How does he not start games at lock for us next season ?
Its the perfect position for him . His silky ball skills before the line , his pass selection has been perfect and his runs off the back of it more damaging .
Then when Dylan Walker comes on he can have a rest or drop back to prop. I honesty think the biggest thing to come out of these games from a Parra perspective is Junior would be a top 2 or 3 lock in the comp.
Replies
Yep definitely
Paulo at lock 13 works for Samoa because you got Molo and a bloke named Haas bending the line.
Eels do not have that starting prop that bends the line to afford moving Paulo to 13.
Molo would be flat out having 50 metres and 40 of them were from kick offs .
Hopgood will be a prop next year .. as will Jack Williams , De Belin , Big Sam , Moretti , Doorey.. NAS would be phenomenal get but not counting on it . There's more than enough go forward through leg speed in that side. They're not 1 out brutes but that side will go forward with Paulo playing 13 and bringing blokes onto the ball. I think Ryles bought De Belin to play the role but Paulos skill makes it a no brainer for me . His pass selection is outstanding .
Id have Junior there opening 20 , Dylan Walker there back end of the half while Junior spends the next 15 or so at prop.
We will if we get NAS ;)
bigger question. When Murray T got injured, why the fuck would Samoa move Paulo to the back row? He has never played backrow. When you got the likes of Kini and Brown running at him, Paulo has no chance to keep up with their speed and agility
100% agree with everything you said here. Would love to Junior kick on in some sort of coaching capacity post retirement and help develop our juniors. His leadership and the respect other players show him is a real asset for us
Whose going to do the job in the front row starting whose your alpha ?
Paulo is a prop first for us and still our tone setter.Parra doesn't have another prop that does that and has the ability to have impact in both stints.
Don't be fooled what Jnr does for Samoa is offset by Payne Haas who plays 80 allows Jnr to pick and choose run or pass that's the difference.
Jnr can still have a similar impact here but he'll do it with a different number on his back.
The only way I see him being used in a similar manner is if we sign NaS and then you can pick and choose where you want to start Jnr.Only disadvantage I see is you'll lose lateral agility in the middle if you lose the possession battle you'll get gashed like Samoa did in the second half today.
I don't think it's really how the games played anymore where you have to be a prop to be the alpha or the forward pack. Just because he'd start at 13 doesn't mean he's not the alpha in our pack. Payne Haas would be Brisbanes alpha from anywhere in the pack .
Who is Melbournes alpha ? Stefano ?
Games still won in the middle of the park.
You saw it tonight once kiwis got momentum and stopped going lateral that stopped the rot.
Even watch the Aussies against England Harry Grant had a field day.
Jnrs advantage for being a big man is that short passing and off loading that's how I'd like us to play before using the width go through the front door with the short passing this opens up the space wider.
Defensively also you have to lock the ruck up as best as you can and come with continual inside pressure,Ryley Smith is our spark plug there..If you don't you'll see like you did today Timoko coming out and getting nobody as an example wingers showing there hands early jamming.
The game hasn't changed it's still won in the middle of the park everything else is a side show,
Where do you think the lock plays?
Lol not trying to say youre wrong but I think the game has changed from the aspect of its now just 3 middles with the lock being able to use the ball before the line. I think it fits his skill set perfectly. He has a very selective pass and keeping the defence in 2 minds made him more effective running the ball. He also tied up the middle well with his defence until like EA said he ended up playing on an edge.
It helps with the flexibility of the bench too as he can drop back to prop after 20 when Walker comes on. Probably a mute point anyway because unless we get Nelson which i'll believe when i see.. seems like we've bought De Belin to play 13 but could be wrong.