NRL 2021: Premiership window closing fast for Eels and Knights
‘I guarantee there wouldn’t be a side that would beat Melbourne the way we did.’ And with that statement, one of Parramatta’s staunchest critics is on board with the club’s bid to end their long title drought.
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When Ray Price talks about Parramatta, it always comes straight from the heart.
Usually it upsets the Eels.
But rarely is he wrong.
Which is why Parra fans are going to love this.
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Because heading into Sunday’s sudden-death showdown with Newcastle, the last man to lead the club on a lap of honour way back in 1986 has delivered the highest praise he has said about his old club in decades.
Not only is Price confident the Eels go into the finals as “the team to beat” following their most recent win over Melbourne, but the reason why Price thinks they are now ready to end rugby league’s longest premiership drought is because of the commitment to each other that Price saw in that performance.
In fact, Price went as far as to declare it reminded him “exactly” of the defensive spirit that lifted his champion team to victory 35 years ago.
While the Eels of the ‘80s are always remembered for the brilliance of their backline, it was their defence in that particular clash that highlighted the most enduring moment of the try-less 4-2 grand final.
When as many as six Parramatta players bundled Canterbury’s Peter Mortimer through the corner post to deny what would have been the matchwinning try.
Price reflected: “Mate, we were never going to lose that game.
“And it was like Parramatta played in their win over Melbourne the other week.
“They just kept turning up for each other.
“Their defence was superb.
“And no one, I mean no one, missed a tackle.
“It was just great to watch.
“And that is why I believe they can still do it.
“But they have got to believe in themselves.
“I guarantee there wouldn’t be a side in the whole comp that would beat them the way they played against Melbourne.
“So if they can do it then, why can’t they continue to do it?”
AN UGLY RECORD
Yet there isn’t a coach under more pressure than Brad Arthur going into the play offs.
The same goes for their chief playmaker Mitchell Moses — and throw in skipper Clint Gutherson, who will restart contract negotiations as soon as the season is finished.
The issue for all three is while the win over Melbourne was inspiring, the Eels’ form prior to that was terrible.
As has been their finals record in recent years going back to 2017.
Parramatta’s solitary win from six finals appearances under Arthur was the 58-0 flogging of Brisbane in week one of 2019.
Other than that it’s been a disaster.
In 2017 Parra suffered back-to-back losses to the Storm (18-16) and Cowboys (24-16).
Then in 2019 after beating the Broncos they got hammered by Melbourne (32-0).
Last year it was another backdoor exit, going down to the Storm (36-24) in week one, followed by the humiliating loss to Souths (38-24).
That loss led directly to the speculation that has sat like a dark cloud over Arthur’s head all year.
That if the Eels don’t at least make it to the preliminary final this year Arthur’s position is sure to come under scrutiny (even though he has another year to run on his current deal).
Gutherson is in a somewhat similar predicament in that he recently called a halt to his contract negotiations until after the season but by that point it was already getting pretty nasty.
And while there’s no question Gutherson’s first choice will be to try and work out a deal at stay, if the Eels tumble out of the finals again will they want to keep him on another long term deal?
Add to that the pressure on Moses who up until that recent Melbourne game was copping it from all directions that he just doesn’t stand up in the big games.
And while Moses is contracted until the end of 2024, the time has come for him to own the results when it really matters.
Throw in that the Eels are fighting to keep several other players with salary cap constraints piling on the pressure.
Injured hooker Reed Mahoney, Ryan Matterson, Marata Niukore, Junior Paulo and Isaiah Papali’i are all off contract at the end of 2022, while Dylan Brown has an option in his favour.
Brown’s situation is particularly interesting given he is already being courted by the Warriors and Canberra who want to throw marquee money at him.
The theory being Parra won’t have the cap space to keep both halves, especially with young Jake Arthur on the horizon.
The Dragons are also keeping a close eye on the forwards knowing the salary cap squeeze is coming.
Make no mistake that this is going to be a crossroads period for this generation of Parramatta players.
Who stands up and who doesn’t in this finals series could be key.
A PREMIERSHIP WINDOW
The last time Price was quoted in these pages he ripped into the Eels after their loss to Manly in mid-August.
He told Phil Rothfield: “I’m pissed off. They’re playing like busteds. It’s really disappointing because I honestly thought we were a hope this year.”
But then came the breakthrough win over the Cowboys that halted a four-match losing run, and that followed with the stunning victory over Melbourne that set them up nicely for the finals.
Though just imagine the fallout if they don’t take care of the Knights this weekend?
Or even if they don’t survive next week, which has been their previous benchmark under Arthur.
Price is adamant they have the team capable going all the way but the most crucial thing they must do now is “believe in themselves”.
“They are the only team who have beaten Melbourne twice this year,” Price restated.
“They should have confidence in themselves.
“It is there for the taking this year.
“I believe we have the best forward pack going around.
“Our backs are not as quick as some of the other backs but, mate, they do their work.
“And I reckon now we have one of the best halfbacks who has finally pulled his head in and he is playing decent football.
“He is running the ball and his kicking game is one of the best.
“I believe in Parramatta. No one is giving them credit.
“But I do. Again, all of this makes sense only if they do what they have to do — believe in themselves.”
CARTWRIGHT PUTS FOOT DOWN TO TACKLE STIGMA
Nick Walshaw
The infamous Cameron Munster miss?
In three years, Bryce Cartwright has never spoken about it once. Has seen replays of the moment, of course. Several times.
“But still, I’ve never spoken about it with anyone,” he says.
Now, Cartwright has no choice if he wants to truly explain his unlikeliest of resurrections at the Parramatta Eels. One that every day, and without fail, now sees this 26-year-old repeatedly devote time to getting his feet in place to make a tackle.
Over and over, Cartwright completes the movement. Before training, afterwards, whenever. “Making it muscle memory,” he says.
Of course, there is more detailed work, too. They say Eels defensive coach Dave Kidwell is no longer able to count the hours he’s put into this backrower who, not so long ago, was considered a defensive liability who lacked the cajones for battle.
So much of that reputation comes because of that awful miss on Melbourne No. 6 Munster.
Remember it? Of course, you do.
All of rugby league is able to recall that moment from 2018 when Cartwright, then a marquee Titans player defending his tryline, didn’t just miss a charging Munster as seemingly give up on the tackle entirely.
Think of a matador waving his red cape. Only in this case, it was an 89kg five-eighth who went breezing by.
“Unacceptable,” is how Channel 9’s Peter Sterling described the effort. Twitter was far worse.
So forget Cartwright simply being tagged a shit defender. He was now a guy who gave up.
“And given what people saw from me, that’s fair enough,” he says. “That tackle, it really is something I regret. And something I wouldn’t let happen again.
“But in the moment – and I do remember being out there on the field — I really thought Munster was already over the tryline. That’s why I left him.
“Obviously looking at replays, he clearly wasn’t. And I should’ve taken a shot. But I didn’t.”
So what then of the talk that followed? Specifically, that you not only gave up on Munster, or even the season, but a Gold Coast franchise paying $450,000 annually for your services?
“My time at Gold Coast, it’s like a blur,” Cartwright concedes. “No, I didn’t play well. And copped a lot of shit for that. But I never gave up. Off the field, I was working extremely hard.
“And I understand people don’t see that. Don’t see behind closed doors. But I know what I was doing. Every week I’d tell myself, work hard and you can change this. Work hard, things will happen.”
Yet things didn’t happen.
“And people can take shots at me for that,” Cartwright says.
“After getting dropped by Gold Coast, I can remember sitting in the old dressing sheds at Tweed Heads, just before running out in front of 10 people, thinking ‘shit, how did I get here?’ But never once have I given up.”
At which point, Cartwright defenders will remind you how this product of Penrith footballing royalty is also the fella who once played on when his kidney was torn. Same deal when his knees needed draining.
He also carries a large scar down the outside of his right ankle, the result of a leg so badly broken in 2014 that surgeons likened it to a car crash injury.
At the time, his doctor Martin Sullivan thought the young Penrith backrower would never run, much less play again.
It was a diagnosis Sullivan and the club initially kept from Cartwright, so fearful were they of how the news might mentally impact a kid seemingly set to stay forever on seven NRL games.
No, this resurrected Eel has never ascended to those NSW Origin heights initially tipped for him. Cartwright, however, has not only recovered, but churned through 130 games on knees that still require regular drainage and, minus all cartilage, are now rubbing bone on bone.
Elsewhere, he also carries the scars from a broken wrist and, even this year, has fought back from a broken jaw.
“So people can call me weak,” the Eels backrower deadpans. “But I don’t think it’s true.”
Nor does Parramatta coach Brad Arthur, who not only punted on this outcast nobody else wanted, but has since morphed him into a reliable bench forward — all tough carries and sound defence — while still showing the occasional flash of brilliance.
“Brad’s taught me the grind required to be an NRL forward,” Cartwright says.
Same as in games, he is constantly kept on task by Eels halfback Mitchell Moses, a friend since childhood.
Asked what Moses shouts at him in the heat of battle, Cartwright replies: “Ah, he just tells me to do my job … with expletives on either side of it.”
Despite a tumultuous past year that also resulted in a marriage breakdown, Cartwright remains on good terms with his former partner Shanelle, who is currently in Queensland with the couple’s two children Koa and Naia.
“She went through quarantine which I’m really grateful for,” he says. “Without my kids, I struggle.”
Of course, no story on Cartwright, at least in this climate, can be written without mention of vaccines.
A year ago, he effectively ignited a national anti-vaxxing debate when his decision to reject a flu jab, against NRL wishes, evoked responses from even Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
So now with much of Australia again in lockdown, we ask aloud where Cartwright sits on getting a Covid jab?
“Right now, nothing is set in stone,” he says.
“And really, I don’t want to go into what is a personal decision for myself and my family. I’ll respect the decision everyone else makes and ask only that the same is done for me.”
But what if you need to be vaccinated to keep playing, given your resurrection story also now includes signing a two-year Eels extension?
“Once the season is over, I’ll look at it then,” he says.
Which means, for now, Cartwright simply stays focused on, each day, over and over, getting those feet into position.
“Previously as a player, I’ve wanted to do everything,” he says. “Go for the miracle play. But at Parramatta, I just want to do my job. And do it consistently.
“After games, I’m not worried about tries, assists, anything like that.
“I just appreciate having worked hard.”
Roster wrecker: Why it’s now or never for Parra
By David Riccio
Play like this could be your last game together.
If these are the final words from Brad Arthur before Parramatta play the Knights in an elimination final on Sunday in Rockhampton, every Eels player in the dressing room will know exactly what their coach is talking about.
For similar reasons, Newcastle halfback Mitchell Pearce – waiting on the other side of the Browne Park tunnel – would also understand.
If Pearce, 32, can’t help the Knights advance beyond week one of the finals, is Sunday his last dance in the red and blue?
Newcastle management are steadfast in keeping Pearce for one last season in 2022.
But does a swift exit from the finals force the Knights powerbrokers to reconsider, should the Raiders or Bulldogs plonk a longer-term deal in the veteran playmaker’s lap?
Sunshine today in rugby league rarely equates to sunshine tomorrow.
The Eels are headed for a roster upheaval with 14 players free to negotiate with rival clubs in just 51 days’ time.
They are some of the biggest names on the Eels books – an estimated $4.2 million in current salaries to re-sign. Or just under half of the annual $9.1 million salary cap.
Captain Clint Gutherson, NSW Origin prop Junior Paulo, emerging Maroons hooker Reed Mahoney, buy of the year Isaiah Papali’i, representative forward Ryan Matterson, talented duo Haze Dunster and Oregon Kaufusi and hard-running forward Marata Niukore are among the 14 Eels poised to hit the open market on November 1.
It’s on the first Monday in November that the group will be formally permitted under NRL rules to start talking and fielding offers to join another club for the 2023 season.
History shows a player signed before Christmas very rarely stays for his final season, often asking for an immediate release from his contract in order to join his new club on the pre-season sandhills.
Clubs are already preparing to jockey for a list of Eels talent about to hit the shelves.
Papali’i is on a $150,000 deal at the Eels next year. Parramatta will have no choice but to offer him an upgrade and contract extension, with four clubs – including three from Sydney – preparing to swoop.
Matterson is unlikely to receive a new contract, which will help the Eels’ pitch to keep Papali’i.
Niukore will be a challenge for the Eels. The Warriors and Dragons have both set aside money in their salary cap to go all in for Niukore – and they have additional budget to prise out the Auckland-born 25-year-old at the conclusion of this season and in time for kick-off 2022.
The Raiders’ interest in wanting five-eighth Dylan Brown to solve their halves issues has been well documented.
Although contracted with the Eels until 2023, Brown has an option in his favour that allows him to depart the club at the end of next year.
Consider the inferno caused by minor speculation over Gutherson‘s contract value just last month.
Such was the emotion, nervous energy and attention that emerged from negotiations and talk of offers of above his $750,000 salary, the Eels and Gutherson‘s management sensed the timing was poor so pushed any further mention to the off-season.
“To allow Clint Gutherson to fully focus on football, the club and Clint’s management have agreed to put contract discussions on hold until the conclusion of the season,‘ Gutherson’s manager Sam Ayoub said.
“The club will not make any comment until discussions have been finalised.”
The delicate and highly emotive decision-making process for the Eels hierarchy on who stays and who goes will prove defining for the club’s future.
It could decide the fate of Arthur as the Eels head coach.
It’s inevitable the Eels’ bid to keep Gutherson, Moses, Mahoney and Brown all together over the next two years will mean key departures. Particularly with 2023 off-contract players Waqa Blake, Nathan Brown, Bryce Cartwright, Shaun Lane, Will Penisini and Maika Sivo just 12 months away from hitting the open market themselves.
Like the Panthers have realised with the decision to let go Kurt Capewell, Matt Burton and Brent Naden – with Viliame Kikau the next most likely to leave – success, even if it’s only finals success, comes with salary cap pain.
The Eels are chasing their first premiership in 34 years. They need to make Sunday count. It could be this team‘s last.
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