Eels rake is proving slippery
THE Parramatta Eels’ contract extension of prospective Queensland hooker Reed Mahoney is a shot across the bow, warning the Titans their chance to secure a bona fide No.9 for 2021 is fleeting.
The Titans’ lack of direction from hooker was a key factor in their 42-6 capitulation to Melbourne on Friday.
The match was Erin Clark’s fifth as an NRL starter and eighth in total, while 19-yearold back-up Tanah Boyd has played just 275 minutes as a hooker since transitioning from halfback.
The position has become one of the Titans’ most pressing needs if they are to push for a finals spot in 2021.
Parramatta’s Mahoney (pictured) has just signed a two-year contract extension worth about $400,000 a season, setting a bargain-bin price for a 22-year-old among the game’s best in a critical position.
Only Cameron Smith, Api Koroisau, Damien Cook, Harry Grant and Murwillumbah junior Reece Robson can claim stronger form than the Eels rake but none of them will line up for the Titans next year.
There are 13 NRL hookers off contract this year, including four starters for their teams.
They are Connor Watson of Newcastle, Jake Friend of the Sydney Roosters, Broncos rake Jake Turpin and Manly’s Danny Levi.
Watson, 24, is the brightest star of that group.
According to agent Clinton Schifcofske, “a couple of clubs” are circling the former Sydney Rooster, who signed a contract with the Knights on a $500,000-a-season deal three years ago.
Watson wishes to stay in Newcastle but the Knights’ salary cap position could force the rising New South Welshman out of the Steel City and into the Titans’ arms.
An X-factor hooker of Watson’s class could help forwards Moeaki Fotuaika, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and recruit Herman Ese’ese, another Knights-toTitans transfer, rise to new heights in 2021 under the sixagain rule.
The 258-game experience of 30-year-old Queenslander Friend wouldn’t go astray in the Titans pack either.
Among the up-and-comers available, the Titans could do worse than target either of Josh Hodgson’s Raiders deputies after Siliva Havili and youngster Tom Starling inspired Canberra to a shock upset of the Roosters on Thursday night.
Neither have secured an NRL home for 2021.
■ COWBOYS utility and Titans target John Asiata has postponed negotiations until he recovers from a knee injury.
AFTER walking smack bang into an ambush last weekend, Brad Arthur has brushed off any concern that Parramatta will get caught up in a sledging war with Wests Tigers this week over Ryan Matterson’s controversial departure.
As the bitter fallout from Matterson’s exit from the Tigers ramps up in the countdown to Thursday’s clash at Bankwest Stadium, Arthur has revealed that the Eels have the cavalry arriving, which includes the Tigers’ best player from last season in the shape of the hulking backrower.
Matterson (fractured finger) is expected to play after missing the loss to Manly, while star half Mitchell Moses (calf) and Blake Ferguson (knee swelling) are also expected back.
Arthur was blunt in saying he has no fears that Matterson will allow their preparations to be sidetracked. “No, he will be fine,” he said. “It is not about Ryan. It is about Parramatta and Wests Tigers.”
THURSDAY 7.50pm, Bankwest Stadium FRIDAY 6pm, QLD Country Bank Stadium 7.55pm, Suncorp Stadium SATURDAY 3pm, Central Coast Stadium 5.30pm, Netstrata Jubilee Stadium 7.35pm, GIO Stadium SUNDAY 2pm, McDonald Jones Stadium 4.05pm, CBus Super Stadium