Star Eels five-eighth Corey Norman isn't worried about what his own future holds beyond this season as he looks to continue building on his partnership with Kieran Foran.
With Parramatta's well-documented salary cap dramas resurfacing over the past few weeks Norman has put all off-field matters aside, crediting Foran instead for allowing him to hit levels of on-field consistency he's never reached previously.
Norman also gave mention to Eels coach Brad Arthur for helping him further develop a greater leadership role within the club – as demonstrated while captaining Parramatta to Auckland Nines success in February.
"The mood is good. Everyone is feeling good. I think [the partnership between Kieran and I] is coming along real well. There's still plenty more to work on but it's coming along well," Norman said.
"Kieran's an experienced player, he's level-headed and I think that's what he is bringing to the team. It's only early so it's going to get better. He lets me worry about my own game a bit more which takes pressure off me which is good.
"Brad has spent a lot of time with me and he's trying to help me grow as a leader and I think that's helping me go about each other."
As for Norman's next contract, the 25-year-old is happy to bide his time.
"My manager and the club are talking now so I'll let them do that and I'll play footy," he said.
"When the time comes I'll make my decision."
With the threat of Eels' off-field woes potentially turning into something much bigger, Norman used Parramatta's recent 14-point win over the Bulldogs as an example of the team focusing solely on on-field matters.
The Wests Tigers on Easter Monday pose a different kind of threat, with the Eels failing to beat their upcoming opponents in their now annual Easter fixture.
Last year the Eels were favourites to sink Jason Taylor's squad after handing the Rabbitohs their first loss of the season the week prior.
Considering their victory over the Bulldogs last Friday, another huge scalp for the club, the Eels' focus remains simple – back up the big wins.
"We're not worrying about [off-field dramas], we're worrying about our footy which on Friday night showed," Norman said.
"We just need to keep backing it up with good wins. We were up and down in general last year whereas this time is a bit different.
"When games have been on the line and it gets a bit tough we're hanging in there and coming out the othhttp://www.nrl.com/consistency-before-contract-for-norman/tabid/10874/newsid/94039/default.aspxer end [with competition points] which is probably the most pleasing thing."
Replies
Keep up the copy and paste articles jpav , positive and negative , I always enjoy a free read at the expense of the media profit margin!
On ya Normie, hopefully he can continue to build his game and sign with Parra on a 3-4 year deal. If it was me I would be throwing 700k at him.