Parramatta Eels coach Brad Arthur has a massive selection headache on his hands as he weighs his options between veteran Josh Hodgson and young star Brendan Hands.
Hodgson was brought in at the start of the season to replace the departing Reed Mahoney and despite putting on some solid showings, has yet to fill the boots of the former hooker.
Coming off an ACL tear that ruled him out of the 2022 season, Arthur has been reluctant to play Hodgson for prolonged periods and has put his trust in Hands to cover for the Englishman.
The 23-year-old has been a shining light in a disappointing start to the season for the Eels and has now found himself in a prime position to become a permanent starter going forward.
“I went to Kellyville for preseason training for Parramatta, I spent some time with the players talking about the arrival of Josh Hodgson,” The Daily Telegraph’s David Riccio told SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“I couldn’t tell you how excited and how pumped they were to have Josh Hodgson providing service and class out of dummy-half.
“Particularly Mitchell Moses couldn’t wait to play with Hodgson, everything he had done in preseason training was outstanding, particularly his work ethic, he turned up to training well in advance of what his actual start date was.
“But there’s an issue here with Josh Hodgson, he played 31 minutes last weekend, he came from the field, he had one run, largely no impact, to be fair, Paramatta were terrible in that first half.”
Hodgson’s minutes have progressively decreased from the first three games of the season where he played every minute before a role-sharing role with Hands began in Round 4.
“He (Hodgson) comes from the field and Brendan Hands comes on and plays the rest of the game, Hands has certainly sharpened up that attack, Parramatta were a far better side in that second half,” Riccio added.
“There’s a big decision here… Josh Hodgson is on a one-year contract with another year option in the club’s favour, which means if the club doesn’t want to go forward with Josh Hodgson next year they don’t have to.
“I’m intrigued to see how this unfolds this weekend… but going forward, Brendan Hands, as far as I’m concerned, it looks like he’s the future for Parramatta.
“This one-two punch, is Brad Arthur better off going with another forward off the bench than two dummy-halves?”
Hands is contracted with the Eels until the end of 2026 on a more favourable deal than his hooker partner Hodgson.
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