It’s been a case of ‘make do and mend’ for Parramatta of late as their outside back injury nightmare continues.
The Eels went into 2022 already missing Maiko Sivo until midseason, lost Haze Dunster in the first trial, Sean Russell in round one and Waqa Blake in round five.
The situation has gotten so bad that their standout player of the first month of the year, five eighth Dylan Brown, was switched into the centres to alleviate the outside back issues.
Jake Arthur, the reserve five eighth, deputised in the easy win away at Newcastle last Sunday night – but played a notably different role to what Brown had been doing.
Arthur, son of the coach Brad Arthur, was stationed on the same edge as Brown and touched the ball 42 times – but ran on just three occasions.
It was clear that his remit was to shift the ball along the line to Brown, who was maintained a creative force despite playing further out.
Speaking to media before the Eels’ clash with the North Queensland Cowboys in Darwin, Brown revealed that it was in Parramatta’s tactical setup for him to get the ball more than the average centre.
“Brad has a plan,” he said. “Hopefully I’m not here too long but if I need to be then whatever happens happens. I’m enjoying it. It was good to get a win last week.
“He’s made it very obvious that he wants me in the game and looking for scoots rather than just holding the centre – it’ll get quite boring out there.
“Me and Jakey have a little combo going on and hopefully we can make it work again this week.”
The stats bear this out. Brown enjoyed 23 touches last week in his first run in the centres, which – with the caveat of a small sample size – would place him top of the NRL for regular centres, above Dane Gagai and Valentine Holmes.
In his short first grade career, Jake Arthur has split duties between halfback and five eighth, and plays in the 7 jumper in NSW Cup.
The three runs that Arthur managed, in turn, would put him bottom for five eighths in runs per game but equal to the likes of teammate Mitchell Moses and Adam Reynolds for halfbacks – and in front of Shaun Johnson, Chad Townsend and Kyle Flanagan.
With Parramatta employing a split playmaker system that generally sees Mitchell Moses operate on the right, it is possible to use Arthur almost like a second halfback on the left, feeding the footy to Brown.
Brown is an exceptional runner with a devastating step and the ability to get the best out of strike players around him on the edge: indeed, his edge forward Shaun Lane scored one and laid on one last Sunday.
For Brad Arthur, the plan does make a bit of sense, even if he accepts that it does weaken a potential strength in having Brown on the ball more frequently.
“He has to play centres this week and do what’s best for the team,” said the coach. “I’ve said all week that Dylan’s best position is at 6, but at the moment, he understands that he just has to do his job.
“A lot of players in our team will do different roles throughout the season based on injuries and availability, so we just have to get on with it.”
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