I was just thinking about the long term plan when these two absolute beasts start to taper off. They are both 30 this year and the way BA uses them (chase the collision/high Intensity/long minutes) how long have they got left playing to their high level and also their representative futures. As props at what age do their performances start to decrease. I know Junior has had a relatively average year and has been lucky to be retained in the Origin squad. Actually I think if we do loose on Wednesday, RCG could find himself in the Blues squad next year and not Jr.
Further, what plans have parra put in place for succession planning and also identifying players who are of their quality and potential to play elite level football for NSW and Australia in 25,26,27. Do any of our players have that potential ??? I dont know. Will this affect the way we play and our performances in the future.
We have been very lucky with two rep quality props for a while now.. we have a fairly young spine (Moses is 28 though). Who is going to lead us in 2-3 years upfront ????
Be interested in peoples thoughts here.
As always go PARRA!!
Replies
Both got 4 good years left in them, too early to stress about those two.
Junior played like a man possessed for half a game to retain his Origin spot. Other than that he's been very underwhelming. But that half a game, man possessed, Junior is hard to replace , the Junior we've been seeing the majority of the season seems to be easily replaced with Greig. Infact in my humble opinion Greig seemed to inspire juniors balls to drop in the aforementioned game .
In saying that , decent props can play well into their 30s and when he's not being a 120kg built like a brick shithouse , ball of muscle , plodder , junior is a very decent prop.
I agree wiz wiremu has had much more fire in his belly than junior lately 🤷♀️🤔
The key will be to manage their salaries as they age. RCG in particular, I can see him leaving at the end of his current deal so he can get one last big contract, and we should let him.
Good point. Reg is apparently on big coin now and will undoubtedly want a 3+ year on similar money to finish his career. Doubtful he'll get that here. Last time around he was close to going to the Dolphins.
I think Greig, Ogden and Moretti should be the Eels focus and Lebron if he lives up to the hype. The Eels need to be strategic in who they bring in. Plan for the future, not rushing into it.
They've both got a few years left in them. Props don't really hit their peak until this age bracket that they are in now (28-32) so I think the best is still to come from them over the next few years.
The biggest challenge for Junior and RCG is to ensure they don't get fat over the off season as they get older. Every year they come back from off season, they are placed into "fat camp". They're older players now, their pre season workload should be reduced. We can't have them getting smashed in fat camp every year otherwise they will start to taper more quickly.