Article states Furner was willing to let Smith-Shields leave to get 'experience', so did that mean a loan or a buy back? Odd comment. Plus, they only were going to let Smith-Shields go if they could negotiate with Sanders, again odd as apparently he has already signed?
Added, it talks about Matterson, Cartwright or Asi going to Centre and Simonsson to the wing, with possibly Lumelume being out. Also says AMS might debut. Adding extra info.
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Harley parked: Eels running out of time and options after failed bid for Raiders flyer
By Christian Nicolussi
Parramatta have all but given up on signing a winger before Monday’s transfer deadline after a late bid for Canberra’s Harley Smith-Shields failed.
The Eels could move Bailey Simonsson to the wing or give Arthur Miller-Stephen his NRL debut with Isaac Lumelume, who was named to start against St George Illawarra on Sunday, very unlikely to play.
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The western Sydney club has had a bad run with wingers. Maika Sivo (suspension), Lumelume, Haze Dunster and Zac Cini (injuries), and Waqa Blake (form) have all missed portions of the season.
Harley-Shields was seen as a stop-gap solution for the final four rounds of the year for the Eels, and was expected to start against the Dragons. Fox Sports reported Smith-Shields had even packed his car and was ready to drive to Sydney on Monday, only for the Eels to change their minds.
The Raiders confirmed they were prepared to allow Smith-Shields to leave, but only if the Eels gave them permission to negotiate with Ethan Sanders. Sanders, a standout playmaker for NSW’s under-19s State of Origin team, is tipped to join the Raiders for the 2025 season.
Harley Smith-Shields was set to join Parramatta for the final month of the year, but the Eels have changed their minds.CREDIT: GETTY
“There are conversations happening all the time; clubs have different requirements,” Canberra chief executive Don Furner said. “We explored that option, but it didn’t work out.
“All clubs have until Monday to get any last-minute deals done. We’ve already had Brad Schneider go to England to get more experience, and we were happy for Harley to go to Parramatta to get more experience. But it was only going to happen if there was something in it for us. There wasn’t, so the deal won’t happen now.”
The Eels have invested heavily in Sanders, who is a Parramatta junior, and, even though he will not pressure Mitchell Moses or Dylan Brown for a starting spot next year, they want him to remain in their system for at least another 12 months.
Ryan Matterson, Bryce Cartwright and even Daejarn Asi are all a chance to slot into the centres for Parramatta should Simonsson, a former Raider, move to the wing at CommBank Stadium. Miller-Stephen, who has spent time in the NSW Cup at fullback, could also be a late change.
The Eels need a win to keep in touch with the top eight and welcome back Brown, who was sidelined for seven weeks as part of his penalty for being found guilty of sexual touching at the Golden Sheaf Hotel.
Moses said earlier this week: “He [Brown] is a quality player and before his suspension, he was p... We don’t really have time for him to ease back in. We need him fit and firing and ready to go.”
Dragons caretaker coach Ryan Carr will know all about the Eels given he was Brad Arthur’s assistant this time last year.
So the Raiders have confirmed HSS would have only been until the end of this season and he would have returned to Canberra for next season but we would have had to send Ethan Sanders over immediately.
And from the sounds of it, the Raiders pulled the plug when they realised HSS could have been playing against them in the finals.
So everyone can calm down now.
Plus Sanders was a sticking point too. I wonder if they let SS go for 2024 anyway? He is not getting into their teams of late.
Either way I believe we sign at least two backs for 2024, unless AMS plays well in the next fortnight.
It actually doesn't say they wanted Sanders immediately. Nor does it say we only would get old mate for a couple of games and that's it . Was there another story confirming these as I've been offline a bit. I can see how you might assume this by this article , but it doesn't confirm anything.
I think all of this should really just underpin the serious lack of talent that's coming through our junior pathways. Yes some of our first graders came through the system but the vast majority were recruited from elsewhere. The club really needs to wake up to itself in this respect.
Well that is where the nepotism claims from last year come in, people in recruitment signing players they know or are related too and their friends, BA looks at them and doesn't want a bar of them as they are not good enough. Brown and Shepherd have a lot of work to do but it started with Harold Matts this year and will take time but will eventually get there.
Love your contributions Cozzy I just feel like these left field options should be a long term approach.
build some kind of academy system that pulls in a dozen Pacifica players a year over the summer.
Integrate the culture at the club, make it a home for the young men and women you bring in.
Help them truly understand the art of the game at a high level.
For now there are atleast a dozen free or 'moveable' names that we should be picking between.
Step 1 is cut Waqa.
Step 2 trade Sivo.
Step 3 fix NSW Cup squad.
Step 4 re-establish the edge defense and Wing Role at the club aka safe under highball, return hard, competitive in the air.
Step 5 heading into next year give Loizou, Komolafe, AMS and Talagi legit cracks with first grade.
Step 6 talk to Derby, Schoupp, HSS, Allan Fitz, Oates, Iro, Tracey, Morkos, McLean, and more.
Making it a young back-line there Jed, better off rebuilding. I wouldn't trade Sivo, he does have value being a try scorer. Those two dropped balls last week from Waqa, Sivo would have caught. He is reliable in that sense, for now keep Sivo for some experience, unless you can get say a Corey Oates for example.
We should bring in winners, past premiership winners. Have players that know what winning and playing at a high standard is like.
Id love to see Oates, like I listed above :)
Oates nearly came to us back when he was a young buck, and mentioned his old man is a Parra fan.
He would be an awesome addition.
Sivo is embarrassing, he has set the culture of what it takes to be a first grader here. Lazy efforts, silly decisions, and no interest in improving his game.
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