Eels title charge “top priority” for returning Mahoney after Origin heartache

Reed Mahoney declares Parramatta’s NRL title tilt is his “top priority” for the rest of the year, as he looks to wash away heartache over missing his State of Origin debut through a cruel mid-season injury.

Mahoney has done a lot of watching recently. Just last night, the Eels hooker had to watch his Queensland teammates avoid the 3-0 whitewash in 2021’s Origin series. He should have been one of the Maroons making their debut in “the game’s greatest rivalry” this year, especially with Harry Grant out of action thanks to a hamstring issue.

His chances were cruelled, however, just ahead of Game 1.

That same shoulder injury ⁠— suffered against the Knights back in round 13 ⁠— forced him to miss two blistering wins over the Tigers and the Bulldogs as well as his team’s narrow 13-12 loss to the Panthers.

Reed says he’s “done” watching. There’s nothing he wants more than to be out on the paddock, playing in the Eels’ outsider tilt for the NRL 2021 title.

“I’m not too good on the sidelines,” Mahoney admitted ahead of his return.

“Every game out I was on the edge of my seat. It’s been a frustrating couple of weeks, for sure, but I’ve worked hard off the field and at training. I can’t wait to be back.”

The 23-year-old did add it was “unfortunate” he’d missed out on his first Origin opportunity, but is drawing on that disappointment for one thing ⁠— leading the Eels right into the NRL premiership race that, for most of the season, has been a two-team battle between Melbourne and the Panthers.

“I’m even more hungry to perform for my team,” he said.

“We’ve got eight weeks to go until the finals. It was disappointing, yeah, but there’ll be plenty more time for [Origin]. No point kicking stones… we’ve got to keep moving forward and I have to come back and perform well for the team.

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“Parramatta is my top priority now. I’ve been in full training for nearly two weeks now, plenty of contact. It’s feeling probably even stronger than it was before.”

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Coach Brad Arthur too says he’s looking forward to the “threat” Mahoney brings to his Parramatta outfit every time he lines up in the number nine jumper.

“Reed was close last game, he really wanted to play, but we thought he hadn’t done enough. The opportunity to miss one more game, we wanted to be 100% on that shoulder so that we didn’t have any more issues,” he said. “He’s raring to go… you can see the difference he’s made to us already at training.

“He takes pressure off the halves, and Gutho. I find those four blokes, in that spine, have got a good combination, and he’s a great threat out of dummy half. It keeps the opponents guessing, and opens up more opportunities that we have been missing.”

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The Eels play the Titans (10th) on Friday night on the Gold Coast, before back-to-back Thursday games against the Raiders and Roosters to end the month.

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