Can Eels avoid the wooden spoon in 2019?

They’ve added some new faces to their squad in 2019, but the pressure is still going to be on Parramatta as they look to avoid back-to-back wooden spoons. Junior Paulo, Blake Ferguson and Shaun Lane are the major additions to the Eels, while the likes of Corey Norman (St George Illawarra) and Jarryd Hayne (unsigned) are the biggest exits. Norman’s departure is set to shake-up the Eels’ playmaking combination with the likes of Dylan Brown and Jaeman Salmon options to partner Mitchell Moses, who will be under a lot of pressure to perform for both the team and his own future given he’s off-contract at
the end of the season. Ferguson adds plenty of class and experience to the backline, while the club will be glad to have Clint Gutherson fit for the season opener after he missed the first five rounds last year due to an ACL injury.Up front, the returning Paulo adds plenty of power to the Eels’ forward pack which struggled for go-forward in 2018. Lane has also proven to be an attacking threat on the edge after his best ever season at Manly. Overall, it’s a pretty familiar-looking line-up for the Eels in 2019, so the heat will be on Brad Arthur — who’s also off-contract at the end of the season — to breathe some life into the team as they look to recapture the form that took them finals football in 2017.