With the Eels possibly in the market for a quality five eighth I have been thinking about past #6 signings and the huge hopes us fans had . Adam Dykes came to the Eels with massive expectations. Unfortunately it didn't work. Another massive signing was Kieran Foran and for different reasons that didn't go well. I guess we could say the Jason Smith and Jim Dymock signings worked out successful, however, those signings were related to the ARL - Super League war. I have probably missed a few more horror five eighth signings. I guess the times have changed from when I was playing junior league. As a kid, players like Brett Kenny, Wally Lewis and Terry Lamb had most kids wanting to wear the #6. These days you rarely see the best juniors playing five eighth. Half-back, fullback and Hooker have become the glamour positions. From the early 80's and into the 90's your best attacking player was generally your five eighth. Now that player is usually at fullback. Today's five eighths aren't even your best ball players. These players are at half-back and if you have a second ball player he will be either hooker or lock.
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If there is one thing Joash has over a whole bunch of NRL players, it is passion and energy. Kid is an absolute goer. If he is not to be our 6 moving forward, he ain't going to lose the job without giving 110%
Assuming Joash's defence issues are now qualified, there is no doubt he has all the attacking skils in front of him.
I would like to point out what i mean in saying that. Different horses but same courses, Reed Mahoney is an inferior player to Rylie Smith because Reed can only go low or he gets trampled on, Rylie can stand in a tackle attempt against the biggest of players....is a rare feat of upper body strength for a much smaller man.
Dyllan Brown had the same strength skils not withstanding his perfect cover tackle technique when required. if Joash can develop those same capabilities then he will be just as effective as DB and in a timing sense be the perfect replacement for Dyllan.
I still believe DB was burnt out, whether he recovers after a break and (assuming) he doesn't get picked in the NZ side for the upcoming tests is yet to be seen. The seezun just gone confirms to me that DB's best is behind him, for his sake I hope I am wrong.
This is kind of why the Brown thing pissed me off. He could have said last year he didn't want to enact his option and we could have offered Blaize a clear first grade path. As I understand it, the Talagis have maintained a good relationship with the club and there was no falling out there. The fact we re-signed Ryda shows that.
Got a point he knew BA was gone well before the end of 2024. So not like he wanted to see what happened to BA and who the coach was going to be.
Bring back Corey Norman 😂
I heard some interesting comments from Matty Johns regarding five eighth play that might help Papali'i. His comments were about Darren Lockyer and how he struggled when he first moved from fullback to five eighth. He was saying that Lockyer was playing too fast when he first moved. After a while he changed his game by slowing down his play. Fullbacks generally play fast looking for space, whereas five eighths do better slowing down and making defenders commit to them so it provides space for their attacking support players. The really good ball players have the ability to play slow yet they appear to have all the time in the world. Im not sure I've seen enough of young Papali'i to know if he has this in his game at this stage. The young half-back at the Dolphins is the best example in the game now of playing slow and fast when needed.
Good points!
The one thing that was a concern for myself and a few here was defence. He is very capable in defence, he is not a liability. He has that sorted, now just needs to fix other areas of the game. Will Ryles just go down the route of having Papali'i and Talataina fight for the 6? Or will he buy say Pezet?
One thing you can guarentee about Papali'i is that whatever Ryles wants him to do he will make sure he does it. He looks like a sponge and high energy.
I hope I am wrong LB because I am not a Pezet fan in fitting our side. That said I feel that Ryles has a very good insight into this kid and he may have him wrapped up already.
Of course I will change my view if we get him....LOL
PS The way we operate and the relationship with Ryles not giving anything away makes me think we would have no idea until it happens.
Parra have been chasing game changing five eights for many a year. In the70's they signed NSW rep Graham Lye, followed by Australian Rep Dennis Pittard from the premiership winning Rabbitohs both were underwhelming as Eels.
The Eels stocks began to rise with the signing of John Peard in 1976.
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