What was Coach Anderson Thinking?

When I had seen the starting Eels line-up for the Friday nights re-match clash against the Dragons, I had to sit and ponder?

Which prop forwards would Coach Anderson start with?

Without a doubt in my mind, I thought back to 2009 when the Eels in the fourth qualifying final beat the Dragons.

They defended early and squandered Saints opportunities before Moi Moi and Mannah gave them momentum late in the first half to dominate for the rest of the match.

Seeing the Eels run out onto the paddock for the first time in 2010, it was to my surprise that I saw Justin Poore and Nathan Cayless as the starting props. I was immediately shocked.

Where was the road train with a seventh gear? The cult hero, Mr Fui Fui Moi Moi?

Coach Anderson has a massive dilemma on his hands. Should he always start games with Nathan Cayless, for reasons of loyalty or bench him. This would hand the captaincy over to Nathan Hindmarsh.

I thought of reasons why and I have come to the conclusion that I am in favour of Nathan Cayless remaining as starting prop, until he does not prove otherwise.

Justin Poore should have been the bench warmer for the first game of 2010, especially coming up against his old club, the Dragons.

I knew that as soon as Justin Poore got involved, that a penalty would have been given straight away. This putting the Eels on the back foot with no one to spark a early revival. And with that, Tony Archer blew his whistle.

A selfish penalty from prop Justin Poore against old team mate Mick Weyman, saw the Eels defending immediately in their own half.

From here they never recovered momentum, and with Jamie Soward's kicking game, were not able get back into the match.

A small revival came when Moi Moi entered in the 23rd minute, but by then, Saints were playing clinical sets of six.

The Eels being favourites this season need to knock up as many wins as soon as possible or they might find themselves in the familiar position of last year. Coach Anderson should have started with Cayless and the powerful Moi Moi.

I saw Moi Moi was not pleased with being the number one prop last year, and a big reason why the Eels outfit ran in second in 2009, coming off the bench in Friday Nights clash.

It's in the best interest for the Eels to always start Moi Moi to get the momentum going forward.

Justin Poore needs to prove himself in the Blue & Gold and until he does, Nathan Cayless should still be running on when the whistle gets blown.


Written by Cahn D. Cotter
16th March, 2010