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An otherwise quiet news week for the Parramatta Eels and The Tip Sheet was rocked by revelations that Dylan Brown intends to test the market. Sixties, Forty20 and guest host Muz leap into action to discuss the massive development. How concerned should fans be? What is the plan of action for the Eels? Why was his manager linking YouTube highlights to rival clubs? The boys agree there is no need to panic right now and to let the footy do some talking for both Dylan and the Eels.
In other Parramatta news, Tim Mannah has joined the Eels Foundation as an ambassador while the next fan day is looming on the 1st of February. Sixties recaps the junior representative trials against the Canterbury Bulldogs with good showings from the Harold Matthews and SG Ball.
Who will make their debut first in 2025? The show looks at the likely candidates to be the first NRL debutante under Jason Ryles. Joash Papalii and Jordan Samrani are popular picks but who else is in the running?
Clinton Gutherson and Damien Cook will lead the Dragons in 2025 – were their appointments a surprise for anyone? Eli Clarke looks set to call the Shire his new home while Yvonne Sampson becomes the voice of rugby league for Las Vegas this year. Up in Brisbane, Blake Mozer has reportedly gotten the jump on his rivals at dummy half while Dean Ieremia leads the NRL injury report with some awful luck after rupturing his Achilles.
Edit: I have said that Ryley ran 2:16. He ran 4:16. My verbal version of a typo. – Sixties
The Dylan Brown move? I’m surprised that anyone is surprised. His managers have one job only – to secure the best possible deal for Dylan. His contract allowed that they test the waters, which is what they’re doing. He would only leave for a lot more money or for a strong chance of a premiership. I’ll be very surprised if either possibility emerged. Still, I did predict that Clint would stay. We’ll know by May.
Noel, I reckon his agent is playing it out as much as he can in the media, despite his protestations. Hopefully it’s sorted asap. I think we have the opportunity to resolve it much sooner now.
Some managers negotiate by a thousand cuts. They have a job to do. It really comes down to whether Dylan wants to stay. We have a good half season I think that will help. We have a bad half season we could be rail roaded.
Injuries will determine who gets a debut in the top team. Mr Sixties has had his eyes on Riley Smith and he may get a start sometime this year. Get him in the Reggies and see how he responds. Everyone is tipping Joash – not sure but if he has speed to burn it will help.
What we really want is for those with high aspirations to be ready and that all falls on the coaches with the appropriate commendation of encouragement and development. Samrani sounds very interesting as does Gideon.
My tip smokey for debut Riley – as Mr Sixties wrote his training at this stage of his development is better than Cash Mahoney. Did someone write 29 days, with so much going on around the training track 29 days feels like an eternity.
Good choice zero. Hopefully Riley does well this year and they decide to call him up at some point.
Outstanding debut Muz!
Dylan’s ‘half-dodgy’ ACL has been mentioned here (and in a few other comments/places). In that case, I think it would be a no-brainer for Dylan to waive his player options and then he has security with his already Eels long-term, excellent money contract, at a club he has publicly said in the past that he loves being at. Otherwise, I’m flabbergasted (as Rex often used to say).
Graz that is a good take on this problem for Dylan. If in fact there are any issues long term with his knee the deal he has now with the Eels would be hard to beat.
So if we assume brown is on 900k or so, this is an obvious attempt by his manager to get more money out of parra. Browns team know the cap will rise in future and that 900k now and 900k in 3 years will likely not be same value from the salary cap ( hence brown not taking the option up).
The theatrics re: the manager being annoyed about the “leak” are laughable and insulting to any fan/administrator with a modicum of intelligence – generating media frenzy to put pressure on the Club to capitulate to browns demands is the goal of the email.
Whether parra do capitulate to browbs demands is the newest litmus test for this new era/regime. Brown has to decide if he wants to take this team forward with Moses or is seduced by the promises made by other clubs. Moses is more important to parra but I’d love dyl to commit and send message to rest of squad that parra is the place to be
I think his deal goes to about 2031? It is very unlikely that they would agree to a deal of that length without ratchet clauses included.
That’s probably right – what I should have made clear is I think he is seeking more than that outlined in any ratchet clause as he anticipates cap will go up a fair bit with new team to come in and new broadcast deal to be negotiated.
The alternative is that he is genuinely open to leaving and that would be shame after all the club has done for him (including letting tow promising halves in sanders and talagi walk)
Yes I agree Ron.
Love the Tip Sheet. I’m sure you are into it, but the opening has audio snippets of Brown, RCG and Sivo – none of whom are at the club! Need an update guys …
Jimbo, Forty is on to it. Should be ready by the start of the season. Just need to explore commentary grabs. Anyone with suggestions will be appreciated.
I agree with Forty and Muz the feigned shock at the email being leaked is just that. Fake!
The reason that managers push for player options is because they see it as a way of screwing the club over on the back of a quality season.
I don’t think he will leave. That maybe more hope than insight. The other thing that I would say is that he is a deadset 6. Not likely to get the same sort of offers as the best 7’s in the game.
It’s definitely fake shock that it leaked I think too John. He is dragging us through the media mud to extract more dollars obviously it sounds like, but at least we can hopefully see it get sorted before rd 1. 🤞
Muz I think they did something like this last time they re-signed.
Im not sleeping on Volkman or Giddy. Both are talented players that just need some consistent injury free time.
Dylbys ACL is a ticking time bomb and every club knows it.
Agree woody. Few good pick ups there. Who do you think might get their first nrl debut this year?
Firstly like to say well done to Muz on a 🔥 debut! Great work champ!
Dylan – agent has no doubt spoken to key clubs and the group email is probably just smoke screen so not to throw off the trail of Roostets and NZ etc. Great point about better to be sorted now than during the season itself. I don’t blame Dylan at all he’s a good guy. The contract needs to be worked through. If they can iron out the POs going forward will be a good outcome.
It seems we are in a much better depth position than years gone by.
A win against Bulldogs is always very welcome no matter the grade. You can bet it hurts them losing to us too!
Giddy up! Gideon sounds like a great addition.
Luca Moretti re-signed which is great news.
Great podcast guys.
Cheers mate and I agree. It’s probably NZ most interested. They lost their two captains. SJ & now Harris retired. Dolphin’s apparently interested too. He will probably just use them up to push up his value to extract $. Hopefully because this came out early it’s sorted before rd 1 so there’s less Distractions.60’s reckons dyl is the sort of bloke that would just want to get it sorted.
Muz, I was driving while listening to the podcast, I almost drove off the road when Simon announced you as the guest on the show.
Mate, awesome, you were everything I thought you would be, die hard, passionate and not afraid to voice your opinion. I agree with your three debutants prediction for the same reasons.
Great show gents, thank you.
Sixties, we have met once and you are a dead set ringer of the late great, Simon Townsend. Condolences to Simon’s family, he was a big part of my childhood and a stable during my afternoon snack time after school.
I did have a good laugh listening to the young buck, Forty. A highlight package of Dylan Brown, I’m still laughing writing this.
You boys nailed it, it’s common knowledge the club has tried to rectify the dumbest contract in NRL history, it’s fair play for his manager to squeeze every last dollar before committing to a no clause contract. The only scenario that Dylan was ever going to trigger his clause is if he has a massive form slump or serious injury, The club was never going secure a top flight half with an advantage with the most embarrassing contract I’ve ever seen. I’m sure lessons have been learnt.
I agree with Forty, I’m not sweating bullets, the Eels are in the box seat, the club is not paying him unders with his current contract, sure a club like the Rooster may offer well over market value but I agree with Sixties, Dylan is Parra boy, the idea of Dylan in a Roosters jersey makes me gag. The Roosters are ruthless, I honestly can’t see Dylan fitting in with their “culture” I’m sure Dylan will have had a good hard look at how it panned out for Brandon Smith.
#poppaonTCT
Thanks Joseph. Glad you didn’t drive off the road though mate. Haha. I agree too mate, the player options are silly and hopefully we see the end of them soon. Hopefully the craziest contracts in history become a thing of the past. It would be nice to see dyl lock in long term. He is only about 24. You would have to think the kid still has 5-6 years left to get even better just like Moses did.
Ha – straight into the Simon name! Well done Joseph. I lost count of people that wanted to tell me that, and I guess it was because Simon was on tv five days a week.
As for Muz, he was terrific. When you record from separate locations and it’s just audio, having three people involved can be tricky. It was seamless with Muz.
Thanks a lot sixties. Was a great time.
Not too much mentioned so far- Lane, Matters on and Cartwright, consuming a fair bit of The Cap. How are they looking? Would you expect to see them in the early NRL squad?
Luca Moretti?
Potentially outstanding news. A good investment and the best is yet to come.
Agreed Noel best is definitely ahead of him.
If Ryles is pushing another gear into the tempo of our play, it will suit Moretti’s approach to the game.
Luca brings great energy and leg speed off the bench, love his aggression too.
Just need to fix his errors.
Hey Glenn, I know BA banished him to NSW Cup after 2 games where he dropped the ball on first receipt, then he followed up with more blooper reel fumbles, but I watched those passages and at least twice he received poor passes when trying to run onto the ball with energy. Also, he was coming onto the park at a time when, as the year went on, our forwards were short on gas. So he was a bit like a Jack-in-the-box at a slumber party. He adjusted to a ‘catch the ball first bad pass or not’ later in the year. Prior to that patch of fumbles, he was not error prone although a gave away couple of soft penalties in early days when I reckon the refs were confused by the new boy’s energy.
Bdon whatever in the past, stays there hopefully in Lucas mind. He is a very young forward compared to a lot of them still right. His energy is great and like you said he does require good balls.
What I’ve noticed mate is younger forwards need a cleaner pass to reduce those errors. I have seen RCG running full speed and catch the worst passes and then make a 10/10 hit up. But in his earlier times when first arrived I remember a home game (I was at the game), RCG dropped a lot of balls.
Hopefully Luca stays in a lower pressure bench roll and we do not can him if he drops balls off a few bad passes. I personally feel like with younger forwards you cannot dent their confidence. It can take time to repair it in some younger forwards. Where’s you see fullbacks and halves drop it and they forget 2 seconds later and nobody mentions it.
Hopefully Luca gets great passes, and stays healthy. My bet is on him and young Guymer to play very important roles for us from the bench this season.
Bdon I agree he was a Jack in the box and I love that Luca is with us and extended. At only 24 I believe, he is only coming into the prime years of being a middle. We need that youth energy and aggression in the middle rotation.
Sometimes it feels like the Eels plan media announcements for the morning after we record 🤣 – even when we did this one on a Thursday night. Seriously, we will cover the news about Luca next week.
Sixties I have noticed that. It’s almost like they wait for your podcast to drop before making announcements. Haha
Keep Muz on full time boys!
He went well Tony. We are now two for two with our guests – Chris and Muz.
7 last year, 6 this year.
Nothing to see here, or is there?
I wouldn’t underestimate the commercial naivete of the recruitment team.
It’s been letting us down for a long time.
My own opinion is that we may have dodged a bullet through losing Blaize Talagai to Penrith – he is a brave and talented attacking player who is not, at this stage, a NRL quality defender and has suffered injury very early.
If Dylan”s knee is as dicey as has been reported maybe voiding this contract that lasts until 2031 could be a blessing.
Good debut Muz. Well done.
On Dylan, I guess not a surprise. It would have been nice if the club had just got this done without the public fuss. It feels like other clubs are able to do that for marquee players, but Parra it doesn’t. Admittedly Papenhuyzen played out in public, but to be fair, the Storm are basically the opposite of Parra as a club, and they have a ready-to-go plan b.
In terms of outside backs with NRL experience that provide depth options – wasn’t Tim Opacic in the media potentially eyeing a return? From memory he was linked with the Broncs, but he’d be an ideal choice I’d have thought.
I’d have loved to see Tom Opacic come back; a gifted defensive centre. Of those available around the world maybe with contact with the coaching staff I’d have thought that Reimis Smith is a stand out.
Thanks fellas. I think Tom op has been outside of the nrl for a few years now?
Chance maybe he might not be able to get back to the level he was at? I personally think Tom played great for us before leaving though. Remis smith is an interesting one. I thought about him too when he first went to super league. He defended well. He would have been a good pick up for our squad.
Good debut Muz. Well done.
On Dylan, I guess not a surprise. It would have been nice if the club had just got this done without the public fuss. It feels like other clubs are able to do that for marquee players, but at Parra it doesn’t. Admittedly Papenhuyzen played out in public, but to be fair, the Storm are basically the opposite of Parra as a club, and they have a ready-to-go plan b.
In terms of outside backs with NRL experience that provide depth options – wasn’t Tim Opacic in the media potentially eyeing a return? From memory he was linked with the Broncs, but he’d be an ideal choice I’d have thought.
Good podcast fellas and well done Muz.
Firstly great to hear abt the junior reps and the Matts doing well.
With reference to DB, glad it’s being done now or we hope it’s sorted now.
I think the club want this done and dusted now / prior to the midway point of the season.
I just hope he wants to stay and does well. As for his manager- well the less said the better.
I reckon Ryley Smith will debut at some point….great fitness from all reports and hope he gets a chance as we need to promote some kids.
Great pod fellas and well done.
Milo Riley sounds like he could make a good 14 come on against tired players at the back end of the half.
Here’s hoping he stays fit and keeps improving.
Milo hopefully it gets sorted asap and we have limited distractions before rd 1. If we give the media to mich ammo, they’ll make it a continuous parramatta eels circus. We not only need luck on injuries I think we need luck on the media from too, to limit media circuses Fox would love nothing more than to talk about Dylan brown and parras ridiculous clauses every week! I also think brown plays better when the pressure and media is off his back.
Thanks Milo. You got to see some of the players we’ve been speaking about in the preseason reports, but most interestingly, the way Parra will play.
Well done Muz ! Excellent work !
As I said previously it’s all about Brown getting more money from the Eels.
That’s it – nothing more and any attempt by Brown or his manager to disguise it is merely being untruthful.
Hopefully Ryles has a good fiscal hand on the tiller.
sixties, everything that Dylan Brown’s manager does has the express permission of the player.
That includes the subject, timing and distribution.
Your opening monologue basically absolved Dylan and tried to suggest that the manager has somehow conducted business on his own volition.
Ryles is trying to build a team first mentality at the Eels.
This email was ill conceived and again shows the immaturity of Dylan Brown.
If Dylan was the all in Eels player you have suggested he wouldn’t have green lighted the email in the first place knowing the effect it would have on supporters, the club and the sponsors.
Thanks spark. I’ll just add the thing to brown topic. Just 2 cents.
He is a seemingly naive laid back easy person. He might of just been the type to let him do whatever.
But on the other hand, he also has had the bad examples set to him where our old captain dragged our club through the mud for contracts every time and even before the finals from memory.
This is a culture thing and Snr players at parra have heavily leveraged media even before finals games to extract coin.
hopefully once this is done we see the back end of these player options that are too heavily weighted to the players benefit.
Spark maybe the manager is a bit of clown too. Who emails like 16 clubs a email with a YouTube highlight link? Is there a nrl viewer on earth who has not witnessed Dylan brown play? The whole thing sounds a bit bizarre. Lol.
Mate the Orr brothers are no dummies, they have been around the block.
This was done for maximum effect at the start of the season.
Maybe Dylan is that laid back hes just going along with the flow but this type of behaviour isn’t what we want to see moving forward.
I do take you point though, Gutho, whilst being a great player, was apt at playing it all in public for his own satisfaction.
Yeah spark I’m aware they’ve been around but how strange to email so many clubs with links to highlights, then act surprised when it was leaked. Whole thing was strange. Your right it’s been done for maximum effect.
Spark, two things. Firstly, I’m just sharing what I know about Dyl and not looking to absolve anyone. And another thing, I can give countless instances of agents not doing what you’d expect that they should do. It’s one of the reasons that players and agents part ways. I’m not saying that what’s happening here is without Dyl’s knowledge, but I think we should take a breath before people turn on him for the way his agent is gauging market interest.
Whoever was responsible for signing off on his contract needs to be gone before Dylbro. We’ve all been waiting for (and in the clubs case paying for) Dylbro to reach that potential we all know he has. He still hasn’t. Mitch was busted last season and it was time for THAT potential to surface, it didn’t. Dylbro claimed at the start of last season that after his off field shenanigans of the previous year, that it was up to him to pay his fans and teammates back. How did that pan out? The bloke is an expensive myth. There…I’ve said it! His contract is holding our beloved club to ransom and no matter what deal he got, it’s not okay to just hide behind his management because he ultimately has to agree.
Tell your story walking Dylbro! I hope he moves on because even if he doesn’t and with the clauses, we’ll all be dragged through this rubbish every few years.
Let’s get someone who wants to play 6 at the Eels with none of this crap.
For those who like me believe that Buzz is being sponsored by Player Managers. Yesterday’s DT article by Buzz pushing the narrative that Dyl is off to Rugby Union.
Do we need anymore proof?
It’s sad isn’t it John.