The Parramatta Eels are pleased to announce the signings of three new players who will commence training in the 2021 pre-season.
Centre Tom Opacic has agreed to a one year deal with the Eels.
Tom made his NRL debut in 2016 for the Brisbane Broncos and has spent the past two seasons playing for the North Queensland Cowboys in his 43 NRL game career.
Isaiah Papali’i has agreed to a two year deal, after playing 59 NRL games for the Warriors since 2017.
He has also represented New Zealand and Samoa.
Hooker Joey Lussick has also agreed to a one year deal after spending time in the Eels pathways in 2014 and 2015.
He went on to make his NRL debut for Manly in 2017 and has spent the last three seasons in the UK Super League playing for Salford.
Parramatta Eels General Manager of Football Mark O’Neill said, “We are excited to welcome Tom, Isaiah and Joey and I have no doubt that these three men will be a great cultural fit with our Club.”
“All players will add class, depth and balance to our overall squad and they will be relocating from their current destinations in readiness for the 2021 pre-season,” O’Neill said.
Replies
Agree, not a bad start when you just lost 11 players.
Sadly Papalilii s0unds like a bit 0f a d0pe, gut d0ne f0r DUI in 2019 and refused t0 give the c0ps a breath test.
Lets h0pe he d0esnt let us d0wn with d0ing anything stupid..
C'mon Snake - he is a RL forward, very few of them are known for their intelligence.
Was he driving a Commodore at the time? lol
Well I was searching for a highlight reel and found an interview with the young fella instead.Seems like a nice kid,maybe he is shy and nervous but by the sound of things,English is definitely his second language .
I think the three signings look solid. It was obvious we were short in centre and hooker cover this year and we have lost a number of middle forwards:
Opacic looks like a good signing covering an area we had little depth (outside backs);
Papali’i - quality signing. My only concern is that he apparently wants to play edge not middle. Between Lane, Matteraon, Niukore, Stone (although playing more as a lock) we have decent competition for two edge spots. We have lost some middles with Evans, Terepo and Utoikamanu and that seems to be our area of greatest need. However, if Niukore is seen as more of a middle bench player and Lane shifts into the middle at times during the game to provide what Evans provided (different body shape and ability to offload) it may be possible to carry Papali’i on the bench to move into en edge role for 30-40 minutes per game.
Lussick - provides depth at hooker and has had a good couple of years with Salford who have made the Super League Grand Final (2019) and Challenge Cup Final (2020) in the last two years. Super League isn't as strong as the NRL (Salford Team includes Pauli Pauli, Lee Mossop, Krisnan Inu and Ken Sio) but his form has been decent. However, I can't see him offering much off the bench. He is supposed have decent organisational skills, defence and a kicking game but not the type of player to add spark off the bench.
So overall I think the signings are sound but don't necessarily add what we need. Opacic is solid but doesn't add the backline pace that was found wanting this year, Papali’i is a good player but if he wants to play on the edge adds less value than if added to our middle forward rotation and Lussick provides cover but likely won't get much game time unless Mahoney is injured.
I think Papalili will surprise everyone and will be a mainstay in the 17. Very strong with a quick play the ball plus he has pace. Good signing
Has Nikore signed as well? bet the Sharks are dirty on this.
Bonus.
Who or what is Fafita? Mexican corn bread, Tortilla or similar? Do they have legs, maybe the chilli sauce might give some speed.
Just to add to it Pops, there are a couple of NRL players named Fifita though unless its the Sharks version that cannot hold his wind in.
https://www.zerotackle.com/rugby-league/players/david-fifita/ Note the spelling of his name Pops.
Poppa just scrolls through them all colin
Fee, Fa, Fi, fumble.
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