Parramatta's 2024 season is fast slipping away from them and despite known squad depth issues there may be some changes required both to try and revitilise this while also having an eye on the future.
For mine, the presence of Makatoa in the squad is beyond ridiculous now. He was solid when he came into grade, he's been a reliable servant for the club, but his NRL days should be behind him.
This should see Wiremu Greig back into first grade.
Joey Lussick, while I appreciate his tenacity, he's just not providing the spark we need from dummy half, even if he is only relieving for short periods.
Matt Arthur has shown himself to be a crafty rake at NSW Cup level and he has bee the focal point for a lot of their attack. Blooding him now gives the club time to see how he will cope with the rigours of first grade.
Kelma Tuilagi has got himself suspended for 4 weeks. With that comes opportunities.
Matt Doorey has stood up for Cup this season since returning to full fitness. There is also the opportunity to get Charlie Guymer some game time in first grade.
While finals may disappear soon, the Eels have to take the opportunity to get some of their juniors NRL game time. Otherwise there is no point in trying to be a development club.
Replies
The backline is where we are short on depth. Poor roster management and lack of genuine competition for spots has put us in this hole
I'd say it's poor planning more than anything. Depth in the backs is a serious problem, less so in the forwards.
In the forwards we have Paulo, RCG, Lane, Hopgood, Matterson, Cartwright, Tuilagi, Doorey, Makatoa, Greig, Ofahengaue, Ogden and Moretti as contracted in top 30.
The problem is that they failed to plan for our backline for a second consecutive season and combined with injuries to AMS and Richard Penisini.
Turning your junior pathways isn't a quick fix and only began in 2019. It took Penrith 10 years to go from the start of their process to those juniors who won the comp in 2021.
AMS and Penisni did their ACL very early into the pre-season so the club had ample time to find replacements.
All those forwards you named mostly play middle chase the collision football or are reserve grade quality on the edge.
Our pathways may also be delayed 2 years due to covid restrictions but even so, have not delivered much over the last 40 years whilst the club still wins a lot of the junior comps.
Greig has been terrible this year, the game is too fast for him. Moretti has shown promise apart from a couple of bad handling errors in his last couple of first grade games.
I think the season is well and truly done so it's in the clubs best interests to have a look at some of the younger guys, not all at once but over the coming rounds.
MA Doorey Moretti Guymer and maybe Tago are 4 you can filter into the team from cup. Cini has been really good at fullback as well
MA, Moretti, Doorey, Guymer, Tago, Martyn should all get a chance in FG at some point this year
- Lussick, Russel, Grieg, Ogden, Makatoa have had their chances and we know what they are capable off. None should be playinh FG again this year.The ones listed above deserve a chance before we pick these duds again. Once we ellect the new coach and then we also stop selecting the players he wants to move on.
Latu, Tuivita and Almadine need to be consistently picked in Cup.
Yes doorey should get a run next week, I did mean to mention him but forgot.
Time for Doorey to get a run
I think we still have 4 top 30 spots to fill before June 30.
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