Junior Paulo says the Eels have faith in Trent Barrett’s plan of attack as they prepare for Bulldogs

The two had never met, but Paulo, the halfback in a prop’s body, knew he would be working closely with the man.

To get a better picture of what he was walking into during the pre-season, Paulo sought advice from his NSW and Samoan representative teammates at Penrith, Nathan Cleary, Jarome Luai and Brian To’o.

“He’s our attacking coach, so he’s working with the halves but he’s finding ways to change our style of attack. It’s good because we knew exactly what he would bring,” Paulo says ahead of Sunday’s clash with Barrett’s former side Canterbury.

“Coming from a successful culture at Penrith before transitioning to the Bulldogs, a lot of the boys who I’ve been able to play with in that Penrith side, they all speak highly of what he’s been able to bring to their team and they’re still pretty much using the systems that he put into place.

“He’s got a very different approach and he’s very calm in terms of his coaching ability, he’s someone who’s played in big games himself and achieved phenomenal things in his career. He’s full of knowledge and that’s what he brings to the team.”

Barrett was mastermind of Penrith’s premiership-winning attack during his time at the club in 2019 and 2020 before his ill-fated stint at the Bulldogs. It’s a system he’s tried to replicate at the Eels this season to mixed results.

The Eels have won just two of six games and have looked clunky in attack as they struggle to find cohesion as a team with a mass of changes from last season, as well as added injury and suspension issues to start the year.

The addition of Josh Hodgson at hooker as a replacement for Bulldogs buy Reed Mahoney has also changed the way the Eels play and it’s a system they’re still getting used to.

Fox Sports stats show Hodgson is averaging 96.8 possessions, 31 tackles and 13 metres per game so far this year compared to Mahoney’s 116 possessions, 39.8 tackles and 25 metres per game across the same time period in 2022.

The Eels are also scoring an average of two fewer points, 120 running metres and a line-break less per game than at this time last year.

Paulo says the tweaks in style will just take time to click.

“We knew that heading into the season, there was a shorter preseason with a lot of guys with World Cup commitments,” he says.

“It’s always going to be hard to get combinations going.

“We have to get our job right, but over the past six weeks we haven’t played with the same 17 over back-to-back weeks. There’s been a lot of chopping and changing and a lot of guys out of position. But it doesn’t matter who gets put into what position you’ve got to execute a role.”

Paulo has been a major missing factor for the Eels over the past fortnight as he served a suspension for a grade two careless high tackle for a hit on Penrith’s Zac Hosking in the grand final rematch.

And for that he’s been duly punished at training along with Bailey Simonsson.

The pair have been on conditioning duties with minimal contact, and going into the club to train on their days off to make it up to the team.

“There is no down time. But without all the contact it’s been a bit of a freshen up,” he says.

“We’re pretty much just running with the trainers, and on the days off we’re coming in to do conditioning as well.

“It’s all a part of the consequence of what happens when you’re suspended.”

Paulo was binned in the final minute of the grudge match against the Panthers and feared he could have cost his side what was eventually a 17-16 golden-point win.

“The feeling was after I shook hands with the Penrith boys, I walked straight into the sheds because I was anxious about what was going to happen,” he says.

“You get the news that you’re going to be missing two weeks and that side of things was a bit of a disappointment knowing that my actions had let the team down. It could have potentially cost us the game as well.

“I’m not a good spectator. I get pretty frustrated but also the sense of letting the team down knowing you can’t be out there helping them out.

“The game against the Roosters, it was a tough slog out in the middle and I felt like I let the boys down by my actions and all you want to be able to do is go out there and repay them with a solid performance.”

His return to the field on Sunday helps bring the side up to almost full-strength with Shaun Lane, Ryan Matterson and now Paulo added back into the pack.