- The player’s role has changed after a recent losing streak
- The coach was asked about the new role and why it had changed.
- His response was strange and also made his captain laugh.
Parramatta’s coach and captain celebrated their victory over the Sharks on Thursday night by making jokes that one of their star players was dumb, even though he is studying for a master’s degree.
Star halfback Mitch Moses made a brilliant return from a long layoff with a broken foot on Thursday, starring in a surprise 34-22 win over Cronulla that will give Parramatta a glimmer of hope they can achieve something this year.
It comes a week after the club sacked 11-year coach Brad Arthur in a failed attempt to poach super-coach Wayne Bennett, who eventually signed with South Sydney.
The Eels also welcomed captain Clint Gutherson, who also returned from injury and was instrumental in the victory.
During the post-match press conference, Parramatta coach Trent Barrett was asked about Shaun Lane, whose role has changed in recent weeks with the striker now coming off the bench to play in the middle of the park.
Barrett was asked about Lane’s new duties and reduced minutes, and the resulting exchange was strange.
Parramatta Eels interim coach Trent Barrett and captain Clint Gutherson share a chuckle after being asked about Shaun Lane’s new role.
Lane (pictured carrying the ball against Cronulla) now comes off the bench to play limited minutes in the middle of the park for the Eels.
“When we can get 80 minutes out of (backrowers) Kelma (Tuilagi) and Carty (Bryce Cartwright), we free ourselves up to do some things with our bench,” Barrett said.
‘And just with Laney, it takes away all the thinking by putting him in the middle. She is a big body and this is how she can help us.”
Fox League’s Lara Pitt asked, “Why is this funny?”
“No comment,” Gutherson responded.
“Laney is a very smart man,” Barrett said with a smile just as the news conference ended.
While Barrett and Gutherson thought the exchange was hilarious, the insinuations that Lane isn’t smart couldn’t be further from the truth.
The forward is combining his NRL career with studies, completing a master’s degree in positive psychology at the University of Melbourne.
Lane won the Ken Thornett Medal as Parramatta Player of the Year in 2022 and 2023 while juggling university studies at the same time.
Lane has produced his own mental health documentary where he has spoken about his father’s battle with depression and his good friend Kurt Drysdale (pictured together), who suffered a catastrophic spinal injury that left him a paraplegic.
It comes after completing a postgraduate diploma in psychology at the University of New South Wales and an undergraduate diploma in health sciences at the University of Sydney.
He also released his first full-length documentary this year, Out of My Lane. The production is a deeply personal account in which a range of athletes and experts discuss mental health, including Socceroos captain Mat Ryan.
The documentary becomes emotional and raw, and includes Lane remembering the time he heard his father talk on the phone about his desire to end his life when he was just a child.
He also talks about his childhood friend Kurt Drysdale, who suffered a catastrophic spinal injury that left him paraplegic the same week Lane made his NRL debut.
“You can overlook how lucky you are,” Lane said.
‘What happened to Kurt is part of my history that I look at; That really makes me grateful for the things that I do because it’s very emotional for me and very relevant to a lot of things in my life.
‘When I talk about the contrast in that week of my debut, it always catches me. It all comes down to chance.’
