Eric Grothe has retired and Timana Tahu has purportedly left, so the Eels would have thought that they could focus on training in the New Year as they prepare for the 2011 season right? Wrong!

Eels utility Tom Humble, who is highly rated by many Eels officials, and former Eels halfback Peter Sterling, was spending time with his family in Queensland over the Christmas period, before the floods struck leaving Humble stranded in QLD.

Whilst the plan for Humble was initially to fly out of Rockhampton, that’s no longer an option given the heavy flooding there, so Emerald is the new departing port for Humble, and with some luck and with no further heavy rain, Humble will be out by tomorrow.

‘I should be able to get to Emerald,” Humble told the Herald last night. ”The water’s going down so I should be right. As long as we don’t get any more rain out west, hopefully I’ll be gone by Wednesday.”

Humble should make it back to training in the nick of time, as the Eels will once again begin their pre-season training on Thursday as they look to perform better than a 12th placed finish in 2010.

Whilst the area Humble was visiting family in wasn’t the worst hit, Humble still treads carefully and keep an open mind to the situation as the town has run out of bread and milk.

”The town’s run out of bread and milk, but it’s not too bad,” he said. ”I’m not really bothered by it because there’s plenty of food around. There’s a few people panicking and stocking up on all sorts of things but you don’t really need milk and bread. There’s water in the tap and we’ve got plenty of meat and a bit of other stuff like packets of pasta.

”People in other towns are losing houses, losing properties, crops and cars. We’re all right … Nothing’s really been damaged – there’s just a few tadpoles swimming in the backyard.”

Both Eels CEO Paul Osborne and new Eels coach Stephen Kearney have been in touch with the young half, as he looks to maintain his fitness following a heavy training regime for the Eels that involved an Army style camp just before Christmas.

‘We had a pretty big eight weeks [before Christmas] so I want to maintain my fitness,” he said.

Osborne said: ”I’ve been talking to him every couple of days. We’ve got him booked on a flight on Wednesday so hopefully he’ll be all right to get that. It’s just one of those things. Training’s the least of the problems when you think of what’s going on up there.”

Humble, who made his debut against the Manly Sea Eagles in Round 10, played 6 matches last year, and is touted by the future half for the Eels, by former Eels halfback and legend Peter Sterling.

By ricky

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