Parramatta’s search to solve a hooker crisis at the club has travelled almost 17,000km to the UK.
Eels officials are in negotiations to bring Australian schoolboys hooker Joey Lussick back to the club.
Parramatta powerbrokers are hoping to strike a deal within the next 72 hours. The offer would also include a contract for 2024.
Lussick, 27, played nine NRL games with the Eels in 2021 before signing with the English Super League giants, St Helens.
His familiarity with the Eels system, the players and the coaching staff is a major lure for Parramatta to try and drop Lussick immediately back into the club’s first grade side.
Wests Tigers hooker Jake Simpkin has also been discussed as an option, but the Eels are aiming their target at Lussick due to his prior knowledge of the club’s style of play. The Eels are clinging to seventh spot on the NRL ladder and are acutely aware that one more injury at dummy-half would force the need to pick players out of position to solve their issue at No.9.
The Eels dummy-half dilemma has been provoked by the news that high-profile recruit Josh Hodgson won’t play again this season due to neck surgery.
It has left the club needing to call on 16-game rookie Brendan Hands to play 80-minutes after beginning the year outside the club’s top-30 contracted players.
Hands has gone from earning 33-minutes from the interchange bench in his club debut in round four to needing to play the entire match in the middle of the field, as he did last Sunday against the Titans.
“It’s been tough for Hodgo. He had that neck injury and he had an operation on it,’’ Eels coach Brad Arther told NRL 360. “He’s been trying to offer assistance to the boys with his knowledge and help out that way.
“He’s got some specialist appointments over the next couple of weeks. He definitely won’t play this year, what it means moving forward, that’s up to him.
“We are fortunate that we’ve got young Brendan Hands there who probably thought he might not have got a role this year, but he was thrown in the deep end and he did a really good job.
“Now he’s become reliable and is having to play 80-minutes for us week in, week out.’’
The Eels depth at hooker has been tested following a turnover of hookers over the past two seasons.
Reed Mahoney (Bulldogs), Ray Stone (Dolphins) and Mitch Rein (retired) were all used at hooker prior to the arrival of Hodgson and Hands.
The Eels face the Cowboys in Townsville this Saturday before tackling the Storm in Melbourne and would dearly like to add Lussick to their squad for the run to the finals.
Replies
it really just shows how dumb it was to purchase Hodgson
They even doubled down by having a 32 yr old back up hooker in mitch rein. It was a flaw in the roster going into the season, most clubs have around 4 hookers that have first grade experience or on the cusp of playing first grade on their roster because they are small men that play big minutes in the middle against big men.
The fact they are offering him 2024 as well speaks volumes about Hodgson. Each time Hodgson gets mentioned with BA he never really talks about Hodgson for 2024. I think they will try to usher him out.
Hodgson will probably go into the Adam Dykes and Kane Evans club of the worst buys in league history
Kieran Foran is better than those two? Watmough?
Foz was actually good when he played for us
key word is 'when' lol
No I supported foz every day of his tenure 🤔🥰
He was for what 7 out of his 9 games but still a poor signing, i think he didn't like BA telling him to pull his head in. Their relationship deteriorated quickly.
He was tied up in gambling and match fixing allegations that's why it deteriorated after Brad Arthur put his neck on the chopping block to get him over to Parramatta.
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