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Parramatta Eels: The dark horse in 2016

18th January, 2016
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Kieran Foran is doing his best to settle into life at Parramatta. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)
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18th January, 2016
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The late signing of prolific try-scorer Michael Jennings has sealed a very productive recruitment drive for the Parramatta Eels in the lead-up to the 2016 season – one that could see the club become the biggest bolters of the year ahead.

Even in the golden days of the ‘Hayne Plane’, Parramatta struggled with striking the right balance in their squad, often requiring players to play out of position when the club was hampered with injuries and lacked depth.

And on the occasion the club did experience a winning streak, it was arguably down to the individual brilliance of Hayne to clinch games.

But this is the first time in a long time that the recipe on paper looks the goods for the Eels.

The biggest boost will come in the form of Kieran Foran.

With the Chris Sandow days well and truly behind them, the Eels are now well placed to finally establish a halves pairing that can genuinely guide the team around the park. Foran is a naturally talented footy player who knows how to play direct and test the line, and what’s more he is one of the best competitors in the game.

It’s Foran’s brand of grunt and stability around the halves that will serve Parramatta well moving forward. He will likely pair up with Corey Norman or Luke Kelly, both of whom are very capable footy players who could establish a useful foil for Foran.

Still focusing on the backline and we have a possible State of Origin centre pairing moving in, with the highly underrated Michael Gordon joining the club along with the flashy Michael Jennings. Gordon will likely play at fullback given the lack of depth in that position, but his versatility could see him play anywhere in the backline if needed.

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The Eels have a capable forward pack, and despite lacking the star power of more fancied rivals the pack did prove in patches last year that they could match it with the competition heavyweights on their day.

Youthful exuberance was often their undoing, invariably pushing passes that weren’t on and making errors at costly times. But with a backline that should theoretically put less pressure on them through better field position and possession, 2016 could well be the year for some of the lesser known forwards to really stand up and assert themselves.

The x-factor will be Cameron King. This kid has huge wraps on him and is a former Australian schoolboy captain, but injury has so far prevented him from establishing himself properly in first grade. If he can stay injury-free, then the Eels may have another useful spark in attack around the ruck to compliment Isaac De Gois.

On a final note, it needs to be said that Brad Arthur is a good coach who has had a tough job in recent times. He has built up some strong structures at the club and with the increased strike power at his disposal, all of his hard work might finally pay a dividend in 2016.

I’m tipping a finals berth for the blue and golds this year.

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