1. Clint Gutherson
2. Sean Russell
3. Tom Opacic
4. Waqa Blake
5. Haze Dunster
6. Dylan Brown
7. Mitchell Moses
8. Reagan Campbell-Gillard
9. Joey Lussick
10. Junior Paulo
11. Isaiah Papali'i
12. Ryan Matterson
13. Nathan Brown
Interchange:
14. Marata Niukore
15. Shaun Lane
16. Keegan Hipgrave
17. Nathaniel Roache
Reserves:
18. Oregon Kaufusi
19. Blake Ferguson
20. Bryce Cartwright
21. Jakob Arthur
IN: Sean Russell, Keegan Hipgrave, Nathaniel Roache
OUT: Maika Sivo, Oregon Kaufusi, Bryce Cartwright
Referee: Matt Cecchin
Replies
Ive read your analysis before and usually don't mind it but i cant agree with that.
1 on 1 he was always going to struggle especially getting isolated against bigger players and that was to be expected. Fergo was also making the wrong decision on that edge time after time.
My problem with Jakob was his abiity to read shape. His timing on the slide was off.. he often held way too long and ended up 2 on 1 on the inside backrowers man. This was forcing the centre in (both Waqa and Opacic) and they were leaving the sweep man. Aside from that neither centre that played with him had any confidence in him making 1 on 1 tackles. Maybe these are all things that can be developed. But i'd argue that after only playihng school boy footy all of last year , and a handful of Cup games this year... he wasn't our best option. No, he wasnt the sole problem on the edge (the other is well out of favour) but he wasn't ready to play NRL and our F/A copped a pasting the weeks he was in the team. He does have good vision on his short kicking game though.
Yeah he definitely needs to make some adjustments (he defended too close to Matterson) and his outside defenders were preoccupied with protecting him (a trust issue) but his individual defence was actually pretty good. He wasn't overpowered any more than any other halfback. He defended better than Sam Walker.
The Roosters changed the spacing in their entire defensive structure to accomodate Walker. I'd need to see stats proving it but he makes most of his tackles a lot wider than what Keary did which makes him hard to get at 1 on 1.
BA just plugged his son straight into the DB role and he was way off being ready for it. Besides that Sam Walker offers signifcantly more in attack and with their injuries is being given first grade development a year early with an eye to the future.
All being equal Jakob's future here isn't in the 6 or 7. I think his best path to first grade would be filling out whilst devleoping his skills playing halves in the lower grades.. and trying to make it as a backrower. As Joey has said, and as is evident watching him... he doesnt have natural half skills. An example is his kicking.. it doesnt look natural and takes the split second longer than whats needed. He hasa frame to grow into, a ballplaying 13 as the game changes might be his go.
Either way, playing him as a 6 in first grade at this stage of the year hurt our side for the 3 weeks he was there.
It doesn't matter where they're running . It's about your own teams performance in games like this . Making sure they're switched on and treat the opposition with respect .
What makes you think he is not fast. My information is that he is one of the fastest in the club.
The other thing to remember about these kids coming through is that they did not play last season due to Covid.
Players like Russell and Penisini are beginning to catch up on there lost development time and beginning to shine
Penisini has carried the ball an average of 200 metres a game over his last three games. He is also scoring tries and making plenty of tackles for few misses. He will likely be the next to make his debut.
Is he best mates with JA?
Russell is quick, there's no question of that.
WILL PENISINI - PARRAMATTA EELS
The highly-touted youngster has been close to an NRL debut a few times this season, including a game as 18th man under Brad Arthur.
But he won't be staying in reserve grade for much longer if he continues to churn out games like he did over the weekend against the Magpies.
Playing in the centres, Penisini crossed for the opening try in the 28-26 nail-biter, as well as running for a game-high 224 metres and producing two linebreaks and five tackle breaks.
Still only 18 years of age, the local product upgraded and extended his contract earlier in the year, and Parramatta are looking at him as the future of the club in the centres.
Ok. Very confused and intrigued by Russe'l's selection. IDK how he has gone defensively on the wing. Also a back three of Gutho, Dunster and Russel is probabaly not going to be very effective to start our sets.
BA has suprised me with dropping Carty and Kaufusi. They had a bad game, but have also had some very good games recently. BA's values loyalty as well so very suprising. Kaufusi and Spencer Leniu from panthers are very similar. They are both very strong on the ball but have defensive issues. So maybe BA dropped him for that. Carty put a dum kick against Tigers so has that cost him his spot? Anyway, the line up is still good enough to beat the dogs.
Yeh kick returns could be a problem, but Dogs also don't have the greatest kicking games and both Waqa and Opacic have been good carrying out of trouble. I think Kaufusi is getting a rest and we're getting some more game time into Hipgrave. Very important to keep middles fresh at this time of year, especially with Junior playing Origin.
Anyone watch the Dogs' kicking game against Dragons? The Dogs' poor kicking game will itself give the Eels the territory they might otherwise lose without a bigger back three. At least half the time.
Maybe this is a good opportunity to practice one pass off the ruck out of our own end and not just one out stuff?
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