‘You’ve got to ride them’: Tough love helps Eels power through injury crisis as stars eye early comeback
Parramatta’s injury crisis somehow got worse on Friday night, but there could be some good news on the horizon with a rep star set to return after next week’s bye.
Parramatta’s first bye of the season has come at the perfect time with the club’s heaving casualty ward expanding on Friday night with new recruit Joe Ofahengaue expected to miss several weeks with a calf injury.
Just days after he made the switch from the Wests Tigers, Ofahengaue limped off 10 minutes into Friday’s game against the Cowboys which the Eels won 24-16 thanks to a late Mitch Moses try.
The Eels headed into that game missing every forward who played in last year’s grand final due to injury, State of Origin duty or guys moving to different clubs.
They were without star props Junior Paulo and Reagan Campbell-Gillard, reliable edge options Shaun Lane and Ryan Matterson are both injured, while mid-season recruit Andrew Davey was out with a concussion.
The Ofahengaue injury is yet another setback, but Eels coach Brad Arthur says there could be some good news on the horizon.
“I think he had a calf issue in the pre-season. He’ll get scans, but we’ve got a fortnight off now so he’ll get some good rest,” he said.
“Hopefully we get Reggie back next game and Junior after Origin. Andrew Davey (could be back), Shaun Lane is a couple of weeks away and Waqa (Blake) is probably a week or two after that.
“We probably had seven or eight handy players out tonight.”
Despite all the injuries, Parramatta held on to move within two points of the top eight thanks to some of their unheralded forwards who were forced to step up.
Wiremu Greig was immense in the middle, running for 150 metres on a night he crashed over for the first try of his career, while Matt Doorey played 80 minutes on the left edge for the first time this year.
“You can focus on who’s out of the team or you can focus on who’s getting an opportunity, and all these guys, I’m so proud of them,” Arthur said.
“Especially the middle guys who are getting limited game time from week to week and then they come in and we get an injury early and we’re forced to tell them ‘we need you to hang in for us and keep fronting up’. They did a great job.”
Doorey’s performance was particularly important given he’s played limited minutes this season and was coming in for guys who rarely leave the field.
“I challenged him about being an 80-minute back-rower,” his coach said.
“When he gets tired and gets a tired head on, he’s got to keep turning up. There was a period where he dropped off a bit but then he came good.
“These guys need to learn that if they push through then they can fight through it and they’ll find another gear. That’s what it takes to be an NRL player.
“Sometimes you’re forced into giving them the extra time and you learn a bit more about them. You have to put them out there and you’ve got to leave them on so they learn a bit more about themselves.”
Skipper Clint Gutherson was proud of the big men who continue to get the job done, especially J’maine Hopgood who missed out on Origin selection but is just about the buy of the year.
“It has to be the next man up,” the fullback said.
“You’ve got to ride them – sometimes you’ve got to have a stern word to them out on the field – but they react well and that’s what you need them to do. I think with Joe going down, it’s going to be another next man up mentality.”
