1. Joash Papaili
2. Brian Kelly
3. Will Penisini
4. Sean Russell
5. Josh Addo-Carr
6. Ronald Volkman
7. Mitchell Moses (c)
8. Luca Moretti
9. Ryley Smith
10. Junior Paulo
11. Charlie Guymer
12. Jack Williams
13. Dylan Walker
Interchange:
14. Tallyn Da Silva
15. Saxon Pryke
16. Toni Mataele
17. Jack De Belin
18. Kelma Tuilagi
19. Lorenzo Talataina
Reserves:
20. Araz Nanva
21. Jezaiah Funa-luta
22. Teancum Brown
INs: Jezaiah Funa-luta, Kelma Tuilagi, Sean Russell
OUTs: None
Referee: Peter Gough
Centre Sean Russell and back-rower Kelma Tuilagi are both named to return from concussion in a double boost for the Eels. Araz Nanva and Teancum Brown are the men to make way from the squad.
Replies
If only Mataele had the fitness, he'd be starting every week. The guy has some size and power to him.
If Pryke added another 5kg of muscle, he'd be a starting 13 IMO.
Hope the boys will perform at the same level of effort and desire if not even higher as what they had shown against the dogs.That level should be the norm from hereon - run hard, tackle hard, complete each set, no silly errors and dumb penalties, minimise pushed passes and let Moses kicking boots pin Manly in and around their corners.
Whichever team has the bigger forward pack wins. Touch footy and six agains.
Some good news. Max Popo is returning from injury and he is gone straight to the starting prop role in NSW Cup. He has only played a couple of games of JF this year before the injury. Do not be surprised if he jumps up the ranks very quickly at the Eels. He was our best forward last year in SG ball. I was disappointed he never got an NRL pre-season this year. I rate him more than the likes of our young forward like Pryke and T Brown. Only turns 20 this year so he is 2 years younger than him. He probably gets forgotten/slept on a lot when mentioning the upcoming middle forwards at eels.
Heard from Blaze's uncle, Popo is a gun.
He is a more atheltic built of S Pryke. He has a great motor. Great footwork and effort. Last year in SG ball there were games where he was topping the tackle and meter count. When we choked the GF, it coincided with him leaving the field a bit earlier due to injury,
Hes not better than Pryke. Not by a long shot.
Mataele was folding blokes for fun last week. He has put on some serious size since his debut against the knights. If he can get his fitness right he reminds me of what Marata did for us before he left.
Gucci, what weight was Mataele playing at when he debuted against Knights? Listed as 188cm and 108kg and just don't recall him being anywhere near that. He looked like a unit and his contact in defense was excellent, maybe showing the benefit of increased mass?
Unsure what his playing weight was last year but it's clear he has had some serious body recomp in the off season. Just looks more solid. Similar to TDS, he looks to have put on so much more mass especially in the quads. Let's hope Pryke can follow suit. Another 5-8kgs of lean mass and he will both be a tackling machine and bend the line in contact. Toni just needs to build up his endurance, he doesn't have enough to be a out and out first grader each week yet.
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