Eels skipper Clint Gutherson is convinced Parramatta have recruited wisely to offset a player exodus from their grand final side and can keep their premiership window open in 2023.
All the talk has been around the Eels sliding in 2023 after losing multiple players, including key starters Isaiah Papali’i and Reed Mahoney, but Gutherson believes it is time to start talking about what the club have gained rather than what they have lost.
“We have obviously lost a few quality players, but that’s the way it goes sometimes and every team does it,” Gutherson told foxsports.com.au.
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“But we have picked up some great players. We have got Hodgo (Josh Hodgson) coming in, who has done it all for a number of years and he is going to be exceptional for us.
“We have got Jirah Momoisea from the Knights who has come in and really stamped his authority and is really pushing for a spot.
“We have got Matt Doorey, who has come back from the Bulldogs, who is pushing for a spot and Jack Murchie from the Warriors as well.
“We have got a number of players that are really pushing hard and putting their best foot forward for the season.”
Papali’i will be very hard to replace given he was one of the best second-rowers in the game over the last two seasons, but Gutherson pointed out that he didn’t reach his potential until he joined the Eels.
“It is going to be tough to replace a quality player like Ice (Papali’i), but look that is the culture we have got, we make players better that are playing in our team,” Gutherson said.
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“As I said Jirah and Matt are coming through and they are all going to be putting their hands up for that edge position.
“It was exactly the same with Ice, you play in our team you have to work hard in the effort areas or you won’t be in the 17.
“We have got a number of players in there putting their hand up and three or four more weeks and we are into trials, so we are looking forward to it.”
Another recruit that has impressed Gutherson is former Penrith forward J’maine Hopgood, who is a chance to slot into the back row rotation in 2023.
“There is heaps of exciting players coming through,” Gutherson said.
“I think J’maine Hopgood across from Penrith is going to be massive for us.
“He got a fair few games in the last couple of years and coming form a winning culture at Penrith he just brings what it takes to win.
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“He works hard. He runs hard. He plays tough and that’s what we need in this team is a tough player to go after the game and I think he is in for a breakthrough season.”
One player who the Eels desperately hope doesn’t join the exodus from the club is off-contract halfback Mitchell Moses, who is being chased by the Tigers and Bulldogs.
Gutherson is close with Moses on and off the field and admits he has tried to convince him to stay, while giving him space to do what is best for himself and his family.
“We all obviously want Mitchell to stay, but you give him a lot of privacy to go about it himself as you do with all the players,” Gutherson said.
“It is about what they want to do and these things take time. I’ve been through a number of them that just take time to get everything sorted.
“But we have been in his ear and trying to make him stay and hopefully either way it can get sorted soon, so we can move on from it and start focusing on footy.”
Moses’ halves partner Dylan Brown is not someone the Eels have to worry about leaving for now after he inked a monster eight-year extension with the club.
With his position settled at the club for the foreseeable future, Gutherson challenged Brown to keep growing his game and taking on more responsibility each season.
“Just more growth,” Gutherson said of what he expects from Brown.
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“I think last year was his best year and everything he did was working and it is about growing on the back of that.
“You can’t just sit back and say, I had that great year last year and sit back and let other people take control.
“We need him to go to another level and I think Hodgo will be great for Dylan this year with me and Mitch.
“We have just got to keep growing and keep working hard.”
With a new hooker at the club, Gutherson knows the spine will take time to build combinations and click, but he is confident they are on track to hit the ground running when the season kicks off.
“It has been good, we came back a week before Christmas and this is our first big week back after, so it is just about getting the reps in and working hard in training,” Gutherson said.
“We have just got to be available to each other and work on our combinations and that’s what we are doing.
“Every session and couple of hours out there our combinations are growing and it is working. We have just got to keep getting better until we get to Round 1.”
It is easy to think that the Eels are a long way away from Penrith given their heavy defeat in the grand final, but it is worth noting they beat the Panthers and the Storm twice last season.
While the pain of grand final defeat lingers for Gutherson and his teammates, they are using it to fuel their bid to return to the top of the mountain and go all the way in 2023.
“I watched a little bit of it here and there and enough people talk to you about the game,” Gutherson said of the grand final with a laugh.
“You probably don’t even need to watch it.
“Obviously it was a great achievement, but you want to go out there and win it.
“I think Penrith on the night were just too good and we couldn’t compete with what they did in that first half.
“But that’s the way footy goes. We have got to want that again. We want to fight for that again and we are the only ones who can go out there and win games of footy and that’s what we need to do.”
Gutherson believes the Eels don’t need to reinvent the wheel as they bid to go one better, but warned they need to be more consistent and finish higher on the table to improve their premiership chances.
“It is about finetuning what we did last year,” Gutherson said.
“Last year we probably let three, four or five games slip through the year that we probably should have won.
“They come back to haunt you. You can get a home semi in the top four and that goes a long way.
“Just all those little things that add up at the back end of the year and playing those extra games and travelling that’s what gets you.
“It is just about working hard now and get to the games and getting what we need to do right and implementing it in those games.”
