However, I continue to believe this roster can win the Premiership. But the side I would put on the park doesn’t look anything like the one that we fielded last Saturday.
Daniel Mortimer - Interchange hooker
There are a lot of things I admire about Daniel Mortimer. I love his tenacity and will. He is a great support player and is quick out of the blocks but he is not, and will never be, a number seven. There are two things I look for in a halfback. Unshakable confidence and the ability to play what’s in front of you and make decisions on the run. This is where Dan falls down. As a first receiver, he seldom takes on the line with any purpose. Even the most talented playmakers struggle if they don’t have a running game to match, as we saw with Tim Smith. Halfbacks are targetted by opposition coaches. They’re strengths are nullified and their weaknesses exploited. That’s a reality and it’s why it’s very difficult to “create” a halfback. You are one, or you aren’t.
Daniel isn’t. He makes decisions far too early. He doesn’t go to the line to see how they will respond and react accordingly. And you can’t coach this ability. It’s why Brett Finch has never been able to be a dominant halfback. And it’s why our outside supports have never worked in space this year. Mortimer is passing too far before the line, nor is the opposition defence overly concerned about him running at them - so they can slide and slide early so by the time a Hayne, Tahu or Mateo gets the ball, they’re already covered.
All Dan’s strengths, however, lend him perfectly to the hooking role. Hookers need to be tough. Tick. They need good acceleration to make darts out of dummy half. Tick. They need to be able to look at the line and see which way the ball should go. Tick. They need to be solid defensively and have a high workrate. Tick. They need a fair kicking game. Tick. Long-term I have no doubts Mortimer is a number nine but for now he needs to learn the role so by injecting him in as interchange hooker, he gets more license to run and will have a greater impact on the game.
Jeff Robson - 18th Man
I really like Jeff Robson. He is solid, dependable and a terrific defender. As a coach, you can give him a role and he’ll do it to the best of his ability. All of which makes him the perfect 18th man. If you have a hole at six, seven, nine or 14 - he can come into your side on a limited preparation and hold up an end. But when the Eels are at full-strength, we have better options in each of the positions. I know there have been a lot of people calling for Robson to be re-instated but those people should go back to our opening rounds when we also struggled to score points and Robson made limited contributions to our attack or kicking game. Robson at seven is not a solution to our problems - I think he would do a better job than a Mortimer and we’d win a few more games but we won’t go all the way.
Kris Keating - Half
Let me take you back to the first game I saw Parramatta play this year. It was the Eel’s trial against Penrith. Daniel Mortimer goes off with a head injury and Keating comes onto the field. Up until that point, our attack had looked non-existent but as I reported in my live blog as soon as Keating got to first receiver we went up a gear. In my mind, Kris who had also played really well in the WA trial against the Dragons, proved in those trials that he was the best halfback for the job. However, every indication I have had suggests that Daniel Anderson and the club had made up its mind of the halves position even before the season started. We would start with Robson before moving Mortimer to seven and Kris to six. Kris hasn’t help this cause with his own self-belief that he’s a natural five-eighth.
Yet Kris Keating as a solo half is the only halves experiment we haven’t tried. That’s despite the fact that Kris looked very sharp in the position when he was foisted into that role midway through ‘09.
Yes, Kris is flighty. He’ll make ocassional mistakes. Sometimes he’ll back himself when passing may have been a better option. But he will give us penetration through the middle that we’re not going to get anywhere else. As was shown in the Melbourne game, and which I demonstrated through freeze frame video analysis, he is able to play far closer to the line and because of his willigness to run the ball he keeps the opposition in two minds. He is also has the best kicking game of all our halves, perhaps with the exception of his grubber kick into the in-goal which needs work.
What is clear is that he and Mortimer do not gel. They don’t strike me as being particularly good friends, rather there seems to be a sense of competition between the two of them. I think Daniel Anderson’s idea of having halves play either side of the ruck is a good one - but these two just don’t communicate well enough to make that work. Anderson made that move last week but as was shown against the Broncos and as was shown by our poor early season form, we don’t have a player who is strong enough to play alongside Daniel Mortimer. Kris Keating is the only option for this position if we are going to challenge for the title.
What Kris needs to be told is that it’s not up to him to win the game. It’s his job to use his acceleration, footwork and passing game to create space for our second receivers. At five-eighth Kris can be guilty of trying to do too much but the greatest asset he can offer this side is how he can help his outside men.
Feleti Mateo - Five-eighth
Feleti Mateo has had to take on a totally different role this year to what he has had in the past. He went from being our go-to player, to being just another cog in the wheel. The Eels have simply not made use of his talents this year.
I do believe Feleti is a better lock than he is five-eighth. He really brings everything a modern-day lock should be. However, when you have such a dominant player as Jarryd Hayne, a ball-playing lock like Feleti tends to go unused.
What should be undisputed is that Feleti Mateo is the most talented five-eighth in the club right now. With his size and offloading ability he threatens the opposition defence like none of our smaller halves can do. We need his spark right now. We need his creativity and his ability to punch through the line and offload.
Using Mateo at five-eighth will let us use Hayne in more ways. On the one side of the field you look for Hayne to inject himself in at second receiver outside of Keating. On the other side, you let him follow Feleti and look for the offload - this support aspect of Hayne’s game has been non-existent this year. Feleti can light in back up. And because you can also line up Kris and Feleti in a traditional six and seven first receiver, it lets Jarryd go looking for blind-side opportunities at first receiver.
It’s just dumb to have a player of Feleti’s talents doing what he is doing right now. He looks frustrated because he’s getting limited opportunities and so who can blame him when he tries to overplay his hand when the chance finally comes.
It should be remembered that the Kris Keating/Feleti Mateo combination has worked before. These two looked to be growing into a strong combination before both got injured in the Manly game. They play very different games so there would be no confusion as to who is meant to be doign what and from what I’ve seen they have that some level of comraderie between the two of them as well.
It’s not like we desperately need Feleti to play lock. His move to the backline lets Justin Horo start, which for me is a positive in itself and Brendan Oake has shown he is more than capable of holding his own off the bench.
Jarryd Hayne - Fullback
I think its clear that Keating and Mateo will complement Jarryd in the halves because it lets him get back his more traditional game. With a stronger halves pairing he won’t feel the need to be the man on every player. So he can go back to sitting behind the play and looking for opportunities and injecting himself when he sees fit.
I think he has shown in recent weeks why he is not a five-eighth. He plays his best football when he has space and from broken play. It is too easier for oppositions to mark up on him when he is in a structured five-eighth role. Hayne is brilliantly instinctive and that’s why he has always been a fullback. He had a run of success as a playmaker before teams twigged onto the fact that he was just as capable of feeding his supports but they’re not aware of that and they’re defending accordingly.
Let’s let Jarryd go back to doing primarily what he was doing when he was Dally M player of the year.
Matt Keating - Hooker
So this is the one that I’m sure will get many of you up in arms, but Matt Keating needs to go back to number nine. With our forward pack again going forward and having had a spell at Wenty it’s time we put the bloke we have contracted as our number one hooker back into that role. I’ve never been a believer that the dummy half position is one that you could just throw anyone into and if the decision is made to put Kris back at seven, he would obviously have a good level of communication with his brother.
While Keating, like his brother is easily finger pointed, because of his willingness to back himself I don’t think Jeff Robson has brought any spark to the nine role. I don’t believe Anthony Mitchell is ready to play starting hooker so Keating should be given his chance again. Like Inu and Grothe last year, who had spells at Wentworthville, there is every chance that Keating will take the message and come back a revitalised player. We need a specialist hooker.
In Summary
My team is about getting the ball into the hands of our three most potent attackers as much as we possibly can by putting them into the key attacking roles of 1,6,7. What’s more I do believe these three complement each other and allows for some simple attacking structures that aren’t overly complex but which will be difficult to defend against. As is the case with the Dragons we don’t need to score six tries every week to win games. Three of four will do it and I believe this team can score those points.
I’m no coach, but I’ve very quickly demonstrated below three simple plays that I’ve seen work before and which I think demonstrate how well this combination might do. All these plays work before they rely on half that is threatens in the middle, a pivot who can take on the line and offload and a running fullback who can also offload.
Replies
So my combo is slightly different;
1 - Hayne
6 - Mateo
7 - KK
9 - Robson
14. Humble
At any rate lets cheer on the boys this weekend and hope they can come up with a win.
Leave the tought stuff to Horo, Hindmarsh and co
I agree with all of this.
Unfortunately, I don't see any of this happening, nor do I see Kris getting a go at seven. From what I'm hearing Robson will be at seven this week.
Spot on about Morts - he aint no 7 - he's like a jackle or a hyena - he lives off scraps - he's brillant at support play, and gritty defense and will more often that not be first to find the ball on the ground by diving on it first - He also CAN put the occasional rabbit out of his hat with his little grubber and chase etc...............BUT HE AINT a NUMBER 7 - that sets the tempo and makes the plays. You are right his decisions are NOT based on what is infront and ARE way too pre determined before the play. Playing 6 or 9 does make sense & could move between BOTH.
This is not a cop out on Morts - ANYBODY remember Monoghan from Manly - boy WHAT A MISAKE for manly to let him go. He was AT BEST an ordinary halfback BUT an inspirational and ultimatley GF winning hooker - I don't think it is too much to think that manly WOULD have been far more dangerous if they had KEPT Monoghan for longer ?
Morts certainly has the "ticker" and enough skills to be dangerous around the ruck - BUT FOR GOODNESS SAKES don't let him kick - lots of sniping (running & passing) please.
Mateo at 5/8 ???? I call this move the "sucker play" ......cause I was just as much of a sucker as the rest of us when his form in 2008 was OUTSTANDING.....then Parra moved him to 5/8th and his form went missing. It makes no OBVOIUS sense as to why Mateo struggles at 6 yet dominates at 8.............His form is getting BETTER each week - so if it aint broke - dont fix it - KEEP MATEO at 8 for mine.....oops, showing my age here - I mean 13 (lock)
KKeating at 7 - I also agree - but with instructions to dominate 5th tackle plays. Parra's BEST attacking 5th tackle option games have been when KKeating "gets involved" on the 5th.
given the choice between Matt Keating & Robinson - I just think Robinson GIVES more effort and makes FEWER BAD decisions. So Robinson & Morts to share the hooker.
Well if Humble is the nearest thing to a Brett Kenny - I am surprised that you (1eyed) didn't call for Humble to be 5/8. I have only seen him on TV but he LOOKS like a 5/8 to me. More os an 80's style....so I'd play Humble at 6 for now
Go the Eels
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
of 4 Next