- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Rugby league is back! Well sort of.
As the NRL and their broadcast partners cashed in on pedestrian preseason performances, fans crossed their fingers that their players made it through these meaningless games in one piece. Mercifully preseason is almost over, and the real action is set to begin.
Last week Taking it One Week at a Time began a team by team review of how each team is looking heading into the 2016 NRL season, starting with last year’s wooden spooners. Part 2 takes a closer look at the prospects of Parramatta Eels, Penrith Panthers, Canberra Raiders and Manly Sea Eagles.
12. Parramatta Eels
Another tumultuous off-season for a side seemingly allergic to success. Parramatta won the race to secure the signature of talented Kiwi halfback Kieran Foran, only to discover the contract negotiated by then CEO Scott Seward had more loopholes than a fishing knot.
And despite the Parramatta boardroom having the stability of a Jenga tower, Foran decided to leave the ethical acrobatics to his Manly halves partner, and honoured his deal with the Blue and Gold. Foran has benefitted from playing in a backline littered with representative stars during his time on the Northern beaches, so it will be worth monitoring how he performs with the added pressure of being the key playmaker.
Parramatta fans will have their fingers crossed we do not see a repeat of the Adam Dykes experience.
Poaching Michael Jennings from the Roosters was another outstanding signing by Parramatta. Still only 27 years old and at the top of his game, Jennings will team with Semi Radradra to create a damaging left edge combination.
Outside of Foran and Jennings, Parramatta have displayed an obvious recruitment tactic. Experienced campaigners Beau Scott and Michael Gordon join weathered warhorse Anthony Watmough to create a core group of players who should serve as excellent mentors to the richly talented youngsters already on the roster.
Durability remains a key concern however, as the aforementioned trio along with other key squad members Nathan Peats and Clinton Gutherson all have chequered injury histories. After several years of ghastly recruitment (think Chris Sandow and Ricky Stuart), Parramatta finally have the talent, experience and leadership to make a legitimate push for the bottom half of the top 8 in 2016.
Predicted finish – 11th
11. Penrith Panthers
Penrith have endured a wretched two-year stretch of injuries, mightily testing the Gus Gould five-year master plan. After promising signs in 2014, the Panthers limped toward the concluding rounds of the 2015 season, struggling just to avoid the wooden spoon.
Ligaments and labrums were being torn apart faster than Jamal Idris’ bloated contract, leaving fans to stomach preseason coaching soundbites such as ”he isn’t back training yet, but he looks great in the weights room” or worse still “he is scheduled to start running in a couple of weeks”.
Ivan Cleary evidently didn’t have the cure for the dreaded injury bug, so Gus mercifully cut him loose in favour of ex-Brisbane mentor Anthony ‘Hook’ Griffin. Cleary failed to leave his mark on a team permanently bathed in Gould’s voluminous and intractable shadow, so perhaps the more laid back approach of Griffin is just the ticket.
Trent Merrin heads to Penrith for the 2016 season after a less than amicable divorce from Mary McGregor. Despite a career blighted by lacklustre performances for NSW, he remains a talented backrower and should provide some flair and experience to a young Penrith pack. Peta Hiku adds unnecessary depth to a fathoms deep backline, and Kiwi half Te Maire Martin will push Peter Wallace and Jamie Soward for playing time. The status of the much-maligned and injury prone Penrith halves pairing is unclear. Fans have been foaming at the mouth at the idea of shifting mercurial fullback and newly appointed club captain Matt Moylan into the number 6 jersey, with unwarranted comparisons to Darren Lockyer sure to follow. On paper, Penrith have the look of a top eight side in 2016, but would seem a torn ACL or two away from another failed campaign.
Predicted finish – 10th
10. Canberra Raiders
Mediocre is a fitting description for the Canberra Raiders over the last few years, but it would be a downright compliment for their head coach. Since leaving the sunny shores of Bondi and the salary cap immunity enjoyed by the Roosters, Ricky Stuart has produced a repulsive 39% winning percentage across three head coaching gigs, a figure which would make even Rick Stone blush.
Despite his abhorrent coaching resume since the days of riding Graeme Murray’s coattails, it would seem Stuart has the Raiders pointing in the right direction. Ricky was finally afforded the luxury of hand picking his halves combination, and will pair the rugged running game of Blake Austin with the deft kicking game of Aidan ‘Julius’ Sezer.
The poaching of Josh Hodgson and Sia Soliola from the English Super League proved to be an inspired move after both enjoyed cracking debut seasons in Green. Sticky has again looked to the Old Country in search of fresh recruits for 2016, bringing in tough pommy forward Elliot Whitehead to bust some Aussie heads.
A cursory glance over Canberra’s 2016 player roster would cause even a casual rugby league fan to perform a double-take.
On paper, the side Ricky Stuart has assembled has very few holes. They have a budding superstar at fullback in Jack Wighton, depth and quality in the backline, a solid halves pairing which will certainly improve as the season progresses, and forward pack crammed with angry monsters chomping at the bit to hurt someone. With Adam Clydesdale coming on board from Newcastle, Canberra even has two NRL calibre 80-minute hookers to choose from.
Couple this with the customary snub the Raiders receive during the Origin period, and they should have their full complement of players all season long.
Yet despite such a talented roster, you just get the sense the Raiders don’t have what it takes. They seem to lack that something special teams need to create a winning culture which breeds sustained success. Perhaps they finally have the roster to change things, and push Stuart’s coaching percentage above the dreaded Kearney zone.
Predicted finish – ninth
9. Manly Sea Eagles
The 2015 season was not a happy one for the Manly club. League supporters across the nation rejoiced as the Sea Eagles attracted negative headlines faster than Blake Ferguson after he rips the head off a couple of stubbies.
The futures of Foran and Cherry-Evans were at the heart of the turmoil and at one stage it looked certain both would move on. Foran would eventually sign a lucrative yet career-destroying deal with Parramatta, while DCE added another couple of storeys to his house after inking a ten-year deal to stay at Manly.
The obvious loser throughout this process, apart from the Titans, was Geoff Toovey. While his halves pondered what to do with their millions, Toovey was sucked into a media fuelled vortex of uncertainty and speculation about his coaching future. The re-emergence of Bob Fulton clarified things. Tooves was given the arse and Trent Barrett was in.
After a September spent watching the finals from their living rooms, the Penn family took action. Already boasting an enviable backline, Manly returned to their silvertail roots and purchased a forward pack.
With Bozo now doing the grocery shopping, newcomers to Narrabeen include Nate Myles, Lewis Brown, Martin Taupau, Apisai Koroisau, Darcy Lussick and Matt Parcell. And just so the backs didn’t feel neglected, they added NSW hopeful and Endone connoisseur Dylan Walker as their five eighth of the future.
Almost overnight, the Sea Eagles went from an ageing side with a soft pack of forwards to having arguably the most complete and intimidating roster in the NRL.
Barrett now finds himself in a similar situation to former Australian Test cricket coach (and Ned Flanders doppelganger) John Buchanon, inheriting a vastly talented squad which has little use for him. If Barrett simply stays out of the way and continues to tend to his fabulous head of har, a finals birth in 2016 would seem inevitable.
Predicted finish – first