{"id":369619,"date":"2024-02-21T18:20:37","date_gmt":"2024-02-21T19:20:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=369619"},"modified":"2024-02-21T20:03:07","modified_gmt":"2024-02-21T20:03:07","slug":"burning-coach-decision-will-make-or-break-eels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=369619","title":{"rendered":"Burning coach decision will 'make or break' Eels"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Eels<\/a> have resisted the temptation to go out and bulk buy despite going from grand finalists to also-rans in the space of 12 months last year.<\/p>\n

The club has signed just two 'name' players – Kelma Tuilagi (Sea Eagles) and Morgan Harper (Sea Eagles) – with coach Brad Arthur<\/a> putting his faith in his existing squad to turn things around.<\/p>\n

The Eels have the talent – no doubt about it – but need to show more consistency and grit in the tight games than last season when they finished a win out of the finals with a poor 12-12 record.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Legal battle revealed days after Tiger Woods launches brand<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Seibold's swipe at former club ahead of Vegas opener<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Bennett misses out as Kiwis confirm next coach<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

With one of the best halfback combinations in the league in Dylan Brown and Mitch Moses, a consistent fullback in Clint Gutherson<\/a> and strike power all over the field, the Eels are a finals team – if not top four.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Tuilagi looked sharp in last weekend's opening round of the trials, leading the Eels in run metres and making a strong line break in the disappointing loss to the Raiders.<\/p>\n

Mark him in for a spot in the 17 – possibly even the starting 13.<\/p>\n

The other new face, Harper, is more of a defensive than attacking centre but that could be what the Eels need.<\/p>\n

He reads defence well, rarely lets his opposite number get the upper hand over him and has experience and speed.<\/p>\n

The talented Will Penisini has one centre position locked up but he will battle it out with Sean Russell and Bailey Simonsson for the other spot.<\/p>\n

Arthur's other big decision – and it could make or break the Eels – will be who starts in the key hooking role following the retirement of Englishman Josh Hodgson.<\/p>\n

Joey Lussick has the edge in experience of the two contenders but youngster Brendan Hands has plenty of potential and looked good when given his chance last season.<\/p>\n

Arthur may well play it safe and have both in his 17 – but the question then becomes which one starts and who comes off the bench.<\/p>\n

Gains:<\/strong> Kelma Tuilagi (Sea Eagles), Morgan Harper (Sea Eagles).<\/p>\n

Losses:<\/strong> Jack Murchie (Huddersfield Giants), Josh Hodgson (retired), Andrew Davey (retired).<\/p>\n

COWBOYS' BEST 17<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Clint Gutherson 2. Maika Sivo 3. Will Penisini 4. Bailey Simonsson 5. Sean Russell 6. Dylan Brown 7. Mitch Moses 8. Reagan Campbell-Gillard 9. Brendan Hands 10. Junior Paulo 11. Ryan Matterson 12. Shaun Lane 13. J'maine Hopgood 14. Joe Ofahengaue 15. Bryce Cartwright 16. Joey Lussick 17. Kelma Tuilagi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Eels have resisted the temptation to go out and bulk buy despite going from grand finalists to also-rans in the space of 12 months […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":369621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369619"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=369619"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":369622,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369619\/revisions\/369622"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/369621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=369619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=369619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=369619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}