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There is no offseason in the NRL and a massive week of news means Sixties, Forty20 and Spiro are on the case in a new episode of The Tip Sheet. Spiro gets the chance to close the books of the 2022 seasons for our NRL and NRLW squads before we dive in a full on review of the Ken Thornett Medal. A host of deserved award winners are looked at before the best male and female players are crowned and Sixties and Spiro recap a wonderful night throughout.
The trio look at breaking signings news for the Eels with Shaun Lane making his rumoured extension official. Lane is joined by Sean Russell and Jake Arthur who also extended their stay at the club while Jack Murchie officially dons the Blue & Gold for the next two years.
Good news for Parramatta is offset by drama for the Cowboys and Warriors with Luciano Leilua and Josh Curran landing themselves in potentially serious trouble.
The Dragons have 90% of their NRL team no-show their awards presentation so the boys ask whether it was simply poor scheduling or if fractures between players and management are growing? From there the show looks at changes to junior rugby league before discussing Ryan Matterson’s moral stand on the Match Review Committee and a flurry of big nrl signings and re-signings.
Is Sam Louizou remaining with the club?
Yes, contract was sorted during the year.
Top 30?
I believe so.
Cheers! Good young player. Are you allowed to share the length of the contract if you know it?
Sixties, what’s your thought on letting Hayze Perham go and keeping some of the fringe reserve grade quality players like Louizu?
Samuel Loizou is 19 years old. He has a future. I would have been tempted to keep Hayze too, but a club has to make decisions on who to keep and who to let go. Question: has there been any recent player let go that has come back to bite the Eels?
Reed Mahoney will be one. On Samuel, been watching him in reserve grade. Doesnt look like he is enjoying his football / wanting to be there.
When is Dunster due back?
I had no problem with Parra not matching the offer the Dogs made that secured the deal. That said perhaps he was somewhat lowballed in the early stages of negotiation. As for whether he comes back to bite us, we’ll see.
Dunster should be good to go for the start of the preseason.
The Jaemon Salmon comment made me laugh out around on a tram in the middle of Sydney. Well played.
And speaking of club culture, it will be interesting to see how the culture develops with input from both the men and women’s team. It definitely seems to developing a manner that is definitely a contrast to Penrith.
Shaun, quick story. I was at the junior rep preliminary finals at Kogarah as the Eels Tarsha Gale team was due to play. When the Panthers SG Ball team arrived at the ground they walked across the front of the concourse in a big group, with one of the players carrying a boom box blaring out very loud doof doof. It was an announcement of sorts but I’m not sure how respectful it was of the game in progress or the spectators interested in watching it. It’s obviously how they like to roll, and it works for them, but they can have that culture to themselves.
Being the best does come with some swagger but it doesn’t mean that you have to throw respect out the window. I wonder if some of the comments will come back to haunt Penrith. As per the Book of Proverbs “Pride goeth before destructions and a haughty spirit before the fall.”
Whatever comes, it won’t be without their full realisation of how many regard their behaviour. Their attitude towards the regard in which others hold them is probably a different matter altogether.
I have been shocked how many people cannot or I think do not want to see the real context for the ‘we hate Parra’ chant. All the other comments by Fisher-Harris etc are silly, childish but they are not offensive.
Those Penrith players, management would never do this themselves but I genuinely think they have no understanding of the jenie they have let out of the bottle by both promoting and then excusing that chant. Chanting at games or players is common and acceptable, especially between rival groups, but in endorsing and excusing that chant as just a bit of fun they have endorsed a chant that in actuality is directed at individual people including kids at Penrith park by entire supporter bays; grown, often drunk men, who yell and point as people walk past. They have effectively sanctioned a group of grown men bullying and intimidating individual kids and adults at games.
When, not if, this causes real trouble ( front page stuff) at a Penrith game as some of those minority of Panthers fans have now be emboldened and slapped on the back with approval by the players/ management that video and the passionate defense of it will leave the club management with a lot to answer for and no place to hide. My family will not attend another Penrith game at Penrith Park- at least not until it is rebuilt. It is a timber box waiting to explode.
Winning covers a lot but it almost always comes crashing down. In Penrith I see a management who keep supporting childish behaviour and moving the line as to what is acceptable because they have talented players they naturally want to keep. I think this will bring short term joy but long term pain.
In 2013-15 Hawthorn won everything in the AFL and had the supposed ‘best’ culture and management that everyone was advised by the media to copy. Does anyone think that now?
Shelley, as you know I currently feel similarly about Penrith Park. I would request that our club does not schedule a trial at that venue. Whether I feel similarly about never returning to Penrith Park when push comes to shove and I want to show support for the Eels is another matter. But my last visit there was just awful.
I don’t think I’ve ever liked going there i grew up in and around the area had mated make grade for the panthers so saw a numbet of games there the place never hot any better.
I travel down from the central coast for games now days ill only go to commbank or occasionally Hombush but Penrith is one place I won’t travel to just a awful venue.
Penrith management reminds me alot of a high school that values sport and as such the rules and expectations change for the kids that are winning this usually catches up not with the club but the players.
Some bad spelling errors in that one my bad lol
I agree with your comparison Offside.
Important signing is steve antonelli. He’s experienced and a man of good character with a genuine interest in juniors. He fits the blue and gold ideals perfectly 👏👏👏
Ted, thank you for taking the time to provide this feedback about Steve Antonelli. There are probably many Eels supporters unfamiliar with his background, and it’s also good to see Parra continuing to invest in the coaching staff.
Why do you even come here? All you do is look to try argue wherever possible. Then you go back to your little cave on various other websites and slag these guys off.
I get we all have different opinions and it would be boring if we all thought the same but give it a rest. You’ve made your point in probably 50 other blogs on the other websites.
Fine, have a go a Matto, he deserves it. But don’t have a go at them for having an opinion that you think is disgraceful.
P.s. you probably call yourself a ‘realist’ but realists never let emotion cloud their judgement.
On the Riff fans and players – I’m not offended, how thin skinned would you need to be, to be offended by that silly stuff. To me it just makes them all look like a bunch of ballbags. After winning two premierships you’ve got nothing better to worry about than slagging off other teams, you are a fairly weak minded individual/group.
On Matto, I’m fine with his decision. Sure I’d prefer him on the field, but ultimately the person that should have been held accountable for what happened is Dylan Edwards. If you don’t want to get caught in a crusher, don’t run backwards in tackles…. Especially against big strong forwards. It’s hard to see what else Matto could have done to prevent the issue, and had someone come in as a second tackler to take out Dylans legs, you risk a cannonball. Just like Tedesco coping HIAs, he runs with such a low body height, ducking and weaving, it can be near impossible to stop him getting collected. More onus needs to be put on the attacking player to avoid causing these issues. Small fast backs doing everything they can to pinch metres in the middle against large tired forwards is a recipe for safety issues.
Mick B, the players wouldn’t be in the slightest phased by the Riff comments, but as someone who has copped absolute crap from their supporters, this childishness displayed by the players validates the awful stuff perpetrated towards fans. As I’ve said elsewhere, I’m done with that venue.
I’ve got absolutely no problem with whatever behaviour the Riff engage with. As premiers, they deserve absolutely everything they have received and can act how they like. They are obviously channeling US sports teams in how they celebrate and that’s fine. As Aussies, we tend to get a bit upset about this sort of carry on but as sports become more and more global, we had better get used to it.
I would say a trial at Penrith would be almost carved in stone, that’s where the excitement and the money is – no doubt it will be a round 1 clash as well.
Our biggest get for next year is J’maine Hopgood. He is exactly what we need in terms of attitude and talent. Excellent player.
As for Matto, well I agree with him regarding the rediculousness of the fine. The MRC and the Bunker are an absolute mess and at present, is the biggest headache for the NRL to deal with but all he has done is penalised his teammates and reduced his good name and image.
It was long said that Ben Hannant was the tightest bloke playing the game. The joke was that he would swim the Brisbane River for an extra 50 cents. The old story of Garry Jack who used to hang around training for a couple of hours to pay a reduced toll fine on the way home.
Maybe Ryan is just like that ? I know a lot of professional footballers don’t like to pay for stuff that you and I wouldn’t even blink at because the club has been looking after them for years.
Why couldn’t we request that the trial is played at Commbank? We’ve travelled to the Riff for these trials for long enough. It’s an ordinary venue and I don’t need to go back over the behaviour there.
Go back to the rock you crawled out from under you grade A moron , YOUR the disgrace to the parramatta club !!!!!
I’m not offended by the Riffs carry on after winning yes not the best look but in fairness till someone can stop them they will be as arrogant as they want.
Everyone hates a winner and some people make it easy to be disliked.
People say this should fire up the players for next year I hope not I hope after what happened they have enough fire in the belly to go one step further.
The Matto thing baffles me but I’m hoping that BA at least had a voice in this maybe the logic about him missing is he tends to have a issue or 2 early in the season anyway so maybe this is a chance to get him primed it also opens the door for Hopgood and Rodwell to show what they offer in my mind they will be competing for Maratas spot.
As I said in the podcast, Matto marches to the beat of his own drum. He’s someone who will stand on his principles whether you agree with him or not.
Conspiracy theory we are wearing a pride jersey in the 1st 3 rds and this means Matto misses a game without having to stand down if not great time to do it.
Ah, no.
There were fans out there paying $1000 to our team play in the GF yet he doesn’t want to pay $4k and would rather let down his team and the fans. We are less of a chance with him not being there. It is a selfish act. It defies belief.
I have no idea how the suspension or fine option works, but I’m struggling to see that, in the new roster mix for our forwards, Matterson can or will sit out 3 games.At present this is far more weird than disgraceful. Sigmund Freud or some such guru uttered the words ‘all behaviour is motivated’, so simple it’s deep.We all have our moments of being simple and deep, particularly when our own principles don’t always match the mob’s.
That’s a first sixties, you’ve removed me. I think I get why, but if it was my remarks let me know,happy to learn.
Hi BDon, I haven’t deleted anything from you but please look for my email for my explanation about what probably happened.
Great recap about the KT Medal, thank you fellas.
Lane is a good one and i hope he can continue and build into a week by week consistent player as he did this season.
I think we need the coaching staff to allow some reggies players time to shine in the blue and gold; and i know we are missing some next season but i felt some players were not allowed quality time to come off bench as per the rotation policy; I am really keen to see Rodwell come on through along with Ogden – as long as they are up to it.
Do we really think Rein will remain as next DH with Hodgson? Or do we see a younger type player come on?
I think its good news with the new assistants – and we need to continue to improve in order to be a top 4, and dare say it a top 2 team. We must be aiming for this in order for a home final.
Last point, both times in 09 and 01 following a GF loss we have had bad seasons afterwards and both those games we were out of it pretty much at HT; Melb game we came back, but…..we must learn from this and fix those 1% ers. I am talking about our play the ball speed / ruck play and setting up for kicks. In the GF we lost these areas for mine and we never put pressure on the ref to make many calls in my view.
My key concern is who is going to replace Niukore? Hopgood ? Murchie?
Milo, I see Momoisea as the like for like. Ogden could be if he has another strong offseason and remains injury free.
Rein was extended during the season, and given Hodgson’s recent injuries, it’s wise to have experienced back ups. Hand is the unknown as he never got clear running as a specialist dummy half. He was a genuine utility.
Its alright, We are covered with utility with JA while BA is coach
The sarcasm and implication with BA/Jake is getting both old and irrelevant.