Eels Blogs

With Round 1 in near sight, we have had plenty of time to see what we think of this current squad and the rest of the 15 teams. So let us go through some Eels and NRL predictions i will place them in two categories and different questions to be raised:

Eels:

Player of the year:

Rookie of the year:

Headline of the year:

Disappointing player of the year:

Most improved player of the year:

Position battle for the year and who will win: (i.e. Hands v Rein for backup hooker for example).

Finishing position:

Finals performance:

Buy of the year:

NRL:

Buy of the year

Worst buy of the year 

Player of the year

Surprise team of the year

Most disappointing team of the year

Headline of the year

Origin prediction

Suprise Origin selection

First coach sacked

Wooden Spooners

So i will go through what i think starting with Parramatta

Player of the year: i think Will Penisini is in for a big year, great defensively and is improving in attack, only 7 NRL games and silenced every big centre he faced (Olam, Best, Crichton) so i think Penisini will finish the year as player of the year for us

Rookie of the year: I think it will be a lean year for rookies as in not many will debut or play alot, Penisini technically is considered a rookie still so should say him but to be different i will say Hands as i see him legitamately getting a 17 spot this year, that is within my rule of rookies are players with 0 NRL games, but realisitically it could be Penisini or Greig even if he cements a spot.

Headline of the year: Eels break 2nd week drought and advance to the prelim

Most disappointing: Reed Mahoney, who i think will re-injure his shoulder in either the trial or early rounds of 2022, maybe pushing Hodgson over early or Rein and Hands to lead the way for 2022 as Mahoney goes through rehab again. Not saying this cause he is leaving but generally do think his shoulder maybe flimsy and his tackling style does not help.

Most improved: Wiremu Greig, i can see a massive year for Emu, we need impact bench forwards and Greig is impact. Big bodied and different to what we usually play.

Position battle of the year: Suprising one, but Sivo v Dunster/Simonsson, this is not a proper battle as Sivo is out til mid year though still a battle as it is expected Sivo walks right into the team, though doubt surrounds Sivo for 2023 (yet to accept option) and his form was getting lower and lower as years past, while Dunster got better and better as he played, from fairly average early in 2021 to one of our better and most trusted players in late 2021, Simonsson was brought to the club as an experienced winger so you would expect his jersey to be safe but still can get taken over by Sivo. I think Dunster and Simonsson are your wingers for 2022 unless injuries.

Finishing position: top 4

Finals: Prelim at least, im cheating here and not saying it as i want to say premiership as we have the team to do it but no idea to be fair but i think we make a prelim this time around.

Buy of the year: Bailey Simonsson, think he will surprise everyone and gain confidence as being the main guy unlike in Canberra where there were wingers galore and was in and out and played everywhere off the bench as Cotric and Rapana played.

NRL:

Buy of the year: Dale Finucane will add experience and leadership to Cronulla that they are sorely lacking when Graham is out, which is quite consistently lately.

Worst buy: Matt Burton, in the sense that he will not be as good as many think he will be due to being asked to do too much. Burton and Averillo pairing, two five-eighths, doesnt always work, ask Burton to organise and do this and do that and be the saviour may get the better of him. It wont be lack of talent, just not playing him the way he should be played.

Player of the year: This one is dependent on the durability of one player, Tom Trbojevic, if he is fit all year he wins another Dally M, if he gets hurt and misses most of the year then make it perhaps Cleary or Walker, though i believe Penrith will have a better year so i will go Cleary.

Surprise team of the year: I sort of have two teams hanging in this part but in different parts of the ladder, i will go with St. George Illawarra as my surprise as i think they will make the 8. While my other is Cronulla making the top 4, but lean towards St. George as nobody sees them improving massively and i think they will, Cronulla with who they have bought you expect an improvement.

Most disappointing team of the year: Sydney Roosters, people tipping them being back or top 4 ready, look at their squad it is lean and ageing, a squad that have been prone to injuries and suspensions in the past. I see the Roosters making the 8, but barely.

Headline of the year: New Zealand Warriors play their first game at home since 2019, it is a nice story and will be deserved for what they have sacrificed the last 2 seasons.

Origin prediction: I see QLD building their future team nice and slowly, 2-1 for NSW but i think it will start to be a nice contest of back and forth in coming years.

Surprise Origin selection: I am going to pick one for QLD and say Sam Walker will be chosen for either game I, II or III this year at 6 alongside DCE, not a big Walker fan but he has that awe around the league.

First coach sacked: Todd Payten, i do not think he should be, this North Queensland job was massive since day 1. It is a rebuild (a job i said someone like BA would be perfect for) with the cap hinging on underperforming, ageing players. Payten is the type of coach needed for North Queensland, the issue? they do not know that themselves. He is a hard task master and tells it like it is, players do not like that and it shows. His purchases this year have been pedestrian at best and his development of juniors questionable, though he was given those juniors and it is hard to convince players to come to the Cowboys at the moment. I do not see Payten surviving and he may be given his marching orders while the Cowboys look for an older head, Payten i think can be a good coach just wrong team at the wrong time.

Wooden spooners: North Queensland, pretty self explanatory from above about Payten.

So what are everyone else's opinion, if you want to do only one or the other go for it or do both, just have a bit of fun and come back to this at the end of 2022 and cringe at how wrong i and everyone else were.