We without a doubt have the worst centre pairing in the comp . You can look through every other side - neither of our centres would get a start in any of them . It's an area we have neglected in both recruitment and development. We have a rep level halfback and his strike on his side is battering ram Pensini who lets in 3+ try's a week and runs the 100m in about 22 seconds. He doesn't have the ability to compete for high balls , can't beat a guy with footwork , has errors in his game , can't draw and pass , can't catch and pass , defends on his heals , stops and comes in when the defence is sliding out , lacks attention to finer details .. he's just an out and out battering ram . His carries were pivotal in us beating the Dogs last week but they were needed because he invited the Dogs to score 3 try's.
Rusell isn't any better . Just no class about him at all . On his good days he competes hard and has a crack . He is a bog average player who has no clsss or finesse and worryingly still has more of both then Penisni .
Nanva showed more defensively in 2 games than either of the above 2 have in their first grade career. He has a bit of height and smarts about him and may be one to go with moving forward . We desperately need to recruit a strike centre who can compete athletically . It's an absolute must . If we want to keep Will for his tough carries going forward he needs a new position . He can't play back row because he doesn't have the motor or work ethic - he's gassed after ever carry . It's a dead set massive problem for us moving forward if the club fhinks he's a centre we can build around .
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Yep.
Said it all off season the games a track meet now urgent athleticism and power plodders don't do it anymore.You have to have a dynamic element to your game and an ability to change the game.Urgent athletes do that and if you go through our list it's what we are missing bigtime.
We let Brown and Lomax walk in the space of 12 months and what have we replaced them with that's more so the issue.
100% the other thing with it being a track meet is it's turned into whoever can scramble the best . Defences are spending many periods of the game retreating and it's up to the scramble to stop try's . When was the last time you saw Will scramble and make a tackle ? Has he ever ? The try Volkman saved yesterday will got burnt for speed by Burbo. He was stuck in mud . He doesn't have the speed or athleticism. He's missing things that are essential for a centre to have in 2026. I have no idea how the powers that be at our club watch this and think he's what we need going forward . They'll point to his yardage work but it's useless when he's lacking in every other area of his position.
All he seems to want to do is run as hard as he can at blokes . Basically a prop playing centre. This isn't all meant to be a shit on Will thing but the club really needs to sit down and reevaluate the outside backs they recruit . Athleticism , speed and height .
I will say, seeing Saab being used on the inside in the middle to breakthrough is eye watering for Eels fans wanting that.
Saab I was waiting for someone to cut him in half there's plenty there to hit yet here we are no one touched him up and yet you see JAC hit it up please he's running soft when bringing the ball out because if he gets hit it's game over.Tola also an explosive athlete dude had no fear running down the middle at our blokes.
We are a finesse team no doubt about it we are built for finesse we've got absolutely zero mongrel in us and back to the beginning letting Saab run down the middle of us with out any fear spells it out.I saw that and was screaming at the TV someone fold that bean poll but alas no one did.
We've got no physical edge to us and I'm sure aswell glad we signed Sua.Even though he's a suspension a season I don't care we've got to have that presence about us that we don't have now.
Russell gets a start with Perth next year for $650k.
Just remember, it was only at the start of the week Russell was being used as an example of why R&R and MON are so inept letting him walk for the money he was offered. Now it is he cannot play. So what is it? He can play and the agenda is MON is an idiot for letting him walk or he is useless? Hint he can play well but is being overpaid by a new club desperate for players and it was not a bad decision not to match the offer.
But i will say Samrani has shown he can be decent for us and someone like that is fine for the time being. But we do not have too many backs coming through, the ones we do have are still a good 1-2 years from being near NRL as they are still 18 or younger. Unless, EA will shoot me for this haha, someone like Bamblett is given the chance on the Wing or Centre? Other than that there is not really anyone that stands out forcing us to market. Now if Jenkins happens? That is a start.
I don't think smart judges rate Russell as much of a loss . He's very limited as a player. At his best he holds his own and not everyone can be a superstar . Perth buying him for 650k is egregious if true .
We need to recruit and develop athletic backs with upside . They need to have an athletic point of difference. Not many blokes are the complete package on the market but whether it's speed , height , footwork , wingspan .. there has to be something that helps them compete athletically . Gone are the days of 5"8 powerful backs that don't move well which is what we've seemed to bring through for a while now .
Nanva is at lest tall with long arms . It seems to help him defensively and he got up well for a couple of high balls . Will under the high ball = manlys first try yesterday . Don't think I've ever seen him get up for one in attack either .
Brian Kelly is making a mistake every few times he touches the ball and has next to no idea in defence but athletically he is that far ahead of Will and Sean that chances are happening around him .
Russell is a good player, defensive type Centre that is solid. Now for a team like Perth he is a perfect starting piece. $650k reported is outrageous but at the same time to get players they needed to do that. It is sort of the position we are in a little bit at the moment but when talent is set to be stretched with PNG hitting the market in November, it is bound to happen.
Losing Russell being used as an example, last week re R&R, Mon are inept. LB your better then that argument !
We are currently over seeing the worst defensive Eels side since 1947.
We have made the top 4 , 3 times in 21 years.
I don't think it's unreasonable to suspect R&R have missed their brief and that a lot of our players no matter how much you love them are not good enough to get us to the finals. Snottie has some valid points me thinks.
For the record, i still don't think the club have signed Penisni past this year, as many here think, and further it appears the club have asked him to show his worth for a new contract. Just saying.
Is this the highest scoring season of all time? I'm talking on average across all teams in the competition. A lot of games 50 plus points are being scored largely due to the current rule changes. This argument that this eels team is the worst ever defensive team in history is bullshit.
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