There has been a lot of negativity surrounding the Parramatta Eels of late. The fanbase is understandably running hot after the NRL season finished with a whimper. Sixties and myself have channelled plenty of cynicism in the same vein in recent podcasts and in case you missed it there has been a big ol’ pile onto us from some rather vocal folk about not being negative enough.

Suffice to say, the vibes are not exactly immaculate right now.

Amidst all of this our NRLW squad just lost their fifth straight game of the season after barely getting pipped by the Canberra Raiders. They made some ugly and frustrating errors to aid the their opposition in Round 5. There are some glaring holes in the roster and they are missing their two ace forwards. It should be just another layer to the doom and gloom surrounding the club.

Yet I find myself oddly bullish on them. For all of their flaws they have showed in the last three weeks that they are fighters. They have the gumption and the resolve to hang with some seriously good teams and through the mud of five losses there are a few glints of real gold shining through. Their six point loss to the Raiders has me more convinced than ever that there are some potential stars in this roster and while their season is essentially over there is now a huge developmental stake in the remaining four weeks of the competition.

Spoiler warning – there might be some familiar names coming.

Courage in spades, composure a little less so

When the Parramatta Eels found themselves down 18-0 in little over 20-minutes played there was good reason to think a scoreboard pasting was about to take place. I can not credit our girls enough for the fight they showed from that point to give the Raiders an almighty fright for the entire second half. Across the park they rallied and raged and just kept finding ways to compete. It wasn’t always beautiful footy but by god was it compelling.

Their composure however wavered like a sine curve throughout and is ultimately what held them back from a legendary comeback victory. It felt like every step forward was followed by an error or a setback. Just as the Eels wrested control of momentum from the Raiders they handed it back. Simple drops and playing at kicks they didn’t need to consistently flipped field position and let the Raiders take back the flow of the contest.

It was a frustrating way to lose the game but it showed the steps the team is taking as they push strong rosters to the brink in spite of missing several key players of their own.

Tohi-Hiku is ‘The Truth’

I think Cassey Tohi-Hiku has appeared in just about every one of these columns this season – a big positive regardless of the result. Carve out another notch for the tally after the 19-year-old centre dazzled in attack and defence against the Raiders. Tohi-Hiku scorched the Raiders for a solo try in the second half, crunched out 135m on the ground and was an absolute fiend in defence with some spirited goal line defence and a forced error from a kick off with a vicious bone-rattler.

‘CTH’ has proven to be a menace within the confines of just one third of the field this year. Abbi Church has done a nice job at fullback but I do wonder if there could be more unlocked for both Cassey and the team with a transition to the custodial role. Tohi-Hiku looked sharp at fullback for City in their clash against Country this year and she is increasingly becoming a player that needs to get her hands on the ball more. She turns 20 later this year and clearly has a ceiling that has not being reached yet. It might look harsh on Church but I think Abbi can still shine as a wing or centre option for the Eels while the club develops potentially the next star fullback in the code.

Amiatu & Murphy Carry The Load

With no Kennedy Cherrington and no Elsie Albert the Eels needed multiple forwards to step up. Enter Tyla Amiatu and Mahalia Murphy. Both forwards ran for in excess of 120m and made 16 tackles a piece. Tyla missed just the solitary tackle while Mahalia missed only two. While Amiatu did a bang up job of setting the table in middle, Murphy was a wrecking ball on the left edge as she piled up nine (NINE!) tackle busts.

They are competently supported by young Rueben Cherrington who continues to make a fist out of her dual roles at dummy half and lock forward. She is resembling her older sister more and more as a runner around the middle and is quickly developing into a versatile and valuable forward for the team.

Again, Parramatta are left to rue what could have been with Kennedy, Elise, Tyla, Mahalia and Rueben forming the nucleus of a legitimately fearsome pack. The priority now is to find the right depth and supporting players in the pack to build around them.

Simaima says – I am the Dally M winner

The Eels lost plenty of quality players in the seismic shifts of the 2023 NRLW expansion. No loss stung more than that of Simaima Taufa with the talismanic lock forward forming the centrepiece of Canberra’s recruitment drive. Horrific injury luck has curtailed the season of her replacement at Parramatta in Elsie Albert and that in no way impacts my evaluation of Elsie (I think she is a terrific piece for the Eels moving forwards) but Simaima delivered a commanding reminder of her extraordinary talents with brilliant showing on Sunday.

She has been the catalyst for Canberra’s surge up the ladder in their inception season and looks ageless even as the NRLW speeds up and the quality of the competition raises year on year. It is too early to call her the definitive Dally M favourite but I will be damned if she doesn’t deserve it. What a phenom. What a freak. What a damn shame she isn’t still an Eel.

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