Parramatta will be without hooker Reed Mahoney for Friday night’s NRL clash with Penrith after he failed a fitness test.
On Thursday morning coach Brad Arthur confirmed Mahoney lacked power while passing the ball and would sit out a week with an AC shoulder joint injury.
In a stroke of luck, Arthur has been sporadically resting Mahoney through games over the past few weeks to blood Ray Stone, and confirmed he would start against the Panthers.
“Ray will start, Will Smith will come on the bench and will give us an option there if Ray needs a breather,” Arthur said.
“We had a plan to give Reedy a bit of rest over the last couple of weeks to make sure he’s fresh come the end of the year.
“We didn’t know this situation was going to arise so it’s worked out ok for us.
“Stoney had a bit of practice there and gained confidence and he got better with longer game time.
“He’s looking forward to the opportunity, teammates love having him in the team because of what he brings. It’s unfortunate for Reedy but it’s an opportunity for Stoney.”
Mahoney left the field in pain in the second half of the Eels’ 24-18 win over the Warriors with fears he could miss several weeks.
However, Arthur said he is likely to be fit to return against Brisbane in round 19 as the Eels push towards their first premiership since 1986.
The loss of Mahoney is a blow to the Eels with plenty at stake between the two western Sydney sides at Panthers Stadium. The Eels handed the Panthers their only loss of the season in round five at Bankwest Stadium which adds spice to the already bitter rivalry.
Parramatta can lock up a top-four spot with a win should Canberra lose this weekend while, on the other hand, a Panthers win would assure them their third minor premiership if Melbourne lose to North Queensland on Sunday.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Massively underrated player.
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
Not just a big out for his passing but with Dylan Brown already out, it means basically all kicking will fall to Moses. Field's kicking has been pretty few and far between and pretty awful. That will make it easy for the Panthers to put pressure on Moses on the last.
jimmmy
Roar Rookie
One handed and tying his shoe laces with the other he would pass better than Jake Granville. He is very good . He and Grant will bring QLD up a notch in a year or so.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Even lacking power while passing Mahoney would throw it further than most. One of the best long dummy half passes I’ve seen and a big out for the Eels
Parasite
Roar Rookie
This and another certain forums chat should be interesting tonight with the way the Penruff supporters have been lately regardless how it goes, nearly looking as forward to that as watching the game itself :laughing:
Nat
Roar Rookie
I can’t see a blow out like the Souths game. Outside of that one, the notion of ‘not winning be enough’ is silly. Plenty of teams win ugly. Good analogy of Stone, an old Gilly style of tackler. I’ll be honest though, I hope they beat the snot out of Parra – only because of next week. :stoked:
Parasite
Roar Rookie
I gotta agree, the young guy has some talent and is a big out for Parra and I can't see the eels in this now unless it becomes more of a grinding game. I like Stone's style, he gives the impression that every time he plays, he playing the part of David and all the opposition are Goliath's :happy: Anyway, really looking forward to this and regardless of who wins I hope it's a close match.
Nat
Roar Rookie
That's a big out for Parra. I do like the way Stone defends but the service Mahoney provides is exceptional. Not only from dummy but he's the link after the (inevitable) Paulo offload. Parra have gone away from the 2-pass shift from an offload in recent weeks and Stone would want to be well versed in this if they're going to shake up the Pennies.