Here’s what we know about round one.
The Eels are playing the Storm and Josh Addo-Carr won’t be available due to suspension. You can therefore lock in Sean Russell for NRL selection.
Here’s what we don’t know.
Will Bailey Simonsson be available?
If Simonsson’s rehab is on track or slightly adavanced, then the Parramatta wingers for the trip to Melbourne will most likely be Sean Russell and Bailey Simonsson.
Should Bailey need another week or two before he’s ready to play following that ACL injury, then another wing option will need to be found.
Who are the players in contention from the full time squad?
There are options but injury has been a factor with the first four options.
Near the top sits a couple of experienced wing specialists who are themselves in rehab. Jake Tago and Haze Dunster each underwent arthroscopic surgery and are scheduled to return to full training in January.
Jake Tago
Arthur Miller-Stephen has played fullback and wing during his time in Eels reps and lower grades. Artie made his first grade debut as a winger in the latter part of 2023. He’s back from an ACL injury which caused him to miss the entire 2024 season.
Richie Penisini can play wing or centre, and he too is resuming after an ACL injury took him out of the entire 2024 season. Selection would mean a first grade debut for Richie.
Finally, Joash Papalii could come into consideration for a starting spot rather than an interchange role. He’s had limited experience on the wing, having just the single match out wide in the past two seasons of NSW Cup.
The first response from Eels supporters might be one which questions the Eels depth in this position.
Before launching further into any selection discussion, it should be highlighted that this scenario is about two “starting” NRL wingers being unavailable.
iIf you remove Papalii, who if selected in NSW Cup will be a fullback, then there are four players, plus Ethyn Martin, who will theoretically battle it out for one wing, and maybe one centre spot, in NSW Cup. That’s assuming that the Foxx locks down the left wing throughout the season. A battle between Simonsson or Russell for right wing would push one back to Cup.
I’m also ruling Jordan Samrani out as a wing option. He’s been training as a centre and is on a train and trial deal in 2025, leading into an NRL top 30 spot in 2026.
Jordan Samrani
Theoretically, Samrani could be selected for an NRL centre debut, pushing Lomax back to the wing.He’s a unit and possesses the requisite physicality. However, this would be the least likely call. Outside of shifting a star recruit preparing to play his preferred position, it would also necessitate either an upgrade or Parra applying for dispensation to select the rookie, Samrani. With other experienced players being available, the application would probably fail.
Now to the options.
Jake Tago is listed at 183cm and 90kg. Turning 26 in February, Tago made his NRL debut in 2024, rising from Wenty’s Ron Massey Cup team at the start of the season. He went on to be selected in eight NRL games for the Eels, playing in seven (he had zero minutes in the eighth) and scoring four tries.
Tago is equally at home at centre or wing, and given he played in seven of the last nine games of the 2024 season, he might have the inside running. What counts against him is his recent stint in rehab.
Haze Dunster is an Eels pathways product who made his NRL debut in remarkable circumstances way back in 2020. After spending the entire season as a member of the training squad’s covid bubble, but only watching from the sidelines due to the cancellation of lower grades, Haze was called up on the morning of the week 2 finals clash with Souths.
Haze Dunster
He then went on to play 13 games in 2021, winning the Eels Rookie of the Year Award. His strength was his work in yardage, as he would invariably beat the first defenders. He looked destined for a long career in the top grade.
Haze’s career has since been cut short by injury and health issues, starting with that awful preseason hip drop tackle in 2022 that ruptured his ACL, MCL and PCL. Over the past two seasons Dunster has been restricted to just five NRL appearances and 18 Cup starts.
Turning 26 in March, Haze is listed at 187cm in height with a playing weight of 90kg. I reckon you can add around 10kg to that, as recent training photos clearly illustrate.
Resilience is a word which should be applied to Dunster. There have been numerous set backs over the last three years, but he’s fought through rehab and looks strong.
Whether Haze can ever regain his pace is yet to be seen. At this stage the coaching staff might be setting him a goal of getting back on the field and finding his confidence again.
Until the Foxx linked up with Parra, Arthur Miller-Stephen was probably the fastest player at the club. Originally from Mackay, Queensland, Artie played both SG Ball and Flegg for the Eels in 2022.
Arthur Miller-Stephen
An impressive season in the lower grades in 2023 led to his NRL debut in round 23 of that season, and he celebrated by scoring a try against the Dragons. An ACL injury before the preseason commenced meant that he missed the entire 2024 season.
Turning 22 in 2025, Miller-Stephen has been used as both a winger and a fullback at the Eels, although his nine NSW Cup games were exclusively at fullback. He’s listed as 188cm and though I don’t have any weight details, he looks to have added size to his frame since his debut.
In the current preseason, Artie has slotted in on the wing in drills, and Josh Addo-Carr has taken him under his, well, wing. It would be a massive call to select Arthur first up, and like Haze, it might be a matter of letting him find his confidence again.
Richie Penisini is the younger brother of star Eels centre Will Penisini. Richie turns 20 in 2025 and is taller than his high profile sibling. Primarily a centre, he has some pathways experience on the wing.
Penisini was on the fast track to the NRL back in 2023 when he made his NSW Cup debut late in the season. However, he was concussed early in that match and saw almost no game time. A preseason ACL followed, ruling him out for the entire 2024 season.
Richie Penisini
He’s a talent but with his long awaited recovery from injury, and almost no NSW Cup experience, Richie is not likely to feature in round one selection discussions.
Finally, we have Joash Papalii. Given the rehab journeys of the others in contention, he might come under serious consideration. In his favour is his talent and pace. Counting against him is his inexperience, both on the wing and in the NRL. He’d need to start training on the wing if he was in the mix.
Of course, the entire discussion is moot should Simonsson be fit to play.
Forced to name just one player that I think Ryles will opt for, I’ll nominate Jake Tago based on near incumbency. However, with Jake currently in rehab, along with others vying for the spot, it’s not an easy choice.
Who would you select?
Eels forever!
Sixties
Would love to see what Richie Penisini has got
He’s not short on confidence. Seems to give Will a bit of extra attention when he tackles him in opposed!
Well as the oldest of four brothers I can tell you that’s pretty normal !!!!
Last I heard Ethyn Martin getting trained up for centre too rather than wing.
I have t seen NSW Cup training so can’t confirm that.
TCT, the gift that keeps on giving.
It will be interesting, there is no obvious choice and Tago is the incumbent but I doubt he was ahead of Richard Penisini and Arthur-Miller to debut if not for injury.
Samrani I think will be groomed as a backup centre/ edge forward.
I think the battle will be between Tago and Dunster based on having NRL experience, I can’t see Ryles gambling on a rookie in his first game against his former club. Longi is all but a rookie, having more than one player with limited NRL experience is asking for trouble against a coach who is willing to scrape the bottom of a barrel to gain an advantage.
That’s my thinking too Joseph. We will see soon enough when both Tago and Dunster return to full loading.
Joseph the you think about this especially against storm our best chance is to pick whoever is available at wing and shown best defence this off season. Storm will send warbrick and Coates at us all night down the flanks. Let’s hope he just picks whoever is proving to have best wing reads & defence this off season. Storm will send traffic all night at a rookie winger. Plus both storm wingers are 6’4. It won’t just be the foot traffic coming at them – it will be Aerial attacks coming their way all night. This would actually be a good game for Lomax to play on the wing. 😅 it would shut down storms aerial attacks against one side.
100% agree Muz.
My thinking also but Lomax at centre in attack but drop back to wing in defence to counter Storm’s height advantage. I’m I right in thinking that Artie and Tago are not top 30 (or will be given dispensation) so unlikely to be picked unless promoted to top 30 or Dev List.
Correct, both are on Dev Deals
Sixties my instinct tells me good feelings about Richie although the head following what you said with his limited recent game time and experience at cup. I trust those penisini boys. Something about them. But also.. Ryles comes from fast clubs where your fast X factor players will get lots of opportunities. This would suggest AMS or Papali’i may get an early chance if he feels they aren’t far off what Tago can do (defensively) in pre season. Because Papali’i and ams do have very significant acceleration & speed advantages.
That’s true about the speed factor Muz. But with so many returning from injury it’s just not as clear cut.
The other thought that came to mind after this was defence. Is there any ideas who the best defensive winger may possibly be? Our Achilles heel is tries scored against our wing.
Who’s the storms wing possibly on that side? Will warbrick? This rules out papali’i for me if so. Even Lomax had issues stopping warbrick against NZ. I would not want a rookie non specialist wing up against big warbrick who’s 6’4. Since storm will know to beat us the easy route previously was out wide – we can expect a lot of traffic there. Then our winger must be our strongest defender available this pre season. We can score against the storm every time. What we dan do is stop the edge tries. IMO this pick must be whoever shows best wing defence this off season who’s available besides Russell.
All wingers are working on their aerial skills – in attack and defence.
I’m going to say that Joash Papalii’s billed height of 166cm is a misprint. I think it’s more like 176cm based on the photos and video I’ve seen.
There’s no way Joash is shorter than the dolphins Trai Fuller who’s billed at 167cm.
100% it’s a misprint
I’m ll pit money on 177cm
Actually they are posting Trai Fuller at 170cm, so to say Joash is 4cm shorter than Trai Fuller – that would be very difficult to believe.
I don’t know if Sixties can shed some light on this on what he’s seen at training, but he looks a lot bigger than Fuller imo.
Seeing him next to others I don’t think he could be 5’5. That’s tiny. I also think 177cm would be closer to the mark.
It caught me a bit by surprise, but that’s what he’s listed at and in retrospect if he’s taller it would not be by much – maybe two inches. There’s a photo of him beside Sean Russell (six foot 2) and he’s a probably a full head shorter.
It’s really quite incredible the amount of long term injuries we’ve had in the outside backs. I know it’s been written about a lot, but if you compare to the Panthers for example, they’ve been able to trot out their “first pick” outside backs almost without fail since 2020. I know there have been some injuries and player losses to other clubs, but it’s not even close to the level of depth stretch we’ve had.
Not wanting to intentionally focus on the negative, but a back 3 of Iongi, Russell and Tago (if that’s the direction we have to go) isn’t really confidence inspiring stuff. Any one of them would be OK individually, but all 3 of them on the field at once is a bit of a concern. Hopefully they can prove me wrong – Russell in particular. He has a lot of promise and lots of good aspects to his game, but for whatever reason just couldn’t seem to put it together in 2024. Iongi will take some time to settle into first grade, particularly with the demands of being at the back so I’m going to be as realistic as I am excited.
Mick it will be a fast lesson for Jason unless he has made miracles to our defence this off season. But I’ve been looking at our games where we ran two cup wingers in the first grade team. It’s a shocking win rate & blow out scores, My thesis is the only way we change this possible history repeating scenario is to put our best outside back into one wing (lomax). I’m not mad if Ryles uses two cup wingers (russel & tago) though. Because it will either be a good lesson for the coach, or a good testament to his coaching ability if he can teach these young wingers to defend at first grade standard in 1 off season should he choose them.
Get on the front foot you guys, if we have Dunster, Tago, or Russell anywhere near our starting backs, we are in deep shit.
They might make our reserve grade side and that’s it. Dunster probably not even reggies.
We realistically need Lomax on one wing to have any chance in this game.
Our record when running two reserve grade / depth wingers in our first grade team is poor obviously.
We desperately need Lomax to hold his ego in for this game and throw him there. This will make it easier to predict the attack, as they’ll flog the other wing and give up quickly kicking towards his side.
If we have two cup wingers we do not stand much chance if we base this from historical evidence. Lomax on one wing for round 1 dramatically reduces our chances of a blood bath on the flanks like we’ve seen every time we run 2 nsw cup wingers on the flanks.
Harsh but reality. Lomax there Until fox etc return. Or we likely leak 10-20 points out wide history suggests.
Don’t forget, the previous coaching regime didn’t have any success with our wide defence. Our wingers were always in two minds and looked liked a bunch of headless chooks under ba I’m very sorry to say.
People on here aren’t giving Ryles enough credit for the defence he ran at Melbourne and the chooks. It was the best in the league, so saying we must put Lomax in the wing isn’t right imo. He’ll make defensive decisions for our wingers
Chief, as I said Ryles either learns a lesson at our club using cup wings on our flanks, or he proves us wrong and proves his own defensive coaching ability right. He is the one coaching them and we will support his decision. The realty is Lomax will shut down warbrick or Coates, especially in the air. And wing is where our weakness lies.
But as you said hopefully he has gotten our young wingers making better defensive decisions. 🤞
Muz, I had that thought about Lomax on the wing until Addo-Carr returns, or at least this first game.I’m also thinking that Lomax and Russell may be the best option, but who knows what may arise over next 2 or so months. I just think that Warbrick and Coates are proven top level wingers and we could pay dearly by not looking to get the best match ups.
Bdon it will be hard to defend against them for sure. Another option is Lomax defends at wing. Ryles can’t expect to make sale choices as barret and Ba on our wings and expect dramatically different outcomes. Unless the pre season has perhaps performed miracles.
Maybe our starting winger hasn’t joined the club yet , with due respect to tago, dunster and russell they are hardly going to intimidate Coates and warbrick
Probably Ivan, but if any club has their two likely starting wingers out they also aren’t likely to threaten Coates and Warbrick.
Good point sixties. Storm wingers are pretty elite at club level. It’s not a knock on our young fellas facing them. It’s also a testament to warbrick & Coates, both top wingers of the game. Both rep level players. We need some luck on the day.
Well I think Russell will start against the Storm because of his height. And, he got a run with PM thirteen. Those who think Joash will be too small might want to think back to Kerry Baustead and Paul Taylor.
Baustead was a giant of a winger despite his small stature. And I can’t really recall Paul Taylor dropping too many balls and he was the shortest fullback we had in the eighties.
If Joash can run, catch a ball with confidence and tackle without fear he can play wherever Ryles puts him.
We are highlighting his skills in one hand and expressing a lack of confidence on the other hand. We are not really going to know until we put him out there. The other winger should be the one who tells Ryles on the training track I want the job.
Isn’t football life simple. All this excitement is raising our bar of expectations and that’s okay but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.
I tipped a top eight – Fox Sports tipped a wooden spoon. Guess who will be closer to the mark!
I also wonder if Iongi has played any wing before? Ryles said there’s no guaranteed spots. If Papali’i out played iongi in pre season. Interesting if Iongi can play winger decent also. Storm etc switch up the backs over time. Ryles might play around with this like his mentor Bellamy does. We might even be surprised to see the team selections over time compared to what we’ve been used to.
Scotty W our assistant coach also likes 3 fullbacks at rugby. Storm usually has min 2-3 players on the park who can play fullback. E.G N meany, Munster, paps, sua, even Hughs to be a fullback). If this suggests anything. We might see Ryles select a minimum of 2 fullbacks in the starting 17. Trent Robinson also has min 2-3 fullbacks in his starting 17. Some will suggest it’s because they both have superior rosters. But Craig B runs this roster set up even with raw green young players like Sua F coming in even when Nick Meany was solid at fullback in Ryan Pap’s absence.
If Ryles is looking to follow his mentors philosophy’s, I predict we may see at least 2 fullbacks in our starting 17. Bellamy also gives priority spot to best off season players. If Jason follows this route, is it even possible we even see papali’i at fullback and iongi on one wing? Nobodies suggested this yet. But it’s entirely possibly if Jason follows how his mentor Bellamy does things. Craig would have his best fullback starting regardless. If papali’i is this guy in the off season? We might even see a shock rd 1 selection.
Still find it hard to believe that some people on here have make believe options with previous failures from our immediate past.
Sean Russell could be 7 ft tall and he will be out jumped, he has no high ball skills and is apprehensive right to the end of last season diving for the tryline. Unfortunately he has never gotten over the trauma of his horrific injuries. Dunster was always an overrated player even before his injuries, last year he could not keep up with Will Penisini when he made a break down the right wing.
If any coach could prepare a defence against Melb it is Ryles, but here we are telling him what he MUST DO.
The Pappilli process of playing the wing is a no brainer. The key to prevent the acrobatics of the Storm winger’s is variable to how to prevent the kickers positioning it accordingly, to make sure that other players are supporting the defender who will have a focus of disrupting the catcher. You actually saw how opposition sides started cancelling Lomax’s effectiveness with disruption by the end of last season and also through the pacific championships.
That’s why picking Lomax in the centres will make sense, how he uses him will not be telegraphed to Bellamey.
Iongi is only a rookie by Parra (unmet)standards, he is already a better fullback than anyone left from last year or even new this year. Gutho never had any sort of fullback support.
So yes the wingers will be interesting and the canditates will be carefully chosen….lets not hope it is with “deadwood” from past failures.
Poppa writes a good script, but we should not take things personally. We have no control over the team selections or hold sway over the coach. We are just making our suggestions based upon what’s available. We don’t get to training days and most, if not all, rely on what we read from Mr Sixties reports. We all have an opinion right or wrong, but that’s the beauty of this site. We can express our thoughts without the fear of personal recrimination from.so called experts who think they have a superior thought. It’s all for fun because we all support the same team with the same high hopes.
Let’s not spoil it with subtle swipes because someone disagrees with what they may personally select if placed in that situation. Who really cares – we just want our team to win with the best players available. Whoever they are – that’s our team for the day.
Zero, well said, I must say that Poppa’s serve took me back years, lining up with a few mates for 6 of the best from the Deputy Principal.
And Poppa, that sentence after ‘no brainer’ tested my aging brain the same as Sixties’ winger puzzle. I probably failed with both.
Boustead and Taylor played in a different era, there was no aerial attacks back then. Wingers weren’t used for yardage. If fit, Simmonson will be one wing, and Russell the other. If Simmonson is not ready, take your pick but, I doubt it will be Papali’i.
Best of luck to HAZE. Looks big and powerfull.
Issue was he turned like a bus and had the acceleration of a turtle after his injury. Adds good depth if could regain some speed.
Russel needs to add 5kgs of muscle so he can become a strong physical winger. Also lacks speed and acceleration. Handy back up is all at this stage.
If Joash is 166cm I’d put a line thru him. 176 is very different.
Raven, I dint think that Russell needs to be a bigger. He’s around 6 ft 2 and played at around 98/99Kg in 2024.
Round 1 definitely makes it hard when you have 2 guaranteed starters out. I personally think we’ll go with Papali’i on 1 wing and Russell on the other. Much like other physical stats on the player’s profiles I do not believe the 166cm for Papali’i, yes he’s small but I do not believe he’s that short. Watching his highlights on YouTube there’s other players he stands a bit shorter than others but no way he’s 20cm+ shorter than some of the other players in that video.
And for Russell, others are being very harsh and comments like him being a handy back-up, in this instance with 2 starters out this is what he’s in the squad for, a back-up when the starters are out. Let’s look at the Storm, if they were to have Coates and Warbrick out they would have Dean Ieremia and Grant Anderson on the wings.
Let’s hope that the outside back that MON mentioned in the podcast comes to fruition and can give us another option on the wing in round 1. Because come round 3 when Addo-Carr is available and Simonsson may be available our backline is looking quite strong in both first grade and reserve grade.
Hisnissue is he has average speed, average footwork, average acceleration. His power is also average but can inprove.
The first 3 things he can’t fix. That’s genetics. I’d say his best bet is getting to 105kgs and be more a meter eater type of winger. He is never going to be elite but he could become a solid NRL level player if improved power. Right now he is nothing more then a back up level player.
Tago will get I think his first NRL off season and he gets my nod before Russel.
Russell is faster then you think.
Nobody cares about how fast you are over 100mtrs in attack. I’m sure his top flight speeds great. Tall and long legs which is good for chasing down long distance line breaks.
It’s the first 10-20mts that causes defenses headaches. Tago is superior in attack
Counts if you have inside men that can actually put you into space.
That’s the thing, even if he starts in round 1 he is still a back-up. We have 1, potentially 2 wingers unavailable for selection. By definition that is being a back-up, you even said yourself “handy back up is all at this stage”. No one is expecting or calling him anything more than that.
Could someone tell me if Russell was considered to have pace and step as a teenager coming through, my memory was of reports of an incisive type of ball runner, a standout in age group football. I think he had a lot of confidence knocked (or kneed) out of him, then his recovery into NRL was when we faltered as a team. Maybe we see a more confident player in 2025, I reckon he improved as 2024 went on but on what we’ve seen to date he is a depth player.
See the issue is (just thinking about it).. it’s the same issues we’ve always had.
Nearly all Other clubs have wingers for days in the ranks who ready to rock or possess great talent & elite speed but just can’t get a shot.
I think that whilst we have obviously had a big improvement in roster depth upgrades in several key positions.
Our weaknesses as was most of the ba times is STILL winger quality & depth.
I reckon we could have won twice as many games this year and the last few years if we just sold one higher paid forward and signed two young elite wingers, or one elite winger, and one blue chip young winger who’s proven to have strong defensive skills and from a top club where defence coaching was spot on.
My only 1 negative take from this period of time is we’ve only signed one NRL winger in ado car. Whilst I supported that signing decision from day 1.
I strongly believe we will be blowing smoke up each others ass if we believe our teams going to be a finals contender defensively if The fox gets injured. BUT.. I’ll proudly eat my words if new coaching can turn our depth wingers into defensive stars in 1 off season.
Mon mentioned they want one more outside back.this indicates Ryles thinks the same thing as us (another quality outside back is required).
I’ll go out and make a bold claim here. Our 25’ season heavily relies on us signing this outside back. It doesn’t matter how good Dylan brown and Mitch moses steer this team around if we can’t defend our edges like a high quality NRL team.
Ideally 1-2 more wingers who have shown they can defend strongly at NRL level, or shown élite potential at cup.
Give me this any day over signing any more forwards or extending any other players currently on the roster. Our team loses games because there’s almost non existent defensive out wide at times. We desperately need another NRL standard winger. Like Moses, ado car in recent times has been prone to injuries.
Let’s truly Hope something comes up. Because wing defence in the modern game is so important. All the good teams have superior wingers. It’s not a position now you can overlook in regards to importance.
Muz, we have a lot to say about nothing. Let’s see what unfolds as the preseason enters the tough period where team selection is more advanced. Why are we being negative this early. The season hasn’t started – let’s be more positive otherwise we might ask you to start against the Storm. 😎😎😎
Tru zero F the storm and I’ll send any negative thoughts I have from now on their way 👍 in Ryles we trust.
Put Samrani to centre and lomax to wing for this game and as much as I don’t rate him russell till simmonson and addo Carr are available , unless we get reuben Garrick then that changes things