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globalrugbyleague - Sat, 22 Mar 2008 09:05:00 GMTEels captain Nathan Cayless is far from worried that the architect behind his side’s come from behind win against Canterbury in round 1 is off-contract at the end of the season.
Enduring one of the most diabolical opening forty minutes of all-time to fall behind 20-nil at half-time, it appeared that only a football miracle could keep the contest alive.
That was before five-eighth Brett Finch came out dressed like a Parramatta player but camaflouged as Superman, setting up five-tries while also defusing the Bulldogs ability to score any more points with some superb copybook defence.
After losing the 2001 Grand Final, the Eels went through a shopping list of halfbacks that included names like Andrew McFadden, Paul Green and Adam Dykes before they finally got the formula for success right in 2005.
But then second-year syndrome took some of the shine off Tim Smith in 2006 while the Eels lost the handy Jeremy Smith (South Sydney) and John Morris (Wests Tigers).
Enter five-eighth Brett Finch who after a shaky start to the 2007 season helped take the Eels to within one game of the Grand Final in his halves pairing with Tim Smith.
Now Parramatta not only possess stability in the number 7 Jersey but also a wealth of choice much like what Manly had last season with Michael Monaghan and Matt Orford.
Smith was one of the best halfbacks in terms of try-assists last season while Finch’s toughness and competitiveness has influenced the team to perform better in any type of situation.
But the Skipper Cayless thinks the contractual issues will have a positive effect as the Eels go forward this season under coach Michael Hagan.
“You can’t sort of worry about those things, mate.
“Their looked after by the management. My job’s to go out and play footy as hard as I can. If you start worrying about things like that, you get distracted.
“But that’s a good position. Finchy’s sort of probably playing for a contract and that’s sort of getting the best out of him on the weekend.
“Working with Andrew Johns in the off-season has really improved his game, so hopefully he can do it again for another 25 weeks.”
Though the Eels aren’t playing the Roosters until round 10, Cayless doesn’t think his halves (whomever that maybe) will need any extra protection when they become the focus of the Bondi defence.
“They’re smart enough to look after themselves.”
Click here To listen to the full length interview with Cayless - Read More, Here
Enduring one of the most diabolical opening forty minutes of all-time to fall behind 20-nil at half-time, it appeared that only a football miracle could keep the contest alive.
That was before five-eighth Brett Finch came out dressed like a Parramatta player but camaflouged as Superman, setting up five-tries while also defusing the Bulldogs ability to score any more points with some superb copybook defence.
After losing the 2001 Grand Final, the Eels went through a shopping list of halfbacks that included names like Andrew McFadden, Paul Green and Adam Dykes before they finally got the formula for success right in 2005.
But then second-year syndrome took some of the shine off Tim Smith in 2006 while the Eels lost the handy Jeremy Smith (South Sydney) and John Morris (Wests Tigers).
Enter five-eighth Brett Finch who after a shaky start to the 2007 season helped take the Eels to within one game of the Grand Final in his halves pairing with Tim Smith.
Now Parramatta not only possess stability in the number 7 Jersey but also a wealth of choice much like what Manly had last season with Michael Monaghan and Matt Orford.
Smith was one of the best halfbacks in terms of try-assists last season while Finch’s toughness and competitiveness has influenced the team to perform better in any type of situation.
But the Skipper Cayless thinks the contractual issues will have a positive effect as the Eels go forward this season under coach Michael Hagan.
“You can’t sort of worry about those things, mate.
“Their looked after by the management. My job’s to go out and play footy as hard as I can. If you start worrying about things like that, you get distracted.
“But that’s a good position. Finchy’s sort of probably playing for a contract and that’s sort of getting the best out of him on the weekend.
“Working with Andrew Johns in the off-season has really improved his game, so hopefully he can do it again for another 25 weeks.”
Though the Eels aren’t playing the Roosters until round 10, Cayless doesn’t think his halves (whomever that maybe) will need any extra protection when they become the focus of the Bondi defence.
“They’re smart enough to look after themselves.”
Click here To listen to the full length interview with Cayless - Read More, Here