The vacancy sign is flashing over PARRAdise following the departure of the King, Clint Gutherson.
In what will be one of the next big calls of his tenure at the Eels, Jason Ryles will appoint a new captain to his re-set team. It is a massive decision for the new coach because that person will be handed both a huge honour and a major responsibility.
How many candidates are in line for the job?
I reckon there are seven players who could come into consideration, with the final selection possibly a battle in three.
Let’s consider those candidates and what they have to offer.
Mitch Moses
Mitch Moses
Key Stats : age 30, 225 NRL games, Lebanon and Australian International, current Origin halfback
For: Being the halfback, Moses is already the on-field manager and therefore an unofficial captain. Any organising number seven will possess the loudest voice on the field and be quite comfortable in barking instructions at his team mates, regardless of seniority. He’s been instrumental in pushing for many of the successful Captain’s Challenges. Moses is confident in his leadership role in the team, so it should be a seamless transition to put the C next to his name.
Against: Moses has come under the microscope in the past for how he communicates with his team mates when the blowtorch is applied. Does such criticism remain valid for a player who has become one of the NRL’s elite players, and arguably one of the top two halfbacks in the world? Would the extra responsibility add or detract from his game?
Junior Paulo
Junior Paulo
Key Stats: age 31, 239 NRL games, Parramatta Co-Captain, Samoa captain, Blues Origin Representative
For: A Parra pathways success story, Junior is the incumbent Eels co-captain, and has been in that role for multiple seasons. Additionally, he is an important, highly-revered leader and voice for the Pasifika players in the club. Retaining co-captaincy would be a way of transitioning or easing a new player into the role beside him.
Against: Junior will always be a leader regardless of whether he is an official captain or not. With change afoot at the club, would a release from the captaincy responsibilities provide Junior with a freshen up or re-charge?
J’maine Hopgood
J’maine Hopgood
Key Stats: age 25, 45 NRL games, Origin & Indigenous All Stars representative, captained Panthers NSW Cup to 2022 title, captain in Panthers pathways teams.
For: A definite emerging leader who has been suggested as a potential future captain since day one at Parra. Hopgood is on the cusp of being a recognised representative player, is a terrific communicator, is highly respected within the club, and sets high standards on and off the field.
Against: Hoppy is yet to play 50 NRL games, and is returning from an injury which saw him miss half of the 2024 season. Would it be best for him to just focus on his own game at this stage of his career? Should captaincy be put on hold for now?
Joe Ofahengaue
Joe Ofahengaue
Key Stats: age 29, 196 first grade games, Tongan and Queensland Origin representative
For: Joe is one of the most experienced players at the Eels and already embraces his responsibilities as a senior player. As a leader and key voice in the Eels squad, he sets standards on the training track and helps to guide the younger players. Joffa is confident and engages well with supporters and the community.
Against: As a middle forward, Ofahengaue spends significant time off the field in games so is probably best suited to a co-captaincy role. Junior is already the incumbent, so would changing that be the right call for Ryles?
Shaun Lane
Shaun Lane
Key Stats: age 30, 181 NRL games, captaincy role in trial matches.
For: Lane is a big talker on the field and his voice has been instrumental in guiding Dylan Brown on their edge. It’s no coincidence that his best season in 2022 coincided with a grand final appearance for the Eels. Shaun is also an articulate and educated individual, and would handle the public relations side of the role with aplomb.
Against: Like Joe Ofahengaue, Lane is more likely to be interchanged and is better suited to a co-captaincy role. Furthermore, the last two seasons have not been kind to Lane with injuries and form. Would it be best to let Shaun just focus on returning to his best in 2025?
Ryan Matterson
Ryan Matterson
Key Stats: age 30, 177 NRL games, Blues Origin representative, Premiership winning player in 2018
For: Matterson and Addo-Carr are the only players in the Eels squad to have won NRL Premiership rings. He is a good communicator, engages with supporters and recognises the importance of doing so, is heavily involved in community work and is a fine ambassador for the club.
Against: Another forward who, due to interchange likelihood, sits only as a co-captaincy option. It was mooted at the end of the 2024 season that he was going to part ways with the club, and though it did not eventuate, does that mean that he wouldn’t be under consideration for an official leadership role?
Dylan Brown
Dylan Brown
Key Stats: age 24, 123 NRL games, NZ International
For: Dylan co-captained Parra with Junior against Broncos last season and embraced the honour. He is one of the NRL’s elite players and has achieved his successes as an Eels pathways player who openly loves the club. His age and level of experience should put him in the sweet spot of his career. Dylbags has always been involved in community work and engages well with fans.
Against: Dylan has always been the perfect foil for Mitch Moses. A natural runner or even a bit of a “free-spirit” in the team, he’s had to learn to be more vocal on the field. He’s tough and a statistical outlier as a defensive half, arguably the game’s best. It’s impossible to ignore that 2023 was a hiccup year for Dylan, and he would have learned lessons from that. It could be argued that despite his already acknowledged status in the game, his best remains ahead of him. Would it be wiser to unlock everything that Brown has to offer without adding the captaincy responsibility?
I believe that there are two decisions for Ryles to make.
Firstly, does he opt for a single captain or a co-captain? That will then guide the choice or choices he makes.
Regardless of the call, I there’s no doubt that the players listed above will have a leadership role to play.
As stated in my preamble, the serious consideration probably comes down to three or maybe four players at a stretch.
My reason for listing more than that, is that injuries or representative commitments might result in the 2025 captain/captains being unavailable for selection at different times during the season. Somebody would have to step up, and I thought it important to list the credentials of all candidates.
Who do you think will get the nod?
Eels forever!
Sixties
In my opinion, there is only one candidate and it is Moses. Paulo would be an outsider.
Lane and Matterson – if the Eels are to be a chance at making the 8, these two will be fringe top 17 players.
Brown – Had his chance to step up last year, like he promised, and failed. Didn’t step up at all.
Hopgood – I like him but he hasn’t played 50 games yet and there was appreciable decline last year before the injury. Let’s earn it.
Joe O – I like Joe, but he isn’t the leader of the forwards, so not sure he is a captain.
That said, if Ryles is as “well just see what happens” as his press conference last week suggests (maybe he was keeping his cards close to his chest), we’ll have a leadership team with 8 guys in it.
The only two clear candidates are moses & hopgood if we are basing it off recent times and not living in the past. Hopefully jnr can come back in good form but I will be annoyed if he is captain as a bench forward.
How do you see Matterson as a fringe player, he is in the top 3 forwards in the club.
Moses will be the captain and don’t be surprised to see Lomax as the smokey.
He looks like a natural leader.
Sixties, I’m not sure you pinpointed your 3 most likeliest. I’d reckon it’s Moses, Paulo and Hopgood. Moses has earned the role. Junior is a leader and will be interesting to see if he can re-set his game for the new world, he shouldn’t be a captain if he can’t, I’m willing him to place all his strengths on show and work hard on weaknesses…the best Junior is a force to be reckoned with.Hopgood, just want to see this guy in a fit, hard working pack that will bring out his best, I reckon his form got blunted by that physical and mental meltdown we were sliding into in many games. But note that Slater still thought he was Origin standard.
I’ve pretty much named them in my order BDon.
Tks sixties…you can lead a horse to water. My form is a bit down like Hopgood’s was.
Ha! No dramas mate.
It will be interesting to see who blossoms without the dominant figures of BA, Gutho and to a lesser extent Reg.
Mitch is in the box seat. His arms are not flapping as much these days and he has won things recently in the rep arena.His Captains challenges are very good. If he wants it I’m sure he’ll take it.
Hopgood – had the right attitude from day 1. He is a future leader like a young Yeo. I would not be opposed.
Paulo – is not a vocal leader. He is part of the unsuccessful leadership team. He didn’t step up when needed and has been coming off the bench. Unless something massive changes I cannot see him as a viable option.
Lane (and Matto) are not captain material. Outside of injury ill will be surprised if Lane makes the 17.
Dylan could be anything if he wanted to be.
I’d say Moses Captain and we revive the role of Vice- Captain for Hopgood.
I’d be happy with that mate. Agree about Brown he could be anything especially with his half breaks this year although heavily marked getting keen backups to his breaks
Right there Tanky,
Imagine Dylan with someone who can tackle inside and outside of him…He wouldn’t have to do near as much scramble defence. Dylan could use his energy in attack first, defence second. Currently it’s defence first and attack second.
Exactly mate his defense is huge. how many times do you see him scampering across to mop up
browns lack of communication doesn’t help in defence to be fair addo car will make a huge difference on the left edge defence
Hope so
Addo-Carr is a terrific talker. Already helping the young players at training.
We all wanna see Mitch our proud parramatta captain mate. Ryles floated this before even setting foot behind a desk. Only parramatta would be a clib to previously not offer their clear best player for a long time no captain or co captaincy. We won’t know why, but it’s crazy he wasn’t a captain already moses. Moses & hopgood would be awesome. Lomax may even come to us and be a leader too in future, he has shown that in rep level games he is absolutely elite and has leadership quality’s.
Muz, that’s bullshit.
Moses took ages to get to the stage of our best player. He was battling out at one point of who was going to leave, him or Corey Norman
Gutherson was a natural leader and an obvious captain.
I have always been a Moses fan but for Christ’s sake why would you write such a comment that only Parramatta would be only a club to not offer their best player a captaincy role. Junior got the job to be a forward leader and Moses led them round the park as only a half can…….
What’s your beef, Moses is the obvious choice now!
Few points here to consider: paulo is a bench player going off recent times no offence to the big fella isn’t our leader anymore and that’s ok.
If we are going off recent times + thinking long term here (because changing captains can be difficult).
Our two best players, are out NSW & Kangeroos stars are Mitch Moses and Zac Lomax. Then In the forwards at his best, possibly hopgood.
– Lomax is a wild card co captain (for now) but consider the long term. He is our NSW kicker and likely the best back arguably from any position 1-5 out of anybody in 2024 rep season. He is an absolutely elite NRL player.
I know Lomax is new, but giving him and mitchel moses Ownership over this team makes us a new fresh, relevant looking outfit that’s not only appealing to young players we want to sign. I’m only floating this idea because if you give it to hopgood then it becomes clear Lomax is more important in 12 months, it’s hurtful and sucks to them try potentially change our co captains again.
If you ask me Zac Lomax will be kicking, he will be winning us games in tandem with Mitch moses kicking to him. It’s been the best playing combo in both origin + international football in 2024 as many have suggested.
Whilst he hasn’t played for us yet, you can bet Zac and mitchel is who will be standing up to win us games in 2025. It likely won’t be Dylan brown or Paulo for example. Dylan brown is a good player but not shown us team leading quality’s.
For now going off already experienced Eels players it’s definitely Mitch Moses and hopgood.
I personally saw hopgood as a future leader or parramatta captain within his first 3 games at the club. I’ll stand by that observation until it comes to fruition.
Zac Lomax showed very good leadership qualities taking kicks from the side like in origin, he has also shown great pride in wanting to join our club. I respect that, he has already shown pride in joining this club. With no bitter whiny bitching about Ba leaving, he joined our CLUB. Not our coach.
If Zac comes over and takes ownership of this team next year in regards to kicking, and owning big moments for our club. Then I’ve got Either Hopgood or Lomax as co captains with Mitch Moses.
No other too clubs have their best rep players as non captains and have players who aren’t good enough to make rep barking orders at them. You see Storm, Panthers, their star rep players are captains. Moses, hopgood and Lomax are our rep players now.
Matto, lane, paulo etc can’t even lead themselves to consistently performing at high levels these days.
It’s mitchel moses, then hopgood and Lomax as a potential long term co captain Candidate once he solidifies himself. You might not agree with me, but if this roster was the storms, penriths, chooks, you know Mitchel and hopgood would be the first choice prime candidates. Lomax as a long term Smokey. 💪
Agree mate Moses and hopgood but I wouldn’t have lomax in that role yet even at all at this stage
I’d throw Bryce Catty into the mix. Indeed I think he should be right up there. Experienced. Has shown he can knuckle down and evolve. I suspect he doesn’t get Captain’s Challenges wrong too often.
I’d be happy with Moses: highest price tag and tbh he seems to have the better IQ of anyone.
Paulo needs to aim up and from all reports abt he was told to lose weight etc he seems to have listened.
They will be the leaders for me – Hopgood future and Lomax a potential. Lomax gives me some good confidence tbh
At this stage I can’t see D Brown anywhere near leadership unless he has a couple of mature years on field which is a decent chance now that he has a new coach / voice.
I reckon Moses will be offered the captaincy but there is a chance that he won’t accept it.
If that’s the case, Hopgood is the only other candidate and would make a terrific Captain.
Hopefully we don’t go down that horrible rabbit hole of co captain’s ( everyone gets a prize ) rubbish.
Hi Craig. I think Moses is the standout candidate, but I would get the options in his favor written out of the contract before I appointed him. It is not a good look for there to be speculation whether he stays over the next 18 months, when he is the captain, in my opinion.
Hopgood would be my man, got the touch of Pricey about him. He’d set example and drive the forwards. Moses will be the man because he appears to be most people’s choice. Lane would be a great captain at another club.
Agree mate
Replying to Jason but can see a point with prom
Good point Jason.
Yes Jason great point. Perhaps why they had Mitch come in to discuss… That would be a great thing if true.
This is a bit off-topic but does anyone know what kind of contract Ryley Smith is on?
He was referred to as a HOK option by Ryles but does not appear to be in the current Top 30, nor on a development contract
Correct – according to my records he isn’t on either. I’ll be curious if he continues to train full time after the preseason. If he does he’s either on a train and trial or been upgraded.
The idea of a captain is an outmoded, autocratic vestige of a classist system. Parra should adopt a system where players take it in turns to act as captain whose decisions during the game are to be ratified by executive committee huddles during the game.
Decisions such as to “take the two” will require a simple majority.
However such decisions as a captain’s challenge a two thirds majority will be required with the player instigating the challenge to abstain especially if they are a prop forward.
You’ve hit next level with this one Shaun. I hope readers appreciate it! 😁
This could be some of my best work.
Shaun, i think this is a wonderful idea and we can possibly even have a ‘senate’ committee and maybe allow ach player who scores a try to kick the goal?
Love this! It would add so much to the game.
Totally agree Shaun. Further to the case for MM. He has reached rare air at the moment. Long NRL career, accomplished SOO player and Kangaroos rep.
So far two things allude him. Firstly captaincy of the Eels and secondly, more importantly, a GF win for the Eels.
The first item should be overcome this year with him being named captain of the Eels. The second I am assuming, hoping, will be overcome this year or next.
Shaun – that’s a woke idea. All inclusive stuff.
The referee will only listen to the captain not a menagerie of men.
Woke! So you don’t want hear about my idea to devolve the authority of the refs and bunkers to a random person watching game at home?
No!!
I’m pretty sure Shaun is taking the piss here, but to add further to this we could use our sponsorship with McDonalds to have 30 Happy meal vouchers made available so that all 30 players are awarded a man of the match voucher during the course of the season.
Just to be fair we could put all the names in a hat and draw one at the end of each game just before we sing the team song…”Happy Days are here again” for a win and a Blues Brothers version of “when johnny comes marching home again” when we lose.
We need to keep team spirit up as well…..sometimes we could bring a priest in just to make sure we are praying in the right tone!
Any discussion starts and ends with Mitch. I said this when it became clear Gutho was on the move. He’s one of the few players in that list whose reputation has been enhanced the since the GF, and he’s unquestionably the leader of this team.
I said this several weeks ago, but I’ll go with a five man leadership group as follows…
Captain … Mitch
Vice Captain … Dylan
Deputies …. Hopgood, Lomax & Junior.
Interesting Brett, I can’t see D Brown in that group tbh – maybe in the future.
I would also be shocked if Ryles cut Junior out of the top two but I wouldn’t have an issue with it tbh. Hopgood needs a season under belt and for me he’d be good
I think it’s time for Dylan to be given that responsibility. Make it clear to him that the time of being the cheeky kid is over, time to put on your big boy pants and lead. We’re paying him as such, time he delivered.
I tend to agree.
Question – will captaincy distract him from his natural game as he focuses on the team.
That worries me and it might cost him his consistency.
If the captaincy distracts him as he focuses on the team……what’s he doing playing halfback.
Finally consistency is Moses biggest problem and the captaincy will only enhance it.
He likes being boss. He will be OK. Another thing that I have thought of with these increased responsibilities for Mitch is to hand over the place kicking duties to Lomax.
Leaves him to concentrate on the other things he does best. Lomax is an outstanding kicker.
Of course he won’t want to let go of the kicking.
Some good points John. Will see what happens here; least we have two v good kickers now
Great points there John, and I agree, I can’t see Mitch handing over the kicking duties.
It is great that we have two top flight kickers, it was painful watching Gutho and Asi do there best in Mitch’s absence.
If you’re a proper kicker, and Mitch is, then you never want to give it up, it’s part of the rhythm of your game and training.
I don’t think there is any doubt that Lomax will be first choice kicker.
Two coaches in Maguire and Meninga have made that clear in the Rep Games.
Gutho and Moses were the two most dominant voices on the field, at times they would clash when a decision needed to be made. With Gutho leaving, that just leaves Moses.
I can’t imagine Mitch taking orders from any other player in our squad.
I can’t see his contract situation having any bearing, he holds the cards there. Refusing him the captaincy because of his clause’s will almost certainly push him out of the club.
Can only see MM as the heir apparent to the captain role.
Jayden Brailey – he is an intelligent and well spoken individual. Don’t want another captain that ums and ahs. Yeah/nah etc Represents the club professionally
Does that mean you think that MM is indecisive and not well spoken and intelligent?
Presumably this means you don’t think he can represent the club professionally and that Jayden Brailey would be much better……Why Jayden Brailey, who more than likely will not becoming and if he did he will not have any knowledge of the players in the club.
From what I have read about him he runs successful business interests.
He did a good interview with Benji Marshal on Fox where he talked about setting up for life after football.
I am pretty sure that he has the smarts to be captain. He does have the goods to be the on field leader.
Agree with most here that it is no contest. This team will be Mitch’s to mould to how he wants as leader on the field. This could lift his game even further and bring other players with him (Brown, Lomax, Hopgood etc). The composure we have seen in rep games this year suggests that Moses has certainly learnt to be a leader, and this all bodes well for Parra. Cross fingers that he stays fit in 2025.
Junior Paulo will be one captain. Ryles is a smart guy and understands that Paulo is the player the younger Polynesian look up to and want to ba at Parramatta for.
If Moses wants it he’ll be the joint captain.
Hopgood is an outside chance