Eels v North Queensland: Enemies to teammates for Junior Paulo and Reagan Campbell-Gillard
Eels co-captain Junior Paulo has lifted the lid on the 15-year animosity behind the intimidating front-row combination he has forged with Parramatta teammate Reagan Campbell-Gillard.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
It’s the deep animosity that began more than 15 years ago that’s driving Parramatta’s premiership campaign.
Eels co-captain Junior Paulo has made the stunning admission that he grew up “hating” front-row partner Reagan Campbell-Gillard, with the pair having locked horns for more than a decade.
Paulo and Campbell-Gillard have stamped themselves as arguably the competition’s premier prop combination, ahead of Parramatta’s preliminary final against North Queensland in Townsville on Friday night.
While Paulo now describes Campbell-Gillard as a mate and “one of the best I have ever played with”, that wasn’t always the case.
The Daily Telegraph has been told the rivalry between the pair started at junior level 15 years ago when Paulo was playing for Cabramatta and Parramatta while Campbell-Gillard was with Rooty Hill, Windsor Wolves and then Penrith.
“I guess when you’re playing alongside someone who you grew up hating, pretty much, you tend to grow a better relationship and we have certainly been doing that off the field,” Paulo told NITV.
“Me and ‘Reg’ – it’s a combination and relationship we have been building over the past couple of years, since he got to the club (in 2020).”
Having dominated Canberra’s Josh Papali’i and Joe Tapine, as well as Melbourne pair Jesse Bromwich and Nelson Asofa-Solomona in recent weeks, the Eels have another tough task on Friday night. The pair will clash with Cowboys props Jordan McLean and Reuben Cotter with a grand final berth on the line.
“If anything, he has probably been one of my favourite players to play with and he’s probably one of the best front-rowers I have ever played with,” Paulo said.
“You definitely know what you’re going to get from him when you take the field.
“I think everyone knows he probably has one of the best first-play carries in the game, the way he comes off the back fence. He will always go out there and put his body on the line.”
Paulo and Campbell-Gillard grew up playing against each other in the same age group in Sydney’s west with both players turning 29 this year.
“At that age, there are always rivals and there are fierce rivals,” Paulo’s manager Sam Ayoub said. “So, with both of them being good footballers and playing against one another, there would have been some hatred, as there is at that level of rugby league.
“However, from my understanding, they are now absolutely great mates and they’re both playing great football. There are no negatives in the story.”
But the pair will be able to add a happy ending to their tale if they can lead the Eels to their first grand final since 2009, and potentially their first premiership since 1986, having not made it past the second week of the finals in more than a decade.
“That’s been the driving factor for us over the past couple of weeks,” Paulo said.
“The best part of it was kind of hushing those critics who have been able to come out … obviously they’re going to have an opinion saying we couldn’t make it past the second week of finals,” Paulo said.
“It was always going to be a hoodoo we were going to break and hopefully in a weeks’ time we will be at the big dance. But it will definitely be a big task ahead this Friday.”
But it won’t be enough to extract a compliment for his prop partner, with Paulo jokingly declaring: “I’d be lying if I said I was going to give him some raps.”
North Queensland are $1.72 favourites, according to TAB, with Parramatta $2.15 outsiders.
Arthur puts heat on Eels to avoid prelim meltdown
-Brent Read, Martin Gabor
Parramatta have taken to training in the baking sun and turning up the heaters during gym sessions as they prepare to be greeted by stifling conditions in Townsville on Friday night.
The Eels head into the grand final qualifier against North Queensland as outsiders, in part because the Cowboys will enjoy the benefits of playing on home turf in Townsville.
That means the Eels can expect to be greeted by stifling heat and humidity in north Queensland.
Eels coach Brad Arthur and his training staff are doing their best to acclimatise the players before they go, Arthur revealing the club had altered its training schedule and turned up the heat in a bid to prepare the squad for what will greet them when they kick off in Townsville.
“What I have learnt from this group ... is that keeping them in routine works for them, keeping it simple works for them,” Arthur said.
“We could have gone up there for four days but what are they going to do — sit around doing nothing. They would go crazy.
“Elky (Trainer Trent Elkin) had all the heaters on in the gym so when they trained yesterday the gym was very hot. They were all set to 24 degrees.
“We trained at 2pm in the afternoon yesterday — I know there is not going to be any sun out and it is going to be different [at kick-off] — but at 2pm yesterday it was 23 degrees and that is what it is going to be around kick-off time.
“They are not going to be playing on an airconditioned field so we may as well make it similar to what it is going to be. Everyone at our club is really keen and trying to do their bit, every two per cent we can add.”
Eels players have vowed to ignore the weather, insisting it will not be a factor.
“Is it hot up there?” hooker Reed Mahoney joked. “You go there, put the boots on and play footy. We don’t care how hot or cold it’s going to be. The weather is something we can’t control, so there’s no point whining about it or kicking stones.”
Rather than the weather, the bigger issue for the Eels is the tantalising battle between the big men. Parramatta were thumped 35-4 by the Cowboys in debilitating conditions in Darwin earlier this year, a result that they are keen to reverse.
They know it starts with their forwards. While they weren’t disgraced earlier in the year, front-rowers Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Junior Paulo combined for only 189 metres as the Cowboys kicked clear in the second half.
“If you look at the game, we were only down by two points for quite a while,” Campbell-Gillard said.
“Junior and I had sh*t games, which didn’t help. But that was at the start of the year in a different type of heat, so we’ve scrapped that. It’s a whole new ball game and we’ve got to adapt to the new conditions this weekend.”
The challenge for the Eels is figuring out a way to contain Cowboys star Jason Taumalolo, who was unstoppable in the qualifying final win over the Sharks.
He ran for an absurd 253m, scored the try that sent that game to extra time and threw a pass that would’ve made Johnathan Thurston proud. Stopping him could be enough to help the Eels qualify for their first grand final since 2009.
Watch every match of the Rugby League World Cup LIVE & Exclusive to Fox Sports, on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Gus’ ‘doctored’ claim ignites NRL conspiracy
The NRL Grand Final’s controversial no try scandal has taken a wild turn despite the game releasing the angle the decision was based on.
Kangaroos selection shocks: NRL legends’ Test careers appear over
Mal Meninga has dropped a major selection bombshell by overlooking both James Tedesco and Kalyn Ponga for Kangaroos selection, with the list of surprise omissions and debutants not ending there. See the full squad.