Parramatta have locked in a group of stars heading into the new season, but a long-term extension still looms for Eels hooker Reed Mahoney.
Following the re-signing of Shaun Lane last week, Mahoney is said to be deep in negotiations with the club.
The 21-year-old, who has been touted as a future State of Origin representative for Queensland, is currently the only member of Parramatta's expected starting 13 without a long-term deal to his name.
The Nambour product is looking to settle down in western Sydney, after emerging as the Eels' preferred hooker last season. Mahoney is looking to secure a new deal prior to Thursday's season-home-opener.
“Parramatta’s a great club. They’re heading in the right direction and you can see now, we’ve moved into a new facility,” Mahoney told Fox Sports on Monday.
“And in the years to come we’re going to have a high performance centre here that’s going to be one of the best. It’s a great club to be a part of.
“But I’m just worried about playing my footy at the moment.”
Parramatta will clash with Cantebury this Thursday at Bankwest Stadium, kick-starting the 2020 NRL season.
His signature Can’t come quick enough !!!!!! O’Neil needs to get it done before Thursday. 🤬
settle shuts13, it will come. There is no indication he is leaving.
No rush. He isn’t going anywhere.
His long term future with Parra is just about settled.
Reed surprised me last year with some fantastic dummy half work and I can see him as a real leader after Cutho. He needs to have a good second year to prove his quality and get that long term contract. Reed IMO needs to improve his one on one tackles (slipped off a few last year).
FootyFan2016 I don’t think his defence was an issue. After all he made the most tackles in the NRL last season.
His passing out of dummy half is all class and he has a good kicking game to.
What he needs to work on is his running game out of dummy half.
He will take over as the QLD SOO hooker.
Kev. I know he makes more than his share of tackles however he is 6th in the comp for missed tackles, Moses is 4th. I know he makes about a thousand more than others but when he misses one it usually leads to a try / break as he is in the middle.
FootyFan2016. Reed needs more support from the other middle guys. Most of his defensive issues come down to fatigue I think. The other guys around the ruck need to pull their finger out a bit and maybe he won’t be left with so many 1 on 1 tackles? We were very lazy around the ruck as a team last year, that needs to improve.
Eels47,
A lot of the other team members do come from Penrith. As sad as it is to say. Defence hasn’t always been a main priority at the Panthers either. 😬