THEY are the club that has featured some of the greatest sharpshooters of all time, but in 2017 Parramatta will be forced to turn to three players with just six NRL career goals between them.
Corey Norman, Clint Gutherson and Semi Radradra have been working on their kicking over the summer and coach Brad Arthur will make a call on the Eels’ marksman after their preseason trials.
The Eels have a long history of goalkickers including Mick Cronin, Clinton Schifcofske, Jason Taylor, Brett Hodgson and Luke Burt. But with the departure of magic boot Michael Gordon at the end of last season, the pressure is on, especially considering Radradra’s uncertain future as he faces domestic violence charges next month.
“We are still going through the process, but ‘Gutho’, Normy and Semi could all be options at the moment,’’ Arthur said.
“They’ve all been practising and they’re all getting better.’’
The importance of two points has become increasingly important in recent years, with the Eels involved in seven matches last season decided by four points or less, and a further seven games by less than 12 points.
Gordon spent one season at the Eels before he moved on to the Sydney Roosters. Prior to his arrival out west, the Eels relied on wayward halfback Chris Sandow and rugby convert Reece Robinson.
Gutherson and Norman have spent the pre-season building their new halves combination. Although the pair are novice kickers at NRL level — Norman has slotted just four from 11 in the NRL and Gutherson one from three, they were regular kickers in the under-20s competition.
Norman kicked 73 from 100 goals while Gutherson had a success rate of 58 per cent with 21 from 36 attempts.
Burt, who banged home an amazing 646 goals as a lifetime Eels player, said he had done some work with Norman and Gutherson before Christmas.
While Burt acknowledged Gordon’s boot would be tough to replace, he had more confidence his No. 1 jumper would be suitably filled by young gun Bevan French.
“I think he’ll just grow again, he’s a fantastic talent,’’ said Burt, who is the Eels’ Holden Cup coach.
Another player Burt had a healthy respect for was young prop Alex Twal, who is now part of the Eels’ fulltime squad.
“He’s a young front-rower who will be knocking on the door, he has a great work ethic, can play big minutes for a front-rower and he’s very tough. He’s not the flashiest ballplayer, but he gets through a lot of work and a lot of defence,’’ Burt said.
Replies
Nonsense Aaron.... Let's just say IF Semi is the best of the lot we have, wouldnt u just let him do the kicking while we have him and let the others work on their kicking at training rather than trying to get it right in actual matches which could cost us a close game?
Lets hope that Fogarty can make the grade as Norman and Gutherson's goal kicking (on the above stats) is going to make it very, very hard for us to win the tight games and be competitive in September. I've also read that Hoffman has been training at right wing and it appears Semi will be stuck outside Jennings for another season which just compounds the issue.
Anyway, Fogarty for 9!
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