He’s only a teenager but Parramatta forward Tepai Moeroa has already impressed in first grade. Source: Getty Images
IN purely financial terms, it’s a mismatch. Between them, Canterbury pair James Graham and Tony Williams are worth more than the entire Parramatta forward pack.
You can throw in the reserves as well. Yet one thing has become clear over the course of the Eels’ outstanding season — their forwards are defined by their performances rather than the size of their pay packets.
“They have done a really good job,” Parramatta coach Brad Arthur said.
“Someone asked me this morning if I was surprised with where they are at the moment. Maybe at the start of the year, but they have worked so hard, they have pushed each other individually, they have challenged each other.
“Young Junior Paulo came out last night after the judiciary and said I hope I am in the team when I come back — and he has been one of our best forwards.
“There are no egos among them.”
Nor should there be, given their backgrounds. Tim Mannah and Fuifui Moimoi have been long-term first graders but others have emerged from the ether.
Ken Edwards was playing park football on the Gold Coast when Parramatta came calling on the advice of noted statistician Will Badel.
Isaac de Gois was on his last legs at Cronulla. David Gower, so impressive in recent weeks, took a long and winding road to the Eels via Salford, Wests Tigers, St George Illawarra and Manly.
Teenager Tepai Moeroa has been marked for greatness, the great expectations justified by his performances since being introduced to first grade.
And the injured Manu Ma’u arrived at the Eels after a stint in the big house.
In a club where Jarryd Hayne has rightly hogged the headlines, the grunt work has been carried out by an anonymous band of journeymen and emerging stars.
“They all bring different things to our team,” Arthur said. “They’re all in there for different reasons and have different skill sets. Some of them are in there for their carries and explosiveness, some are there for their work rate and defensive efforts, and blokes like Joey Paulo are in there for ball play and helping the halves out.
“They all offer me something different, and we need all of them to contribute for them to come together as a forward pack.
“If one of them doesn’t play their role, it affects everyone else. They just do their bit and don’t try to overplay their hand, which is a selfless act.
“The test is, they have got a bit of a rap over the past fortnight — they need to aim up now and back it up.”
The challenge will be immense at ANZ Stadium tonight. The Bulldogs boast a forward pack littered with representative stars, headed by England international Graham and NSW back rower Williams. They have something to prove as well, having suffered four successive defeats, which has left the club in danger of slipping out of the top eight.
“Our boys are looking forward to the challenge,” Arthur said. “You can’t keep good teams down for too long. I am sure the Dogs are hurting, and their forward pack’s pride has been challenged. They’re going to come out firing.
“We spoke about it, about being consistent and not getting caught up in the hype and comfortable with where we’re at.
“It’s not just a matter of absorbing them, we need to be better than them. They’re going to challenge us and test us. We need to be the best of the two forward packs.”
Replies
Junior will leave a gaping hole our of our pack, hopefully Mannah and Fui can pick up the slack.
Time for Darcy to earn his big pay check, if our forwards match theres our back line should take care of the rest.
Not ashamed either.
But Al do you agree that Fui's impact and mtrs are now very average.
Our entire pack including reserves should all be looking to get at least 80 + mtrs each..
Junior paulos attitude is perfect, hes comments make me feel like he genuinely wants fo earn his worth, and continue to srrive for better even though hes one of our best already.