I think the Eels are on there way to having a team that can really compete. There will be a few, maybe even many that will disagree but I will list the reasons why.
We have a couple of young players in our team who have the potential to be real stars of the future and if the Eels are smart and hold onto them, we will be a competitive team for years to come. They are;
Guth. I doubt there is anyone on here who doesn't love what he has brought to the team. There isn't a more competitive player in our side. Definitely some who are equally as competitive but none more so. Tep. He is playing his best football at the moment and is only 21. I see representative honors for him in the future, Guth as well. I think since the moment Moses arrived, Tep has become the attacking edge runner that we all hoped and wanted him to be.
Speaking of Moses. Yes, his defence needs work, pretty much all halves need that but from the moment he arrived our attack has looked much better, his kicking options have been better than what we have had for a while and he is doing it all by himself. Wait till Norman gets back and he doesn't have to do it all by himself.
Moving onto Norman. Not much to say other than he is a real talent who is likely to represent QLD and is our best attacking option when on the field but has struggled to do it by himself. Now that Moses is here to help alleviate some of the load, I think we are going to see him only get better.
Brown; He is going to be our Beau Scott of the future. Hard as nails and really toughens up our forward pack. Has future rep layer written over him as well.
Kaysa; This will be hotly contested but I think he is our dummy half future. He is only 21, will put his body on the line and have a crack at tackling anyone. Has tackled some very big bodies, missed a few as any other player has, has a kicking game and a running game. Just needs to get more accustomed to the week in, week out grind and really focus on his attacking game and he has the potential to be very good.
French; He hasn't come back all that strong from his knee injury but that is a mental thing. Once he gets the confidence back and adds a few more kilos to his frame, I am sure we will see the try scoring freak that he is return.
Semi; I know he is leaving but from what I have read the Eels are looking to get him back as soon as possible. Now that all of his Court dramas are over he is slowly getting back to the prime mover that we know he is.
I believe that the above players are our future and if they can be retained for the next few season they will put Parra in a real good place to push for titles well into the future. We also have a couple of older players who still have a lot to offer us as well, those being Edwards, Mau, Jennings and Taka. I am also slowly thinking Auavaa should be part of our long term plan.
If what people are saying about the Eels having plenty of cash in the kitty still left over for future signings, I think first and foremost, sign our young talent up long term and then go looking for two really big strong Props and our team will be sorted. Evans and Mehan are plenty big but it is yet to be seen if they are the Props we need. they may well be?
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P.S. Alvaro is also showing some good signs of being a permanent fixture in our side going forward.
Agreed, the never give up attitude the team is displaying a the moment is probably the most pleasing. Considering the general young age of our group though, in a season or two if they are all still together, we will be a hard team to beat. Provided we can add a big aggressive hard running prop or two. The rest of the team is sorted.