In light of the latest Semi saga, which may or may not be true, I asked myself this simple question. If he left, could we replace him? I think Semi is absolutely fantastic. A true excitement machine who gives his all in every play of the game, and yet I still think he is replaceable. Maybe not as easily as some of the current stars, but still replaceable. IMO, Jarryd Hayne was replaced far easier than i expected. Not as a fullback, but as a star of the team. Jarryd, in his quiet times, must have realised by now that the Eels caravan continued to roll on at the same pace or even better without him. As a lifetime fan of rugby league and more so the Eels, who is now 48 years old, I can only think of three players from all clubs who their clubs haven't been able to replace. Unfortunately, two of them were Eels players. They are Peter Sterling, Andrew Johns and Brett Kenny. 30 years on for the Parra boys and approx 10 years for Johns, there has been nobody step up and be as good. Yet, Wally Lewis, Bob Fulton, Brad Filter to name a few, have all been replaced by others who were able to deliver the same or greater success than they did. IMO, Johnathon Thurston would be the least likely of the current players to be replaced. All the rest, as good as they are, would be forgotten in no time.So when we hear that Semi, Hayne, Junior, Foran or anyone else is looking to leave, I say " best of luck to you, don' t slam the door on you way out, because chances are that there is somebody ready to step and walk straight through the doorway you waked out of".Players should understand, for most of the supporters it 90% about the jersey and 10% the guy wearing it. If you don' t want to wear the jersey we will replace you with somebody that does!

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  • Good blog Ken, agree mate.

  • Johnathan Thurston

  • Replace him with a less good winger and use the change to improve our pack.
  • NONE.

    If you want to gauge the impact your leaving an organistaion is going to have then stick your fist in a bucket of water. Withdraw it quickly and the hole left behind is the answer.

    For EVERY champion that has lived there was also another born after him.

  • Totally agree great blog, but for me its about 95%.
  • The entire 1986 Parramatta Eels team, because we haven't won since then.
  • I reckon Cronin and Price are the two players never replaced at Parra
  • Any player who helps your team win the GF.
  • I didn't care too much when Hayne left, I support the club not an individual who no longer wants to be part of it. At the moment I think Cameron Smith and Johnathon Thurston would be pretty difficult to replace with anyone else in the competition. Everyone else has a like replacement IMO.

  • Johns and Sterlo won games nearly on their own, JT is pretty well up there with them. In song they can single handedly turn a game
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