Ricky Stuart took a very interesting forward rotation into our game against Manly.
We started with four props in the pack - with Mannah, Allgood, Lussick and Moimoi all in the run-on side.
During this period, Moimoi played effectively as a second rower, positioning himself on the fringes, with Allgood playing as the second prop and Lussick in the modern lock role.
I've always been an advocate for playing Fuifui wider but his mobility does tend to catch up with him, so I give kudos to Ricky for this line-up, as it lets Fuifui create a more offensive threat and then as the match wears on and his defence is more likely to be exposed, he was able to shift back into the middle to play his more traditional prop role.
I thought it worked particularly well - the Eels were good in the first 20 minutes while carrying this structure and it enabled Parra to get maximum value out of Moimoi, who played 67 minutes and was damaging throughout the match.
Interestingly, the Eels played the majority of that match with effectively four props in the forward pack for most of the match. Peni Terepo has been converted into a back rower, but he still brings that hard-running prop forward edge to his game, while traditional second rower Daniel Harrison got less than 20 minutes of game time.
I thought the Eel's forwards did reasonably well throughout the match and I think Stuart is starting to work towards a style of forward play that we'll take into next year. We'll certainly have a bigger, more powerful pack with players who are almost interchangeable between the front and second rows. Nathan Peats fits well into that style as well, as a hooker he's going to not represent an easy mark in the defensive line that a big forward can roll over.
We're also starting to see more aggression coming through in the Eels pack. Lussick is on his way to cult-hero status at the Eels and Fuifui was really back to his aggressive running best. That is really going to be the key in my view for Ricky to make that this work. It's all very well to have the type of bodies you need to play that tough, no-holds-bar football that Stuart seems to favour - but you also need that mental fortitude to play tough and hard and to do it for eighty minutes. Hock will add to that again next year, but we still have a couple of players on roster who I think are a little soft in that regard.
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Only you could take such a positive out of a 40-6 loss, One Eyed. And I admire that...
Its his prescription.
Just ask Doc
oh and the side effevts are it curls his hair !
I noticed all of this as well. I was really pleased to see this type of shift in the forwards and I hope RS persists with it for the rest of this year and beyond. I've said on any number of occasions this year that the current trend for forward packs is towards a bigger, more mobile pack, with more of the same coming off the bench - moving away from your defensive-oriented backrower types. I also think RS is moving away from having a back-up Hooker/Dummy-half on the bench. Many teams are already heading in this direction - Souths and St. George are examples (to varying degrees of success).
I've always thought Fui could be just as effective in a backrow role (pending fitness). But in all honesty, the positions or numbers on jersey's in the forwards almost mean nothing now - like how Lock is now your third Prop who plays up the middle. It's more about hvaing size, mobility and lots of it! Its really becoming a true power game.
This 'identity' with the Parra forwards started when RS moved Lussick into Lock - the new, extra frontrower.
It seems he is intent on continuing down this path. I like it. This is why I have openly been left unimpressed by Daniel Harrison in recent weeks. To me he is a prime example of the type of player that does NOT fit the brief seemingly being trialled by RS. To me Harrison is a defensive tolier. You might consider that RS has already done away with the likes of Ben Smith (please forgive me Benny!), Matt Ryan and Pat O'Hanlon that also essentially fit this category.
Instead, RS is building a pack based around what you might call real 'goers' or 'doers'. Gareth Hock will never die wondering and has raw aggression, in a similar vein to Fui. Peni Terepo is another hard runner, as is Kelepi (although, granted Kelepi is also somewhat of a workhorse). Lussick has really begun to show some real aggression and leadership and we all know what lies beneath in Mitch Allgood ;) These two are among my new favourite Eels right now
Also noticed Fui did play more minutes, particularly in his first stint in the match....which can only be a good thing
I was hoping someone will put up a blog about this. So thank you Phil.
Ennis was interviewed by Sky Sports after BullDogs match. I think it was TK who said to Ennis, you guys must be very happy with the score line bla bla... in reply Ennis said “ it was a really tough physical game” something along those lines.
I watched that game again (YES I know), our forwards did really well, but it was our 1,6,7, and 9 who really didn’t do anything other than dropping balls and silly passing.
Yep, I reckon Stuart has pretty much solved our forward issues now. It will be interesting to see if Prior is one of our remaining signings. He would fit with this big, versatile mould of player and Stuart might see him as an understudy to Lussick. However, I think the fact that we're playing Moimoi wide is still indicative that our void in the forward pack is that tackle-breaking second rower. As I've said a million times I think Jacob Loko + 5kg solves that problem, so I'm personally still hoping to see the rest of our signings in the backline. I'm content with our forward roster for next year, especially when you consider the potential of a couple of boys to emerge through the lower grades like Ken Edwards and Pauli Pauli.
We all saw that almost all of the issues related to that game were in the backline. We still have major questions in this regard. What is the future for Chris Sandow? How will Norman go at six? Is Tonga going to get a new contract or can we find an alternative reliable outside back. We need another centre, if for no other reason is that when Hayne is injured we need to allow Hopoate to drop back to fullback.
I'd be betting that Allgood may again replace Harrison in the line-up on Friday night.....hopefully
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