When Lachlan Galvin turned down the chance to join Parramatta last season, the decision was all the more painful for the club because they should never have let him leave in the first place.
The Eels tried to buy back the farm after deciding Galvin, who always dreamed of wearing the blue and gold, wasn’t up to it while in their junior pathways system.
We didn’t leave because of other kids,” his father James once told me. “It was more the coaches thought Lachie wasn’t going to get there.”
It was a costly mistake, one the Eels don’t want to repeat. Which is why, in their quest to find a long-term halves partner for Mitchell Moses, they are entering into one of the most unique contractual calls in NRL history.
Their decision to offer in-demand Melbourne playmaker Jonah Pezet a one-year contract, at first glance, appears an exercise in short-termism. What is the point, many Parramatta fans have already vented online, of bringing in a half and developing combinations, only to let him walk out the door in 12 months’ time?
Ironically, coach Jason Ryles has made the call with the future at the forefront of his mind. Parramatta have some of the best junior halves in the game already in their system. The pick of the litter could well be Lincoln Fletcher and Lorenzo Talataina, but there’s also Talen Risati and Te Hurinui Twidle.
Fletcher is a genuine organising halfback, an Australian Schoolboys star who is still eligible for SG Ball after playing in last year’s grand final of that competition. Talataina is five-eighth in the Dylan Brown mode, has a better kicking game, was the SG Ball player of the year and got a taste of NSW Cup late last season.
The Eels feel, if given time to develop, the answer to their long-term halves conundrum is already on their books.
Which is where Pezet comes in. Ryles has a strong relationship with Pezet from their time together in Melbourne and believes the 22-year-old will help bring through the crop of promising playmakers, who are probably a season away from the rigours of first-grade football.
If the Eels were to sign Pezet on a longer contract, they would run the risk of losing a talented junior who felt his path to the NRL was blocked.
The move has the potential to benefit all parties. The Eels should be competitive next season with a spine that includes Moses, Pezet, Ken Thornett medalist Isaiah Iongi at fullback and a hooker rotation of Ryley Smith and Tallyn Da Silva.
It gives Pezet – whose father Troy played a season for Parramatta in 1998 – a chance to add to his 18 NRL appearances after being stuck behind Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes in Melbourne. And when his Eels deal expires, he will shift to Brisbane to replace Adam Reynolds as the long-term No.7.
The arrival of Pezet at Parramatta, pending a medical clearance next week when he comes back from a holiday, will have a knock-on effect. Dean Hawkins, who made a dozen first-grade appearances in the halves for the Eels next year, has been granted a release to pursue a long-term deal in the English Super League.
And Joash Papalii, who filled in capably in a number of positions last season without cementing any one of them, will be given more time to develop, most likely off the bench.
The Pezet move is in keeping with Ryles’ philosophy of setting Parramatta up for the future, rather than chasing quick wins that could leave the club exposed down the track. If he was after the latter, he would have hung onto Clint Gutherson, Regan Campbell-Gillard, Maika Sivo, Joe Ofahengaue and Bryce Cartwright.
Knowing when to blood a talented young half isn’t a problem unique to Parramatta, with clubs all across the NRL grappling with quandary. Sometimes a bridging player can be a bridge too far.
At Manly, they have in Onitoni Large and Joe Walsh – the latter made his NRL debut off the bench in the last game of the season – two or the most exciting juniors in the game. Had Daly Cherry-Evans stayed for one more season, it may have turned out to be the perfect time for one or both to come through. However, the departure of “DCE” prompted the Sea Eagles to find a replacement, resulting in a three-year deal for Canberra’s Jamal Fogarty. Only time will tell if that is a year or two too long.
Then there’s the expected arrival of Cherry-Evans at the Roosters, which has already resulted in Sandon Smith being squeezed out to Newcastle. How long will Hugo Savala and NSW under-19s halfback Toby Rodwell be prepared to bide their time?
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