Eels Blogs

I've been a bit unmotivated to do a report on the Under 20's after their poor performances in the first 6 weeks but something clicked and I thought I'll do write one up. Firstly I will say that I believe this team is poorly coached, I know we've lost a fair chunk of talent in the backline and have lost 3 spine players since last year but the forward pack is fairly similar to last year. The pack has also been boosted by the full inclusions of Tyrell Fuimaono, Alex Twal, and Tom Amone, so there's no reason they shouldn't be laying a proper platform. It appears as if the team is relying on the individual talents of Bevan French, Nathan Davis, Alex Twal, and Tyrell Fuimaono to try and get them points. For those that do watch the Under 20's and did so last year I'd like to hear your thoughts on this issue as it is concerning that it doesn't appear that we are playing with a structure. Anyway, back to the paragraph for players.

Bevan French (Half/Fullback) - The livewire player began the year playing in the halves despite him playing very well in the trial games at fullback, the move coincided with Michael Doolan moving back down to the SG Ball squad. A somewhat shaky start to the regular season, and imo French's natural game wasn't blossoming in the halves. He was still producing solid games but nothing like we saw from him the year earlier in the 18's where he was an out and out star when he played. He looked slightly confused in attack and would a few times stunt the the play as he was just trying to do too much. In his time in the halves though he proved that he could put in a nice grubber near the try-line, and he was able to deliver some nice passes to other players. 3 weeks ago we saw him move back to fullback and totally transform as a player, he is now on the end of some off backline movements but is still providing something different. He looks dangerous every time he touches the ball because he can sidestep on the spot 5 times to get through the defence, he can use his speed to get around a player, and he can even set-up his outside men to hit holes. A part of his game that does go unnoticed is his defence though, when a player does break the line they will rarely get past him. He has a nice technique that wraps up the ball and the player and brings them down quickly. He also is mentally tough, in the most recent game he was brushed past on the opposition's 40 metre line, he got up straight away and began chasing. When he first got back on his feet he was about 8 metres behind the play, he ended up tackling Titans' winger Tevita Folau over the sideline with the player only a metre away from scoring a try.

Alex Twal (Prop) - It's very simple to sum up Twal's game, run hard, run a lot, tackle hard and tackle a lot. But the way he does it is very effective. As the captain of our Under 20's he does a very good job of leading with his actions. He starts off the game with a bang usually making 2 hit-ups per set in the first 5 or so minutes and making 2-3 tackles in the defensive sets, often pushing hard from marker to get his man. In making these runs they aren't soft runs with minimal metres gained but rather big runs sometimes breaking the 15-20 metre range. This has seen him post some huge numbers post-game, and I believe against the Dogs he ran for 263 metres it'd be hard to find stats of him making any less than 160m. He's just an absolute freak in regards to the work he puts in, very much Aaron Woods like in his numbers, and it isn't a surprise that Alex mirrors Woods in his physical statistics. Whilst he doesn't do it often Twal has a nice offload in his game too, he likes to pick his time when to offload but when he does he usually has 2-3 defenders on him which creates havoc for players around the ruck. Very excited about Twal's first grade chances, at only 19 he's doing very well in the Under 20's.

Tyrell Fuimaono (Second-Row) - There is a lot more to Tyrell's game than what we've seen in the first 6 rounds of the competition. He's been tasked with the grunt work, which he is capable of doing but he does run good lines and provides quick feet before the line which allows him to get a good offload away. But as I said before he's just given the simple task of just hitting the ball up. Does nicely in defence too, if the ball travels past him he is quick to catch up to the outside players, for a forward he has nice acceleration and a good top speed. I really hope that we are able to see Tyrell back to his best soon because it is frustrating seeing him limited to such a simple role.

Nathan Davis (Outside back/Fullback) - Started the year off at fullback, which I was excited about, but then that excitement turned to disappointment. With the lack of structure Davis wasn't getting good ball in a good position and was really struggling with the way that we were playing. A move back to centre was the perfect thing for Davis, he was able to hit the ball flatter which saw him use his strength to get through the defence. Like Fuimaono I don't think Davis is able to play his natural game, he needs to be receiving the ball earlier so he can sum up his options and make the play from there. I'd also like to see us use Davis' huge bomb, if he can put it in the sky with French and (Reimis) Smith chasing it'd cause problem's for the opposition fullback.

Reimis Smith (Outside back) - The rangy centre has done well so far this year even though he's playing a year up. At only 17 you can see a few times where he's behind the others in the play but for the most of the game he is able to match it with those who are older than him. He's done some nice things but I think we are yet to see Reimis reach his full ability. When he was playing Harold Matthews for South Sydney in 2013 he was the leading try-scorer with 16 tries in the season. So he has the potential to be better, and it is certainly encouraging that he's doing okay this year.

Tom Amone (Prop) - The stocky forward has played well so far this year whether it be from the bench or he's started. He has a good pass just before the line, which I believe could become more subtle with time but it does keep the defence guessing.

Denzal Tonise (Hooker/Lock) - Although he has only played 3 games in the NYC I thought he deserved a mention. Like Smith he was playing a year up, but he's now dropped back to the SG Ball. Gave some good service from dummy half and most importantly kept the middle of the field working while Twal was off the field. It is noticeable that he isn't in the team anymore.

Aaron Pene (Forward/Wing) - The leading player for line-breaks in our team this year with 6 from only a few games is huge for the utility player. Began the year on the wing where he was rucking the ball out well and scoring a couple of solid tries, moved into the forward pack for 2 games where he was used off the bench. Solid player, would like to see more of him from the bench, provides good impact.

Disappointments:  Zach Dockar-Clay - I thought after last year that the young half/hooker would be able to kick on and become one of the leaders for this team. But he was truly struggling with the lack of foundation from the forwards, he's since moved up to dummy half in the NSW cup and looked much more comfortable. Tepai Tepu-Smith - In his 3rd year of the NYC I expected him to be the main prop that we went to trouble the defence but instead his game is riddled with mistakes and penalties. Jordan Muna - Moving back to the edge I thought he was going to provide some huge impact out wide and give our halves a straight, hard running option to give the inside defence a problem, he is also probably lacking because of the poor service from the halves but he still isn't running as hard as he was last year.

Players to look out for: Jack Morris - Returned from injury in the Titans game, plays as a forward or centre, good body shape and in his only game last year in the NYC he scored a try. Tui Oloapu - The outside back looked dangerous in his few games earlier this year and was able to score a try or 2 as well as set-up his winger to score a couple. Atini Gafa - The big outside back debuted on the wing against the Titans and was able to score 4 tries. Admittedly those tries were set-up easily for him but he was also rucking the ball out well. Jason Vidal - The captain of our 2012 premiership winning Harold Matthews team made his debut against the Titans, his kicking game was fairly average but he was able to deliver the ball well to our outside backs and fullback a couple of times.

I think this team is better than they are currently performing as there are quite a few representative players in the team, again I think it comes down to the coaching staff and it doesn't appear they are putting in a proper structure to play to the strengths of the players.