After four rounds of footy, Dyldam Parramatta Eels lock Joseph Paulo says the Blue and Gold camp is a positive one, but he and his fellow forwards won’t be taking their next challenge lightly.
Securing a 32-16 win over the Penrith Panthers on Saturday night in front of a home crowd, Paulo says it’s natural that both the fans and the media are feeling confident about the Eels’ prospects this season.
“When you win games people get excited, but we’re not getting ahead of ourselves,” Paulo said.
“A lot of us have tweeted that the tide will turn, and we’re hoping the tide is turning for our season.”
“The fans, they’ve put in and shown loyalty to us for the past two years and it’s been tough for them,
but we’re really enjoying playing in front of them and they’re really creating a great atmosphere for us.”
“I think we’re just enjoying our footy again.”
And when it comes to heading north of the border to Suncorp Stadium, there are plenty of threats in the opposing pack.
“Corey parker has been spearheading that forward pack for a while now,” Paulo said.
“He’s a hard worker; his hit ups and defence, his offloads, he creates that second phase [of play].”
“Obviously we’ll be trying to stop him and all the boys around there, Thaiday, Gillett.”
“We’ll be on our toes and working hard and just looking forward to the challenge this week.”
Paulo also admits the sledges have been flying between him and teammate Chris Sandow over goal-kicking duties for the Eels, with the cheeky halfback taking the opportunity to start some banter after Saturday night’s match.
“I got a text from Chrissy after the game,” Paulo said.
“So I said, you’re lucky I missed ‘cause you’re back in the team!”
“It’s always good to have Chrissy back, though.”
“You can see how important goal-kicking is and he did really well on the weekend.”
“He’s done the hard work in the off-season and it’s good to see him playing footy again.”
