Having played just seven minutes all NRL season, Daniel Alvaro is "super stoked" to be lending his services to the Warriors for a month.
The 27-year-old prop received a call from an Eels official on Friday morning advising him of the chance to go on loan and, after running it by his wife, agreed to join Warriors camp on the Central Coast.
The arrival of Alvaro and Parramatta teammate George Jennings couldn't be more timely, with Warriors quartet David Fusitu'a, Ken Maumalo, Agnatius Paasi and King Vuniyayawa flying home to be with their families in New Zealand on Monday.
Alvaro, whose only Telstra Premiership action this year was a minor interchange stint against Canberra after the Canterbury Cup was cancelled from round two, had previously been considering making himself available for the depleted Warriors.
"It did come up in my mind earlier, but at the same time, I still wanted to play for Parra as well," Alvaro said leading into Friday's clash with Wests Tigers at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
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"It's kind of a hard one to choose so I just stayed where I was. But when the opportunity came up, I grabbed it with both hands.
"The Eels are going really well so there's sort of no reason to change a winning team. And it's harder to crack at the moment when we can't play any reserve grade or anything.
"I'm just really happy to play some footy finally. It's just a bonus that I can get up here and help these lads out as well."
The 2018 Eels Player of the Year said most teams use similar attacking shapes, but learning the calls and timings would be his biggest test.
Alvaro would welcome any feedback from the Eels while he's away but will throw himself into his role at the 13th-placed Warriors.
"It just seems like a really good group. We've only been here for a day but you get that feel straight away," he said of his new teammates.
"They're really tight, they're a really good, respectful bunch of guys."
He aims to follow fellow prop Jack Hetherington, who is on loan from Penrith, after he showed plenty of aggression in a running battle with Roosters hardman Jared Waerea-Hargreaves on Saturday.
"Hopefully I'll get on the back of him and we'll try and do it together," Alvaro said.
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The Warriors and Panthers have reached an agreement for Hetherington to extend his loan stay for another four weeks.
While the side has been boosted by their new arrivals, hooker Nathaniel Roache said "it was a pretty sad moment" to bid farewell to Maumalo, Fusitu'a, Paasi and Vuniyayawa.
"I spent a lot of time in Fus's room ... We went down there and watched a lot of movies when you haven't got much to do," Roache said, later adding that Marvel films and rom-coms were popular.
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"Saying goodbye was definitely sad. But we definitely know that they're going for a good reason - there's a lot more than footy, they've got their families.
"Which is pretty sad because they were promised a long time ago that they'd be over here spending time with them.
"We support them 100 percent ... I'm sure the team footy-wise is going to miss them a lot."
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Roache, who hasn't played NRL since June 2019 due to knee and ankle surgeries, is aiming to return against Manly in round 13.
The 24-year-old is off contract at year's end but said he was yet to begin negotiations with the Warriors.
"I think they're just not trying to put too much pressure on me. They know I've had a pretty tough run, so they're saying get your body right and if you get the chance to play again, just have a crack," he said.
