Denan Kemp has slammed the Parramatta Eels for not having an experienced replacement for injured halfback Mitchell Moses and for their treatment of young half Blaize Talagi.
In their Round 3 clash against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Eels’ playmaker Mitchell Moses suffered a fractured foot ruling him out until Round 12. For the past two rounds, coach Brad Arthur has opted for a halves pairing of Talagi and Dylan Brown, who have an average age of 21.
Speaking on Morning Glory with Matty Johns, Kemp criticised the Eels’ roster choices.
“I cannot for the life of me understand why, in your top 30, you don’t have a journeyman seven there in case Mitch goes down. It boggles the mind,” Kemp said.
“Dylan’s 23. We’re talking about a guy who’s still super young and what frustrates me is that if you play six or seven… then surely you can play seven… they’re different positions!
“It’s the only position on the field where we go ‘Oh, well surely you can play the other one’. We don’t go to props and say ‘Oh, well you can play 13’, or we don’t go to backrowers and say you can definitely play prop.”
“When you look at it, (Talagi) was playing fullback in NSW cup, comes in and plays centre… then he gets moved into six with… Dylan Brown, who’s not a seven yet, so it’s like you’re setting this kid up for failure.”
Matty Johns also criticised the Eels’ treatment of Blaize Talagi, who was left out of Parramatta’s team this week in favour of Daejarn Asi.
“Really tough call on Blaize,” Johns said.
“I thought he was fantastic when they played him in the outside backs against Manly, then they put him at six which I thought was really tough given he was playing with Dylan who’s not really a player manager and then he gets dropped.
“I find that strange and I find it unfair on the kid… Dylan’s not a man manager and suddenly you’re asking too much of a kid.”
Parramatta this week play the North Queensland Cowboys at home, as they look to bounce back from an embarrassing 41-8 loss to the Canberra Raiders the week before.