As the title suggests, will the Eels ring in a new decade with a premiership? Love to know your thoughts, and you can be forgiven for being pessimistic about the subject.
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Yeah I believe it will be parras year
No, I think we will be competitive but lack a real captain as I don't believe Gutho is the man for the job and that aggresive forward leader. Our defense still looks soft and has not improved with the players we obtained for next year as are all grabbers and none hit with their shoulders. Still missing that forward leader.
No as is a grabber and not an enforcer like we need. Good player but not a leader in aggression who leads with the shoulder.
Must be as every game I've seen he grabs never hits with the shoulder and quite often 2nd or 3rd in and falls off alot. RCG will bring heaps in attack but not known as a aggresive defender but will do his job well.
We may not have to improve as much as we think. Which of the 2019 top 6 teams are going to go better and which teams are going to decline?
Will Easts be better without Cronk and Mitchell? Can young Flanagan or Lam jr seamlessly provide as much as Cronk has in the last 2 seasons?
Souths were great early this year before Sam Burgess' injuries and judiciary problems ruined their season. Will their pack be able to dominate without him, their halves and Damien Cook suffered when their go forward stalled, and Sutton is gone now.
Canberra has a new Pommy half. Will he be as successful as their other poms? At some point Ricky will get a dud from England and George Williams didn't set the world on fire in the Nines. They have also lost Rapana to rugby and while their defence improved greatly this year their attack was down on previous seasons. Can they strike the right balance in 2020?
Will Melbourne continue to be a thorn in everyone's side as they seem to be every year? Smith appears as though he can play on forever but they still have a half back problem. Brodie Croft is off to Brisbane so will it be Jahrome Hughes or Cameron Smith, as was suggested by the Storm recently, at 7 in 2020? Smith is capable of almost anything in rugby league but it would be a radical move to half back and where would Hughes play then? Can the Storm win in 2020?
That leaves Manly. They let Api go back to Penrith and now Fainu will be very lucky to escape a prison sentence. He is in very serious trouble. Hooker is a vital position so who is going to fill that void for them? Dessie can certainly pull a rabbit out of his hat and he is going to have to do that if Manly are to be a legitimate premiership chance.
As for Parra, we have had 2 significant off season signings in RCG and Matterson who could provide us with the balance we need to challenge for the title. I admit I was dead against signing RCG but we've got him now so I hope like hell I was wrong about him. We have the most promising spine in the competition and with more games together after a good off season and their combinations gelling with each other and the rest of the players they may finish the season as the No 1 spine in the premiership.
I know the stars are going to have to align in our favour but that's not impossible and maybe the task of being 2020 premiers is not a pipe dream. But just in case pass me the bong.
Good summary Alan.
Easts, with Cronk as a coach for the halves, they wont lose a lot in that dept, remember 2018 he guided a basic 16 man chooks to the premiership. The loss of Mitchel may not be as great as one would think, he is great on his day but, how many days does he have off? Where the Chicks will maintain their strengths primarilly will be their pack, having resigned JWH and Taki, reinforces their strength. Will be up there.
Souths, have a fair squad and they will survive without Burgess as I think his impact for a couple of years now has not been as great, Suttons loss though may be another story, as he was a real souths man and reliable. They have signed James Roberts, who will be better under his old coach.
Raiders, will be tough, the bringing in of a couple of Pom workhorses especially in Bateman was a good move, he's non stop but also has some quiet momemts, they lose something in the players that have gone but their defence will be what keeps them in the loop.
Storm, can never be under estimated as they seem to pull some newbie into the squad and performs well. There will come a time when they drop a bit, and I think that Bellamany may see the writing on the wall along with Smith.
Manly and Hassler will not give up, agree with you regarding the hookers which could be their weak link. Whilever they have the Turbo modes, along with DCG, they have good options and a coach who will ensure they use them.
As for the eels, with RCG and Matterson signed it does provide us with better options than this year. His comments that he did not enjoy RL this past season makes for interesting comparisons to his actual performances on the field when one looks over his stats and they actually show a player better than what many think. Matto and Lane in 2nd row provide us with a great combination and better than this last season.
Our spine will be vital, and much of it will depend on the extension of both Mahoney and DB's contracts, the other key with that should be that the club ensure that they also sign Johns as a spine coach, if he comes I would suggest we keep those two and others.
With an improved commitment in defence especially along with improvements in attack with the combinations working better, I would say a top 4 position is very possible.
Only place that I slightly disagree is on the Raiders. I think that they may find it difficult to repeat that performance in defence. At the same time they need to lift in attack.
I saw nothing in their new half that would make me think they will be a better side in 2020
Having said all that I just don’t like Ricky Stuart
John. have some things in common regarding their coach is one, you make a fair point regarding their attack and defence. One thing that I think will affect them is if they lose Baitman for any time, there's not much of him but he's an 80 minute player and knows when and where to have a rest which makes him a hard player to predict.
It depends on a number of things:
1) The influence of referees on the game/results.
2) The influence of the NRL and the judicial system.
If the above 2 points are kept in check then yes the Eels can win the premiership in 2020.
P.S. If you listen to the advice of Frankie( aka "I don't know who I support" Roosters/Raiders) Fong the Eels will never win a premiership regardless.
Yes, i see so much upside in our team. We do have a team capable of competing with the best.
I see the main points as this.
Captain : Gutho is a leader of men and is getting better. I watch him closely at games behind the scenes and he is really developing his man management which is an enormous plus, coupled with hislead by example attitude. We do have a true leader developing.
Halves: Moses is on his way up, his attitude has improved out of sight, its no longer what others are doing wrong around him", its now - what must i do to promote the ball and control the game. He will go close to origin next year and with it Parra will have a very dominate and very very good halfback.
Platform: We have recruited very well in the forwards with Gillard and Matterson. With them at their best next to our current pack, they can dominate most packs and compete on their day with the best packs. They are on their way up for sure.
X Factor: We have Sivo and Fergo. Sivo hopefully goes further and improves again and Fergo is one of the best in the comp. If Dylan Brown continues his development and takes some pressure of Moses and puts the opposition in two minds, our attack will flow very very good. Mahoney if he learns to pick his moments and runs the ball and improves his tactical kicking, all of a sudden we have multiple ways to attack and multiple ways of getting out of trouble.
Coaches: Brad Arthur has turned not only the side around but himself, I watch how he has changed and become more ruthless with non performers. He has improved from being one of the boys to a man in charge of a footy team. The opening of the purse strings by the club to get in assistant coaches like Andrew Johns will pay huge dividends.
Downside: Defense, this will be our achilles heel, we need a Spud Caroll on our books to get our forwards agressive and ready to run through walls and tackle with effort till they have nothing left. We need a great set defensive coach, that has the team primed to work together and to rush back into the line with, Effort. We must lose that lying on the ground, walking back to the line, not racing back to assist mentality that some of our players possesed last year. This will be the key to a premiership next year.
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