Isaiah Papali’i has informed the club he is leaving in 2023
Isaiah Papali’i has informed the Eels that he will be leaving the Club in 2023.
The Club worked with Isaiah and his management team to remain with the Club beyond his current contract including a significant upgrade for 2022, however he has chosen to take up an offer with another Club.
Isaiah made a terrific contribution and has provided great value to the Club in 2021, and both Isaiah and the Club are committed to another strong year in the Blue and Gold in 2022.
We wish Isaiah and his family all the best in the future.
Weeks of speculation came to an abrupt end today when it was confirmed that Isaiah Papali’i has chosen to accept a lucrative offer from the Wests Tigers. The Tigers had tabled a 3-year contract worth well in excess of $600,000 a season as opposed to Parramatta’s 2-year extension that was initially valued at $425,000 a season per media reports but also included a significant upgrade for 2022.
Obviously this a significant loss for the Parramatta Eels, there is no need to sugarcoat that fact. Isaiah Papali’i was a revelation in 2021 and deservedly earned a positional award in the Dally Ms as a result. He brought huge energy and impact to the club across both the edges and the ruck and looked like he had finally realised his latent potential after languishing at the Warriors for a number of years.
As a fan I figuratively find myself wearing two hats in this situation. Obviously and primarily that of the Blue & Gold but also as a fan of the code itself. In that sense this is a bittersweet outcome. I can’t begrudge a player looking to maximise their earnings in the short window they have available. Hell, we need only look to Keegan Hipgrave to see how quickly and unfairly a young career can be snuffed out. It is absolutely fine for it to be the prerogative of any player to secure the richest contract they can.
Yet, with that Blue & Gold cap on it is tough to see this as anything but a poor decision leveraging short term outcomes. Isaiah’s potential extension with the Eels would have set him up to contend for the premiership for the next three years and then position himself to cash in on a mega-contract and the end of 2024 where he would be in his physical prime at the age of 26.
On the flipside, Mark O’Neill stuck to his guns and that can be a tough thing to do in the modern NRL where desperate clubs throw around hefty contracts. I don’t begrudge him that call at all. Maintaining a competitive roster and a healthy salary cap will naturally lead to tough spots and this is one of them.
Isaiah’s departure in conjunction with the loss of Marata Niukore (another fully understandable situation given what the New Zealand Warriors offered) now leaves the Eels two backrowers down and O’Neill in a tricky spot for 2023. The immediate focus will clearly be on the retention of Clinton Gutherson, Reed Mahoney and Junior Paulo but there is now some significant ground to cover even beyond them. That is equally exciting and nerve-wracking but there is no doubt that the Eels will have the funds available to be aggressive in the pursuit of whoever they identify as the best fit.
Ultimately, what underlines all of this is that the Eels have shown themselves to be among the top clubs when it comes to talent development. The career trajectories of both Papali’i and Niukore took a meteoric rise by joining Parramatta and that speaks massively to the temperament and talents of Brad Arthur and his supporting staff. O’Neill and Arthur have shown as astute eye for overlooked or unwanted prospects with great potential and then displayed the savvy to bring out the best in who they recruit.
As for Isaiah Papali’i, I look forward to him consolidating his form in 2022 and helping the Eels chase down that elusive premiership. There would be no better way to send both he and Marata off.
Forty20
Have to say, I’m more dirty on Ice than the club for this. He’s a non spine position who was a fringe first grader 12 months ago. We offered him a fair upgrade. What else can you do? That said, if we lose Rheed I will be absolutely filthy with Mark O’Neil and will find that hard to forgive.
Well said Soren. You set your price and the market said he was worth that much more to a more desperate team. Securing Gutherson, Mahoney and Paulo is going to the big litmus test now.
As frustrated as I am that Ice has knocked our offer back, I really hope the extra funds can be used to cut the rumours and lock down Junior, Reed and Gutho. Personally, our middle forwards are quite stacked when you think of RCG, Junior, Brown nailing down the starting spots. Throwing 600k on an edge back rower may be a bit excessive when there are other holes in our squad that need addressing. As much as I would have loved Ice to stay over Matto or Lane, I trust the club know what they are doing and also unearthing the next value for money signing as Brad has done time and time again recently.
Can’t disagree
Can you pay overs for a player who is young with enormous potential and voted equal best player in his position for this season? Don’t write him a blank cheque of course but I also don’t think the amount the Tigers forked out is unreasonable. The board have ultimately shot themselves in the foot with this one.
It is a tricky proposition. Matching those big offers can be a slippery slope with the salary cap. History may very well go on to show that we should have matched the Tigers but Mark O’Neill set his price and stuck to it and that is the right process the vast majority of the time.
I think if Parra offered 600k for a backrower in that scenario Old Timer, I’d be disappointed
Let’s hope he is a two season wonder, I won’t care much after that.
It’s hard because the knee jerk reaction had me angry at the club and time will tell if the management are up to the task I do question some recent decisions ie.. negotiations, extending BA. But I give benefit of the doubt for now.
For Isaiah I will not critizie him a player doesn’t owe any club loyalty clubs don’t show that to players good luck to him.
In saying that it hurts seeing a player like him who excels on and off the field it’s hard to see how a club wouldn’t fight for him especially with the amount of dead shits running around the game you want to lockdown someone like Ice.
You do look to keep blokes like Ice and I am devastated. But 600k is overs. It’s that simple for mine
It is and I believe paying overs in on forwards is a recipe for disaster.
That been said having so many off contract players at 1 time is in my opinion a mistake from the board.
I think for me I was happy to see the board be tough with Gutho and was ready to see him go I was confident Ice was staying I think many were aswell.
It is what is that’s the game another ice is around the corner players come and go enjoy and support them when they are in your jersey Boo them after
When your roster becomes congested with high demand players, you should be near winning the comp.(if you have chosen wisely). At the end of last season we started to look like contenders and we now have 2022 to capitalise, let’s see if we can hold it together.
We also get 2022 to assess/adjust roster strength for 2023 and beyond. If the salary cap is a level playing field across the NRL, then all clubs should hit the same peak roster dilemma as us. Is it a level playing field?
You know the answer to that 🤣
An extra $450k + 1 year $675 k … That’s $$$$ for your family. Be Real. He gave us great returns for our paltry investment. It was a win/win. Look what we got out of Lane for our investment this season. Look what we pay our other backrowers. We have lost a lot of mongrel.
Hard to knock Ice’s call financially. From a footy perspective time will tell
12 months ago no one knew who he was and now people are blowing up the club didn’t give him $600k plus based off one good year. Good luck to him, in my opinion he’ll never be worth this much again so it’s best for himself to cash in and it’s what he did.
Fair play to him. And fair call from Parra
Good luck to the young man. I hope his experience as a highly paid forward recruit to the Tigers works out for him, he has that clubs recent history against him. He will be in his age prime when he comes off contract next time and I can not help but think this decision might end up being short term $ gain for long term pain for him. For his sake I hope I am wrong.
Once you start paying +600 000 for edge forwards they need to be absolutely elite. If we had paid that to keep him what would Jnr or Mahoney be worth? Good clubs let good players leave and don’t get caught up with matching money from desperate clubs for edge forwards. The Storm have let Tohu Harris, Finucane and Tino all go. They wanted to keep them all but had a limit for that position they would not exceed. All are representative players but they are not spine and are not front row.
I am really sad to see him go, but if this helps us keep Mahoney or Jnr or Dylan then I am fine with it. If we do not keep our spine and Jnr it will be a little harder to accept. Of course that will depend on the asking price as I don’t want my club to be held to ransom not matter who the player is.
Well said Shelley
The key now is the retention of the spine and our senior front rower. Always a tough call when there’s new team entering the space, and desperate clubs wanting to impress their fans with signings ,even if they are 18 months away. That’s part of the issue that the NRL legislated to allow contracts to be negotiated so far in advance, probably shows that the CEO and Chairman don’t get what drives the fans.
Basically, MarkO’Neil has to satisfy the needs of the club and get signatures on extensions, dare I say that’s what he is paid the big dollars for. If he misses out, then I would trust the club looks elsewhere for a HOF, as a miss of that magnitude can’t be allowed.
A critical next month awaits, clickbait headlines from Slothfield, Hoops, Read and others , will drive us all mad, they need to be ignored and that’s tough at times. Oh well, as Rex Mossop often said, we need some forward progress 🥴
The club has a recruitment and retention plan, not just head of football. I am more than comfortable that we wouldn’t be bullied by agents. And if players make solely financial decisions, so be it.
i don’t want to lose more players Derek, and it is a test of the club. But for mine the test is about staying on course.
There’s a recurring issue which is a little infuriating, looking at reports , Ice was offered late in the piece $550k, which would could well have led to him extending. The lowball tactic misfired again, similar to Stefano, lowball then come to an offer which would have likely kept him. As with Guthos last contract, moved it up after trying to lowball.
My inclination is that this tactic is driven by basically one person on on the RT, and it hasn’t helped. If there is no traction with our spine and Junior, then maybe that person shouldn’t expect an extension himself.
Sounds harsh, but let’s see what happens in the near term with others we need to secure
What I can’t understand is that any parra fan can
See papalii & nukuire have more to offer than
Lane & Maddison. Doesn’t make sense they let these 2 go.
You do realise that there are different dollar amounts involved? And that it’s also not a matter of not wanting to keep them.
Look at the clubs splashing the cash too. Good luck to the players
Like most others, I’m disappointed but can understand the outcome. Long term big money deals for the vast majority of players, particularly forwards, don’t work (see Taumalolo as a great example). This is big money, going out 4 years from now. There are too many risks – performance (individual and club), injury, changes in rules etc. So your heart says keep him, but the brain endorses the position of the club.
Reading all the reports here, and other stuff around and about, beyond just being a good footy player, he is a good clubman and team mate, so good luck to him at the Tigers. Hopefully he has a few lack-lustre games when he plays against us in due course.
We can only hope we land a premiership in 2023 with what should still be a great roster, it will continue to increase the appeal of Parra as a destination club, and the next Ice or Niukore are just around the corner. Glass half full thinking, but we can only dream.
Well said Mick. There is still 2022 ahead of us.
Very very very disappointed in ice this time last year none of the clubs were interested that includes Queensland clubs we not only gave him chance we gave him a two year deal Parra offer for the next three years very good, I was arguing with a lot of Parra boys today about this subject and I only said I expected loyalty he should’ve been playing Ron Massey cup if it wasn’t for Parramatta as for Marata I expected that that sure was up a lot of money for 2023 interesting times ahead for this once mighty club I do understand that second rows are replaceable we still have 167 and hopefully nine hanging around, you must be shattered 60s let alone 4020 also this whole November one is so bullshit. I don’t go on often but I do read everything you do say and looking forward to the off-season with a bit more talent coming through and possibly a few signings which is very scarce these days at Parramatta before I say goodbye to next time want to say big thank you 60s and crew love your podcasts thanks again Ray
I had a look at the eels webb site, and they have a brief bit on Paps but, what I saw much more interesting was the gallery photo of a training session which was for me quite a lift really, there were more than enough new faces for me to try and work out, which in most cases I was likely wrong, no names to the player galarey like we had at time was very good.
There were a number of youngsters that are guite trim bodies, then there were others I would not give any cheek to, some not recognised, but some very much so. Greig looks bigger but some amount of trimming down will help him, Stone looks to have built up somewhat and looks very stron. Makatoa was also there and looked the goods.
Looking at the players I think Dunster looked a bit more built up as well, so what this does for me, is to make me realise that our losses while not great news, we do have some rookies and others with some NRL experience, as such no need to toss the year out with no hope, rather to look at the new faces in the teams, in the coaching staff, and consultant positions, with sagging confidence, I believe we will get some good signings, and that 2022 will be better than many think or realise.
Look i am like many, and would have thought he would have stayed and backed himself, but thats his call. Good on him for this, as I wont be losing sleep over it.
Lets see what he is doing next September. He’s taken the $$ and there’s a heap of pressure on his coach and him to perform.
We just need to be smart and ensure we keep who we need in terms of props and hooker.
West’s could have been like us back in pre- BA times. Wests have paid overs and good luck to them.
I just hope we have saved some future coin to land someone else on the rise…..I would be looking at Blore and Utoik if things don’t work out…. 🙂
I am not surprised, disappointed is all, Ice was my favourite players last year, but we don’t go crazy any more. Would much prefer blokes that want to play for the Club.
I am disappointed in Ice leaving but what are you doing to do when your Alan Bond comes along? If the stories are correct Parra’s offer was a good one and I’m not going to fault the club for not matching the Tigers’ offer. There are other second rowers out there and also coming through the club.
More $$ for captain cash that’s how it is. If Gutherson was the captain he wouldn’t be dragging this out. He went through the media to gain advantage over the club last time and is holding out, saying he wouldn’t mind a million a year
Is this the type of captain that is setting an example to others ?
Sorry but he isn’t setting a great example. He is as greedy as his manager, and should have cut ties with Ayub after he embaressd the club previously
I see your point and get it. Lets see how this pays out; i am over all the media hype tbh and we need to just let it all go through to the keeper. I get peeved to but if these guys go, then that is that, and we move on. The club would have some idea of who is staying etc. and if someone big leaves then we have $$$ for others.
Fans need to see that there is no loyalty with some players, and that is life.
How you going there Chief ?
With the jump he made from scrap heap to player of the year, this was always going to be like us essentially recruiting a top line player just to keep him. I think it’ll work out for the Tigers, but the risk involved in paying a premium for a guy with one good year under his belt (and in a wonky year like this one with new rules and crazy scoring) is one a struggling team is more likely to take than we would.
The two most likely to leave have now left, let’s hope that gives us the room to play to keep the rest.
Common sense response Gol, like your reports!!
Well said Anon. The reality is that the the club has been around since 1947. The players come and go.
I understand that players have a limited window to set themselves up for the rest of their life. Some with good mentoring will.
Many won’. The problem is that the highest immediate paycheque is not always the correct decision.
There are a lot of important decisions to be made in deciding your direction in life. Including what is best for my family, career after football and what will give me the best legacy after playing football is over.
I hope that Isaiah Papali’i and Marata Niukore can get to wear premiership rings in 2022. Afterwards, life will carry on, games will still be won and lost, and we’ll have a different set of heroes to call our own. So, in the words of renowned Parramatta Eels fan the Mentalist, ‘I’m in – are you?’
Sixties I have another post hanging in the system.
Time to get a new phone I think
Can you imagine if Parra had matched Wests deal only to lose Paulo or Mahoney because they couldn’t match their worth on the market? I’m confident that the club knows that Paulo and Mahoney will be almost impossible to replace for 2023 and are working hard to keep them at the club. I think we all knew that something had to give in terms of retention as the clubs builds success. Let’s hope we now have a sustainable model to bring in young players each year to take up the gaps.
Disappointed that Marata and Ice are leaving. But when you have a short career you must make as much as you can as fast as possible. Keegan probably highlighted that to everyone. If we paid everyone what they wanted we would be back to the bad old days. We have to be firm and buy what we can afford. At the end of the day we want players to stay, but that’s tough to put into practice.
Tigers saying well pay you $600k p.a plus you get every September off…must be a huge selling point.
I’m hearing Gutho has re-signed for three years, so some good news to start my weekend. Now fingers crossed for Reed…
Like everyone on here I am filthy on this young man leaving us from 2023. Who do you blame ? If your 23 years old and someone offers you a pay rise of 500K to play footy – your going to seriously consider taking it. I just hope that he plays 2022 like he did in 2021. WE just need to let the next kid come through and have faith that they can show us the way similar to ICE did this year. Must be something about getting old, you dont bounce as easy with things when they test some basic principles, Honesty, loyalty and commitment….