Category A
Nathan Davis, Fabian Goodall, Ryan Matterson, Tepai Moeroa
Category B
John Aloiai (^), Zach Dockar-Clay, John Folau, Tui Kamikamica, Halauafu Lavaka (^)
Category C
Fred Junior Mauala, Jordan Muna, Joey Lussick (^), Corey Makelim, Jeff Markus, Brendan Raelli, Tepai Tepu-Smith
Preliminary Placements
Tyrell Fuimaono - Category B (^), Tui Oloapu - Category C, Alex Twal - Category B (^)
Category A = Near certainty for NRL duties in the future
Category B = Solid chance for NRL duties in the future, but has at least one key element holding them back currently - be it age, injury, technical aspect etc
Category C = Longer odds for NRL duties in the future. Invariably they are important members of the 20s or still young and trying to find their feet in the NYC. May still push for first-grade selection through hard work and perhaps a smidgen of luck.
(^) denotes an individual that is extremely close to moving up to the next Category
STOCKS ARE ON THE RISE FOR - Ryan Matterson: The frustration of a two-week suspension for a dangerous contact charge could not outweigh the excitement that surrounded Matterson penning a three-year extension with the Eels. Matterson, who still leads the Holden Cup in linebreak assists despite only having played 1 game in that competition in the last 8 rounds, is now firmly entrenched in Wentworthville's NSW Cup squad.
The rangy five-eighth has shown that he can mix it with the bigger bodies, combining moments of pure class with excellent presence in defence and a powerful running game. In particular, his sublime second half performance against Canterbury comes to mind - where he dissected a ferocious defensive line through the middle to spearhead Wenty to an improbably victory after trailing by 16 points.
While Matterson has played as a pure half in 2014 and could just as well push towards the NRL as such, Brad Arthur's inclination towards an attacking structure that features a ball playing lock (middle half etc etc) potentially provides this young Eel with a shorter path to first-grade. Brief stints from the bench as the backrow/utility/middle-half would be an ideal way to ease Matterson into the first-grade.
With that said, it would be a bold decision from Brad Arthur to blood Ryan Matterson in the business end of a NRL season - particularly so in a role that he is not 100% familiar with. A more likely proposition is that a similar transition occurs but over the off-season, with an eye towards a debut and subsequent lengthy NRL campaign for Matterson in 2015.
IT'S A BIG MONTH FOR - Tepai Moeroa: The man with granite shoulders is scheduled to make his NSW Cup debut this Sunday against the North Sydney Bears. Moeroa has been a cornerstone of Parramatta's resurgent NYC team in 2014 and even with another year to go in the 20s it is patently clear that he is simply a cut above this competition.
With a broken arm forcing NRL enforcer Manu Ma'u to the sidelines and form or fitness concerns lingering over Darcy Lussick (kneecap), Junior Paulo (moonboot), Joseph Paulo (form) and Kelepi Tanginoa (moonboot), the Eels are potentially running their NRL forward resources dry as they come into the bye. A strong showing from Moeroa in his NSW Cup debut might just propel the young bull into first grade calculations.
I'm fairly certain that others who have had a good look at Moeroa in 2014 will echo this sentiment but he looks like he was born to play in the NRL. There might be a few other players that run the same intelligent lines and match his impressive engine in offence but no other player in the NYC hits as hard in defence as he does with the terrifying consistency that he does.
If he gets the call up I believe he would grab the chance and never look back.
NEW FACES GOING PLACES - Tyrell Fuimaono & Alex Twal: Among the first SG Ball graduates to force selection in the Holden Cup, Tyrell Fuimaono and Alex Twal now look set to be mainstays of the 20s for the next two years.
Although he is more at home in the backrow, Tyrell is currently showcasing his versatility as he fills in for the Eels in the troublesome right-centre slot. As far as debuts go, it is far from ideal but Fuimaono has made a fist of it - scoring a try in his first NYC game and performing admirably in general.
Twal made his Holden Cup debut from the bench last week against the Newcastle Knights and couldn't have asked for a higher quality opposition to test himself against. In a depleted Parramatta forward pack, Twal impressed with not only his strong go-forward but also with his selective offloading.
Both players come with outstanding representative pedigrees with both Tyrell and Alex earning selection for NSW in the 16s and 18s age divisions in recent years. Tyrell is also an incumbent Australian Schoolboy.
INJURY WARD: There is little good to report here save for John Folau's return as Wenty welcome him back into the centres after recovering from a dislocated elbow. Parramatta's woes at hooker continue with both Kaysa Pritchard and Joey Lussick still on the sidelines. Alec Bush has done a fair job deputising them but I can imagine that Justin Holbrook (NYC) and Brett Cook (NSW Cup) would like to have Lussick and Pritchard available for their respective squads.
Erick Auckafolau remains unsighted since suffering a nasty (and currently undisclosed) injury early in the season. John Fomai is yet to play this year after sustaining an injury in the off-season.
Prior to a late withdrawal from the Rd.16 fixture against the Knights, Zach Dockar-Clay was spotted in a moon boot. I alluded to it above but Kelepi Tanginoa was also seen sporting the lunar footwear.
Finally in some sort-of-good news, Josh Aloiai was named to play against Newcastle - but like Dockar-Clay, was a late exclusion. Hopefully with an extra week of recovery allowed due to the bye he will be ready to return against the New Zealand Warriors.
FROM THE BIG LEAGUES - Pauli Pauli: Pauli Pauli may be the sole NYC graduate for the Eels thus far in 2014 but he is doing a sterling job of flying the flag for the #'Academy'. The odd youthful streak of inconsistency mar some efforts but the monstrous second rower is causing headaches for plenty of defenders with his aggressive running lines and silky ball skills.
Pauli has found a harder edge under the tutelage of Brad Arthur and the injection of hostility is a welcome surprise for mine. There is still plenty of room to improve for this young tyro but he has surpassed the expectations I had for him (outlined in the relevant Rookie Watch post I made at the start of the season).
In a season full of highlights, the demolition job he pulled against the Bulldogs in Rd.14 will surely be counted among the best come the conclusion of 2014.
Replies
Okay, so with NYC stats not made readily available to the public in 2014 I have decided to push the Rookie Watch series towards a more discussion based monthly occurrence.
I am far from a definitive authority on all things #'Academy' related so please don't let the placement (or non-placement) of any individuals in a given category aggravate you. I was hesitant to go with categories/tier list in general as in my experience on the internet it tends to provoke anger when someone or something is named where they 'should' be. Still it is one of the simplest ways of relaying how close a given player is to a NRL debut, although it does objectify them somewhat.
If anyone has a better solution for the matter I am happy to hear ideas!
Hopefully that does change for next year, Forty. Trying to see if I can convince NRL Stats to collate ALL NYC stats in 2015, even if they aren't the official stats provider.
I know a couple of guys there so with some luck, they can see if it can be done. Would certainly make things a lot easier in terms of collating stats and gauging how players are performing, in addition to first-hand knowledge.
Good read, I have big hopes for matterson
Nathan Davis, Ryan Matterson and Tepai Moeroa are not only near certainties for NRL, they are almost certainly future rep players.
Davis for mine has unlimited potential, once he grows into he's 190cm+ frame, he has all the skills to be our next superstar.
Plenty to like about Davis, isn't there? He isn't afraid to back himself and will punish any defender that gives him the slimmest of margins to move in but by the same token he rarely fails to put his winger into space.
He is a gun centre and that is where he should play but he can also do the job on the wing or from fullback.
Goal kicking is just gravy on top of everything else.
He's also a solid defender and can read the game well without the ball. With any club they'd be happy to get 1-2 players from the NYC in one given year to progress to the NRL the next year but I think we have a lot more that could play NRL next year and 4 of them are in the Category A that you've listed Forty. I also think if given the shot Josh Aloiai, ZDC, and John Folau wouldn't let anyone down either.
We are certainly building towards being a constant premiership threat and in the near future with these young guys coming through they'll be inspired by the older guys currently in our first grade squad.
The only thing that stopped me from throwing Aloiai straight into Category A was concern about injuries. Everything else about him screams top shelf from his work rate and attitude to his deceptively dangerous running game.
I've noticed that some people (on both here and LU) have fallen off Dockar-Clay recently. He has hit a slump for sure but that prior to that I thought he was rebuilding his game quite well. With one more year to run in the NYC I am certainly not writing him off and I still believe he has plenty to offer us.
Finally, as for Folau - the biggest issue for him is the over reliance on his running game. He wont reach the heights that his elder brother did but if Brad Arthur believes he can strip down and rebuild Vai Toutai, I imagine that he likely feels the same for Folau. Much like Toutai, Folau is freakishly strong and has enough pace to be threat out wide but needs to be retuned in order to reach his potential.
Brilliant write up. Does anyone have some more solid news on Junior Paulo? Very worried if he is sitting in a moon boot.
That's if you trust the Lurker.
PS 40/20 - there have been rumours that Inu may be returning to Parra. As you consistently watch our lower grades, do you think Parra should give Inu ANOTHER chance? Or do you think we have good juniors coming through who can do a better job?
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