Eels Blogs

The forwards are set i believe, simple case of moving one or two from bench to starting and vice versa. RCG, Lussick, Paulo, Lane, Cartwright, Hopgood, Tuilagi, Ofahengaue, Greig and Matterson. That is your forwards and bench. Done. The issue lies in the backs.

Now i have written blogs about our squad, however wanted to focus more on the area of recruitment and retention. At the moment pretty much all but two spots are sured up. Gutho, Sivo, Penisini, TBA, TBA, Brown and Moses. Left Centre and Right Wing are up for grabs. Simonsson & Russell occupied these spaces, Harper rumoured to sign will add competition also. Now, question is do we only need one, either Centre or Winger, or do we make do with what we have? If Harper is the Centre, Simonsson goes to the wing and could be set. Or Harper is simply a back-up and Russell and Simonsson occupy their roles same as last year. There will be at least one more signing, whether it is getting someone who we can poach out of their deal a year early or we could name a junior or two into those spots. MON and BA have shown in their approach for Jayden Campbell, Daine Laurie and Blake Wilson that they want someone who can play Fullback in a pinch. That is understandable, as at the moment, if you have Harper at Centre and Simonsson back to the Wing, nobody can fill in at Fullback effectively. 

Though that is where the issues of juniors come in too. Out of the juniors that could feature in the backline, you have Richard Penisini, Ethyn Martin, Blaize Talagi and Apa Twidle. Penisini is a Centre that can play some Wing, but doesn't offer that much pace, plus is still 18. Talagi is a Five-Eighth by trade that can play Centre, though not sure on him filling in at Fullback, could make an argument to have him start at Centre and move Simonsson to the Wing. Martin is a Wing/Fullback, though in his games at 1 in Flegg he was average in defence, not ideal, while playing Wing he adds speed we lack he doesnt offer much more in versatility. Twidle is a Five-Eighth turned Fullback, still only 18 though not sure you can place him at either Centre or Wing til there is an opening. This is the issue for the club at the moment, these kids are either not ready or going to be played out of position or in an important position with expectation of succeeeding straight away. If you put say Penisini or Martin on the Wing, pressure is down, all they need to do is score points and not do anything stupid. Though, goes against what we are searching for, that being a Winger that can Fullback. Not concerned on these lads not getting games in future, Sivo off-contract in 2025, Penisini can move onto the wing in 2026. 

This is where i think do we develop Russell further? Russell is a goer, a poor man's Gutherson. But do we need another Gutherson type in our team? Gutherson is an odd Fullback in that not one area of his game you would consider as world class, yet every area of his game is top 5 in ability of all Fullbacks. Russell on the other hand i feel is not as talented, not as fast, not as big, not as nimble, not as smart, yet does not do a whole lot wrong. At still 21, there is room for improvement but i just feel where we are as a team we need more, Russell going to 1 in NSW Cup would help him considering he has only played around 2-3 games at Fullback in either grade since mid-2021. Russell is a great depth option being able to play Fullback, Wing and Centre.

Dunster is a shame. In 2021, he was developing nicely into that metre eater winger we needed post Ferguson. The semi against Penrith he was exceptional and caused issues for Penrith, felt like we had a good winger on our hands. But the injury has not only stunted his development, it has stunted his confidence. But overall, Dunster is not fitting the mold of what we need either. He is a Winger and a Winger only. No issues with that and late 2023 his form picked up, meaning we have a good depth Winger til 2025 at least. Hell, he could replace Sivo as that metre eater Winger, but again he is not one we can rely on for 2024.

Arthur Miller-Stephen is a Winger/Fullback option. However, he is super raw. Plus, i do not think he is an NRL Winger. His build does not suit it. His build suits Fullback, but i fear AMS might be a one game wonder. He was Ok in his debut but you can tell it what no other option at the time, the fact he was dropped the week after showed BA's trust at the time. AMS has growing to do, a full pre-season will help massively, but with Gutherson the Fullback, we need a Winger, AMS is not an NRL Winger.

I will not bother with the likes of Cini and Lumelume as the latter i am not even sure he is still at the club and the former couldn't even get close to a look in.

So then we look outside, there is not much really unless you're going with a rookie. Xavier Savage is an interesting one. Can play both Fullback and Wing, has speed, good under high ball, he is a different type of Winger than we have. His defence needs work, a lot of work, but his runs out the back are good and has some X-Factor about him. He is not getting a look in at Canberra, they have a gluttony of backs, with Chevy Stewart their new 1. Rapana, Cotric, Hopoate and Asomua on the Wings. Timoko, Kris, Morkos, HSS at Centre. Savage has no future at Fullback due to Chevy Stewart. Now, imagine having him at Parra, develop him and have him as the future 1? That is how you build a team. Getting someone with NRL experience to slot in and contend. You can easily have Savage on the Wing or even at 14 at times. His speed adds to that X-Factor we are looking for.  I know many are thinking, how can we fix his defence when most of our players need fixing as it is. True, though if you look at guys like Kayal Iro, Brad Morkos, Michael Asomua. All these guys mentioned as a back for us all playing Cup, why they playing Cup? Their defence. You look at Cronulla fans, they all mention that Iro's defensive reading is abysmal, as to why he doesn't get picked. If that is the case, rather take the guy that has X-Factor and a high ceiling.

But i wouldn't stop there, i would also still add another Centre. This is where you could have Harper for a year or Simonsson then in 2025 bring in Talagi or Penisini to occupy the other Centre spot. Though BA is in win now, as a club we need wins. Plus a player like Penisini can occupy a Wing spot for some time. Talagi could surprise us all and get a Centre spot, the club are very high on him, though do we want two very young Centres, or is Will old enough now where we can carry a rookie Centre with massive upside? Though we saw, with Dylan Brown, playing an 18/19 year old full-time can lead to issues with injuries as their body develops. Talagi has not debuted for Cup yet so his ability against men is not tested. Is it worth having Harper for some time til Talagi is ready? Perhaps, though the question also is will he ever be ready. 

That is where i would be buying a Centre, the two i have looked at and mentioned a lot is Billy Smith and Isaiah Tass. Why those two? Well both are left Centre's, both are young and both are realistic enough for us to get. Tass is not playing Centre for Souths, has to contend with Munro, Karapani, Kennar and Milne for a wing spot and Souths will look at Munro as a cheaper option in 2025 as they look to re-sign a few players. Tass is a great option, even if it is for 2-3 years. We lacked a steady Centre that can defend and also is a big body in attack. Smith is better in my opinion but injuries have hampered him and apparently extended for 2024. But as i mentioned before, if Suaali'i stays, he ain't getting a spot til 2026 the earliest, he has already wasted 4-5 years does he want to waste another two?

This is where we need to be, depth where it is hard to pick, juniors coming through and players on one year deals looking for a spot and others holding onto their spot. But if we were going rebuild, i would say bring in the likes of Penisini and Talagi into the backline, then sprinkle in the forwards also, let them develop and 2025 reap some rewards. Though i feel we are not in that zone so why not get players that can contribute now. We have juniors but not in the areas we are of need. 

A Centre and Winger that can play Fullback, that is all that is needed in this squad. Everywhere else we are set.