Joey jumps to the Eels

Andrew Johns is set to become a coaching assistant at Parramatta for the 2008 NRL season. Eels coach Michael Hagan yesterday confirmed he has spoken with Johns about coaching Parramatta's halves regularly and the rugby league legend was keen, pending details being sorted out.

"It's something Andrew wants to do and he would be very helpful to our first grade halves Tim Smith and Brett Finch and young players like Kris Keating," said good friend Hagan, who coached Johns for much of his career at Newcastle.

Johns retired early this year because of a recurring neck injury which could have left him seriously impaired if it were aggravated. He retired as a player rated by many as the best in the game's history. But that rating was sullied when Johns recently admitted to a long-term dependence on amphetamines.

The Australian Rugby Union sacked him from an intended role as a coaching consultant during the Wallabies' World Cup campaign in France. Hagan said the Parramatta involvement could be therapeutic for Johns.

"It's something he needs to get his teeth into; it will be good for him and good for Parramatta," said Hagan, who attended Johns's wedding last Saturday.

The coach said Parramatta would start full-time training for the 2008 season next week and he hoped Johns could start his new role in December. Hagan said former champion Canterbury goalkicker Daryl Halligan had also been signed to a two-year contract as a consultant.

"Daryl was a great benefit to our kickers Luke Burt, Krisnan Inu and Jarryd Hayne this season," he said.

Meanwhile, the silly season has already started with speculation about where young superstars Inu and Hayne will be in 2009 after coming off contract next season.

Parramatta's difficulty will be fitting them both under the salary cap and Hayne has been linked with South Sydney, for whom his father Manoa Thompson played.

Big Wednesday deadline to secure NRL's best

Rugby League's silly season is about to get underway on November 1 as clubs allowed to negotiate with players on the open market with some of the NRL's brightest and best coming under the spotlight.

Clubs and players were previously only allowed to negotiate after June 30, but the new move should allow players to concentrate on their football during the season rather than be distrated by trade talks.

Under the new rules, players will not be able to be registered with their new club and the NRL until round thirteen 2008, unless the player's current club allows.

Parramatta pair Jarryd Hayne and Krisnan Inu are expected to create a bidding frenzy if not secured by the Eels prior to next Wednesday.

The same goes for Melbourne star Israel Folau, who has been compared to the great Mal Meninga and is widely recognised as the future of the game having made his debut for Australia at just eighteen years of age.

The other big names on the market are: Braith Anasta, Matt Bowen, Danny Buderus, Matt Cooper, Brett Finch, Dallas Johnson, Luke Lewis, Benji Marshall, Nathan Merritt, Brett Stewart, Willie Tonga, Taniela Tuiaki, Anthony Tupou, Trent Waterhouse, and Carl Webb.

Parramatta didn't spend at all for season 2008 and it's thought the plan was to keep as much cash possible in the coffers given the calibre of players off contract.

Hayne's manager Wayne Beavis could have had his young charge re-signed to the Eels on a long-term deal mid-season but opted to wait on the basis that his worth would increase as the season went on.

At the time, Beavis said Hayne's worth was equal to that of Greg Inglis who earns $400,000 a year at the Melbourne Storm.

"Jarryd is an exceptional talent," Beavis told Fairfax newspapers in July.

"You only had to see the two tries he scored in the Origin series to know that. Parramatta have flagged to us that they would like to negotiate a new contract, but there's no gamble in Jarryd waiting, because he's just going to get better.

"Jarryd's happy at Parramatta and the club has been very supportive of him, but I've got to do the best for the kid. His earning capacity was going to go up even if he stayed on the wing, but his value has got the potential to go through the roof if he shows what he can do at fullback. I see a clear parallel between Jarryd and Greg Inglis, in that Inglis rose very quickly through his club and then through representative football, and Jarryd, who is 12 months younger than the other bloke, is doing the same."

If the Eels are fortunate enough to retain the services of both Hayne and Inu, it is highly unlikely that Brett Finch will remain at the club, despite encouraging signs of a combination developing between he and halfback Tim Smith towards the back end of this season.

It was rumoured that Finch could be on the move to St. George-Illawarra who would be in the position to let him play in his preferred role of halfback, despite buying Jamie Soward.

Yesterday, the North Queensland Cowboys began discussions with fullback Matt Bowen with an eye to securing his services until the end of 2011.

Bowen is also managed by Beavis but it's thought that re-sgning the Townsville crowd-favourite will be a no-brainer given Bowen's reluctance to leave far north Queensland.

"Today was the first step in a long process," Cowboys boss Peter Parr told News Limited.

"It was a good, positive meeting. Wayne will go back and talk to Matty and we will go from there." "We didn't discuss dates or time limits," Parr said.

"As you do every season, we have a few guys coming off-contract, but at the moment Matty is our priority."

Also in the easy-basket is Brett Stewart who is believe to be close to agreeing to terms with the Sea-Eagles.

Burt and Moimoi among Eels re-signings

Parramatta have announced the retention of Luke Burt and Fuifui Moimoi among four contract extensions for the NRL club.

Fullback Burt agreed to terms until the end of 2010 while New Zealand Test squad prop Moimoi will remain at the Eels for the next two years.

Parramatta chief executive Denis Fitzgerald also announced two year deals for young up and comers Taulima Tautai and Tim Mannah.

Tautai played centre in the Eels' Premier League premiership-winning side on Sunday while Mannah was prop in the losing Jersey Flegg grand final side.

"The future of the club looks very bright when players of this calibre re-sign," said Fitzgerald.

"Luke and Fuifui have been regular members of the NRL squad for a number of years now and had tremendous seasons in 2007.

"Taulima and Tim were both involved in grand finals in Premier League and Jersey Flegg respectively and will be pushing for a crack at the NRL in 2008."

Eels claim thrilling last minute Premier League win

Match SummaryThe Parramatta Eels have taken out the 2007 Premier League title with a thrilling last minute victory over the North Sydney Bears at Telstra Stadium this afternoon.

The Eels led 10-4 at half time. North Sydney opened the scoring after five minutes with Yileen Gordon scoring a powerful try. The missed conversion from Williams left the Bears up 4-0.

It wasn’t long before the Eels responded, with Justin Horo running onto a superb pass to score and put the Eels up 6-4 after nine minutes. The half remained scoreless until the 35th minute after that point, with the Bears looking like the better team but with handling errors costing them dearly.

The Eels pushed out to a 10-4 lead with Blake Green throwing a superb cut out pass to Iwi Hauraki. The Bears had an attacking opportunity just before the break, but again the ball was dropped.

Seven minutes after half time the Bears pulled back to 10-8 with Troy Boston chasing a pinpoint kick to score in the corner.With 17 minutes to go, Parramatta were penalised for a strip and the ensuing penalty goal from Joe Williams levelled the match at 10-all.

Norths then added four more points a minute later, with Reece Simmonds latching onto a cut out pass from David Peachey. Joel Reddy levelled the game back up at 14-all with a superb individual try, running past the entire Norths team to dot down in the corner.

After both teams missed field goals, Joe Williams put the Bears up 15-14 with three minutes to go.

In what is becoming a Premier League tradition, the match was not done with. Norths were penalised for a strip, and the Eels turned down the penalty goal.

The move – which took a 50/50 kick into a try scoring opportunity or an easy field goal opportunity paid off, with Weller Hauraki crashing over to score the match winning try with 15 seconds to go.

Aaron Wood added the conversion as the Eels ran out 20-15 winners, claiming their third Premier League title in a row.