Utility player Brad Takairangi and former Dragon Jai Field are battling to wear the No.7 for Parramatta in Friday night's clash with North Queensland at Bankwest Stadium, reports The Daily Telegraph.
With Mitchell Moses suffering a calf injury in the Eels' golden point victory over Canberra, coach Brad Arthur is still undecided on which player will partner Dylan Brown.
All three players participated in kicking practise on Monday morning but Arthur did not reveal which player he will chose when speaking to the press.
He did say that Brown will be the leading man for the Eels.
“Look, he will just stay in his jersey, the six,” Arthur said.
“But he will be the main man. He will run the team and look after them."
“It will be his team.”
Takairangi has overall experience on his side and has logged large minutes in the past playing in the halves, while Field, despite only 11 previous NRL appearances, has blistering speed and unrealised potential that could be released with extended game time.
Arthur has until Thursday to name his squad, but despite this he has already stated the increased responsibility Brown will be given.
“The beauty of it is that we have a really good forward pack that is smart and can do their job,” Arthur said.
“They will keep it simple and do exactly what Dylan needs them to do."
“And Gutho is a good talker and organiser who lives on the ball. So he will take a fair bit of responsibility. And Reedy (Mahoney) knows what to do.
“It is just everyone knowing their job and that will make it so whoever comes in only has to do their role."
“I don’t need them to be Mitchell Moses. They just need to do the role of that jersey.”