better than Mahoney and the better ones ageing but still good hookers, five-eighth on the other hand not so much more so back-ups, journeyman and youngsters with limited experience. At the club who is behind them? at hooker we have Nathaniel Roache, good hooker but cannot be counted on past 2022 due to concerns over injuries, Lussick has shown he is a capable hooker though seems to be heading off at seasons end, besides that there are no actual hookers coming through with the club having Smith and Stone as makeshifts. At five-eighth, well you have Arthur, and regardless of your thoughts he is talented, could he be better or have a higher ceiling than Brown? well not sure but most people would say probably not, but it is still an option who will come in reasonably cheap for us if we want to sign players back and keep Mahoney. So either way there are not many options for either position though whether you like it or not BA will try and move JA into that role starting alongside Moses, debuting at 18 shows that, you do not debut at 18 unless you have talent in the eyes of those at the club, to me (not saying it is right or should be the case) i think Brown will be the one that will be moved on to free some cap space in order to keep players.

So if i had to pick, i think Brown will be the one to make way and Mahoney will be signed to keep the team moving forward in attack, i do believe Mahoney is more valuable in attack than Brown, but do think Brown s=is a better player than JA and may have a better future, though the club may see an opportunity to free up 650-750k in order to spend as they wish on other areas with JA taking over on cheaper cash. Now to clarify i am not saying this should happen, more so i think it could happen. Let's be fair we know BA (professionally or not) is wanting JA to be a full-time starter by 2023/24, or you do not debut him at 18 to speed up his development.

I know some here have already said they believe Mahoney will move on after 2022, and he still might. Though i do believe this club should prioritise Mahoney moving forward as though Lussick is good before Mahoney's injury we saw the difference in the speed of our attack when Mahoney was there. But have to see it play out for all we know Parramatta could run out in 2023 with a new 6 and 9, or worse having to rebuild.