At this time of year, it’s quite common to pause and reflect on the year that was and look forward to the year ahead. Sixties, 40/20 and the rest of the gang do a great job of keeping everyone up to date with the day-to-day news around the club so the purpose of this piece is to take a step back and look at the big picture of where we’ve been and where we are heading.

Americans use this time of year to celebrate ‘Thanksgiving’, a holiday designed to show gratitude for all the good things in their lives (massive shout out to all of the loyal members of the Blue and Gold Army living across the pond). Because I’m not American, I’m going to instead call this my ‘Eels Glass Half Full Holiday Special’. It’s a bit of mouthful but not as clumsy to say as ‘Wests Tigers’.

So, without further ado, let’s get stuck into it. Here are my top 11 things that I am grateful for this Holiday season. Why the top 11 and not a round number like 10? Well, 11 is the number worn by my favourite player from the last 25 years, the great Nathan Hindmarsh. I feel like all lists should be top 11’s in tribute to Hindy.

1.     The Thrill Of The Unknown

The first one is a big one. Like any discussion, there are two sides to the debate around Brad Arthur as coach. My personal view is that I’ll always be grateful to him for the incredible work that he did in picking the club up from the gutter in 2013, navigating the Jarryd Hayne NFL situation in 2014, the salary cap debacle in 2016 and ultimately coaching the side to a grand final appearance in 2022. This was an incredible achievement from a proud Parramatta man and he should be rightly applauded for it. What felt equally true to me was that the time was right for change. Enter Jason Ryles for the 2025 season. Whether the rapid roster overhaul he has initiated will prove successful will only be proven by on field results. What is clear though is that he has a plan, a plan that involves blistering speed and a departure from the crash plays down Main Street approach which had characterised the BA era.

We don’t know whether these changes will work but the green shoots are there for everyone to see, and as a fan I find that incredibly exciting.

Jason Ryles

2.     Our Club Is Still In It’s Original Form

This is something which I am perpetually thankful for. Although our favourite team has not won a topflight premiership since 1986, I always take solace in the fact that the Parramatta Eels still exist as an entity in the same way they did in 1947. I look at clubs such as the Wests Tigers or St George Illawarra Dragons and cringe. These are unholy unions of once proud clubs that now have less history than the Melbourne Storm. It could be worse though, you could be the North Sydney Bears. Part of an unsuccessful merger with your most hated rivals which ended with the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles sitting unscathed in the NRL and the Bears sitting in reserve grade purgatory (fingers crossed for a Western Bears revival). Yes, I am eternally grateful that our club never merged. Taking your losses and dealing with some pain is part of being an Eels fan, I would always prefer that to winning premierships as the Parramatta Panthers and splitting time between Parramatta and the foot of the mountains.

3.     Our Halves Combination

Although Coach Ryles has rapidly overhauled the roster, one thing he didn’t feel the need to touch was our starting halves combination. Why is that? Well, that’s because Parramatta have one of the strongest halves combinations in the NRL. Mitch Moses has grown into being one of the top halfbacks in the competition, culminating in leading NSW to an Origin series win and then being given his first Kangaroos caps in the end of year Pacific Nations tournament. At 5/8 we have Dylan Brown, a player that we forget is only 24 years of age. ‘Dylbags’ is the best defensive half in the competition with a dynamic running game. I suspect that his best is yet to come outside Moses in the coming seasons. This pairing has not yet reached its potential and that is exciting for Eels fans, and scary for the rest of the comp.

Mitch Moses

4.     The Recovery From Our Recruitment And Retention Team

I still have PTSD from the period following the BA sacking. In a short space of time, the club lost several promising young players (Notably Ethan Sanders, Blaize Talagi and Matt Arthur). While the reasons for each of these departures could be individually explained, they left me (along with the majority of the fanbase) reeling. Along with Charlie Guymer reportedly asking for a release, there was a period where it didn’t look like we would have a team left at all for 2025.

I’m sure I wasn’t alone in feeling confusion and frustration that this had been allowed to occur by our recruitment and retention team. It seemed unfair that BA had been the scapegoat when this was occurring off the field. I’m quite happy to admit now though that I am impressed by the swift turnaround that has occurred since the end of the season. The signings of Iongi, Williams and Hawkins appear to be smart business. We already had the Dally M winger of the year coming in Zac Lomax and now have been able to pair him with Josh Addo-Carr, getting the Foxx on a cut price deal following some off field indiscretions at Canterbury. Although Campbell-Gillard and Gutherson did appear to still have juice left in the tank, I’m willing to give the club the benefit of the doubt in terms of these players not fitting in the future direction of the club. All in all, we are in a much stronger position now than I thought we would be during the back half of the season.

5.     The End Of The Darwin Agreement

I’ll try to be balanced here. The arrangement with the Northern Territory government was a lucrative one which aided the club’s financial position during some less certain times. That said, I am grateful that the 12 year arrangement will come to an end following the 2025 season. It was clear in recent seasons that this agreement was having a detrimental effect on field performance, a trade off that should clearly never be made and I am pleased that the club has recognised the on-field impact and taken steps to mitigate. Parramatta was sacrificing one of the best home ground advantages in the NRL to play in an environment that made the face of the sun look like Antarctica, all while having a team built around huge middle forwards. Although I’m sure the deal made financial sense at a moment in time, I’m glad the club has chosen not to renew it following the 2025 season. At least in 2025 we won’t play yet another Queensland team there and instead will face Canberra, fresh off what I’m hoping will be a frigid start to April in the nation’s capital.

6.     Being Part Of The Best Fanbases In The NRL

Ok, I am admittedly biased but what else do you expect? I genuinely believe the Parramatta fanbase to be the best in the NRL. Parramatta fans are passionate, loyal, and knowledgeable. Despite the lack of premierships, Eels fans turn up week after week, year after year, home and away. Brisbane typically has the most members but play in a much less crowded market in South East Queensland. Parramatta compete in the saturated Sydney market and are invariably still in the top three for membership numbers. Win, lose or draw, Parramatta fans turn up in their droves to support their team. On game day, O’Connell Street is awash with blue and gold and the entire city has a buzz around it. I feel privileged to be a part of that.

The passion of Eels fans

7.     I Have The Need, The Need For Speed

I’ve already touched on this a little so won’t go into too much depth on this point. Recruitment has focused heavily on bringing speed to the club. This can be seen all over the park but is best typified by the contrast of replacing Maika Sivo with Josh Addo-Carr. Sivo was a cult hero for the club but was built like a truck and although his topline speed was impressive, he took a while to get there. This is in stark contrast to the ‘Foxx’, who is renowned for being one of the quickest players in the comp. Outside of the backline, we can expect to see added mobility in the forwards, with the absence of RCG prompting a possible fulltime shift from Lane and Matterson to the middle.

It’s uncertain how this will translate to on field results at this stage but what’s clear is that the team is being set up to play a more open, expansive style of footy. I’m excited to see if this will unlock the full potential of our star halves partnership.

8.     Not Regressing Back To The Dark Ages At The November EGM

In October of this year, a group of disgruntled Parramatta supporters petitioned the club for an Extraordinary General Meeting to drive changes to the Parramatta Leagues Club. The intention being to use a change at Director level on the Leagues Club board to execute changes within the Football Club. Ultimately the motion was defeated when there weren’t enough members present for a quorum at the EGM.

This topic has been covered at some length by the other contributors on the site and far more thoroughly than I will, so I won’t get into the granular detail. I will however, use this opportunity to give my opinion on the topic.

I share the frustration of all fans with the on-field performance of the NRL team over the past two seasons. It’s been a real letdown after (mostly) sustained success from 2017-2022. To regress in this way was disappointing to say the least. All that said, I remember the dark days of the early to mid 2010’s, when the club was mired in a never-ending cycle of factional infighting that led to player agents steering their clients away from the club and results suffering as result. This is something that I never want the club to return to. When Max Donnelly was appointed as administrator of the club by the NSW government in 2016, he implemented changes that would prevent this from happening again in the future. Although results for the last two years have been mixed, these changes have largely worked in terms of avoiding this level of self-destruction and internal fighting. There is a greater chance of footballing success with a harmonious club than there is with one being pulled in several different directions. While nobody (I’m sure players included) was satisfied with the 2024 results, I am happy that we are not returning to that fractured structure.

9.     The Gold Away Jersey

There’s not much more to be said that I haven’t said in this previous post, giving my opinion on the 2025 home and away jerseys. A link to that can be found here:

Parramatta Eels 2025 Home And Away Jersey Review – The Cumberland Throw

The only thing I would add is that though I never hated the white jerseys, I am a strong advocate for the home jersey to always be predominantly blue and the away jersey to always be predominantly gold. There are typically five jersey releases per year which gives opportunity to explore other colours and designs outside of the home and away. I’ll be very proud to wear the new gold away jersey in 2025.

Dylan in the gold away jersey

10.  Those 13 Games In Parradise In 2025

Where else would you rather be than at the greatest place on earth for 13 games in 2025! Thank you, Wests Tigers and Penrith, for bringing your home games to Commbank Stadium next year and allowing this to happen. This could become even more pronounced in 2026 with the NT agreement ending and the Darwin game presumably transitioning back to Sydney.

There is arguably no better place in the world to watch rugby league than at a packed Commbank Stadium. I have every confidence that Parramatta fans will take this opportunity and turn the ground into a blue and gold fortress for all 13 games, regardless of who is nominally the home team listed. This home ground advantage could prove vital as the Eels look to make the semi finals in both NRL and NRLW in the upcoming season.

11.  The Watch NRL App

This might have some niche appeal but is crucial for people like me that live overseas. I’ve lived overseas in both the US and Europe for the best part of a decade and although I will inevitably travel back to Australia each year to take in some football, I primarily rely on the NRL’s international viewing app to take in all the games. This may sound like a commercial but sadly I’m getting paid nothing for this. Despite that, I would strongly recommend anyone living or travelling overseas to sign up for Watch NRL. The amount of coverage is excellent and keeps those of us living on the other side of the world well informed on the greatest game of all.

So these are some of the things i’m presently thankful for as a Parramatta fan. 2024 wasn’t an easy year but despite that it hasn’t been difficult for me to find some things to get excited about. We might not always agree on certain decisions or the direction taken by the club but the one thing that binds us all as fans is that we will be united in wanting Coach Ryles and his team to have a successful 2025 season.

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate!

Chris

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