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The Parramatta Eels have a new captain! As expected, Jason Ryles has turned to Mitchell Moses to lead the Blue & Gold into a new era. Sixtes and Forty20 breakdown what the appointment means for the player and club. Junior Paulo and J’maine Hopgood were expected inclusions for the leadership group but new recruit Jack Williams continues to make waves as he too earns a place on the panel.
The Tip Sheet recpas the last week in Parradise including a camp in Lennox Head and news that Josh Addo-Carr is officially clear to play in Round 3 against the Bulldogs. Sundry news includes a fan day at CommBank Stadium this saturday and upcoming Parramatta Leagues Club elections for the board.
The NRL is full of good-news/bad-news this week starting with the Rabbitohs. Latrell Mitchell is clear to play Round 1 but Campbell Graham has a new injury. Ditto for the Tigers where Jarome Luai looks good for his club debut in Round 1 while fellow Penrith recruit Sunia Turuva is now in doubt. At the Dragons, Shane Flanagan has secured the services of Emre Guler effective immediately while the future of Francis Molo is still up in the air. The podcast takes a moment to acknowledge the passing of South Sydney great Gary Stevens.
Junior Representatives are back this weekend and the show runs through four rapid fire previews of the Lisa Fiola, Tarsha Gale, Harold Matthews and SG Ball. The ladies are on the road to Canberra while the lads head to Cessnock to face the Raiders and Knights respectively.
Tks for that. Moses has earned the role, well done. Good balance via Paulo, Hopgood and Williams, blokes you would follow readily. Moses may have to adjust his communication with referees to qualify for the Cam Smith wig and gown, but I don’t think it’s a big issue, he fixed his defence, much harder than fixing your tone of voice.
And Sixties, I heard a song on Life on Mars that I hadn’t heard for years and added it to my Spotify list…Reflections of My Life, The Marmalade.
The leadership selection was logical and correct.
Yeah, I hadn’t heard that song in forever. And after that series I’ve heard it many times. Even Jimmy Barnes sang it with his son David Campbell
Moses deserves it. Our best player for probably 2-3 seasons already. He will lift to a new level now with this team ownership. Him and gutho had to yell and argue with each other before during close games when decision making at times. 😂
I saw only I think 3 games of hopgood at parra and remember saying to people I can see this bloke as a parra captain one day, he absolutely deserves this. It would be an honour to see hopgood potentially become our captain one day if he continues to progress. A true gentleman and leader with his actions & efforts on the field.
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Awesome to hear Williams is making his mark. Nearly All of us fans knew instantly this was a good signing. I believe his playing style will also suit parra better than the sharks too. You regularly see forwards struggle to break out at other clubs, then thrive at parra. I see Williams as possibly doing this too.
We do a good job with forwards. I also think our forwards benefit greatly due to the service & direction from our Halves, especially Moses. Moses steers our forwards very aggressively. He drives them! Not only that, he gives them good ball to run in the right lines. Good luck having that type of direction and ball service from Nicho Hynes. Good on Williams for already setting the tone. 👏
Muz, I reckon that Hopgood has been earmarked for future captaincy.
Yeah, I think that’s pretty clear now.
Making Mitch captain should keep him at the club until he calls time. He does get a bit excited at times with the referee and I have observed the tension between Moses and Gough where Gough had to speak to Cutherson to calm him down. That’s Mitch, he doesn’t want to lose on a bad referee call which we seem to get so many.
I don’t think Mitch would ever use the “C” word to another team mate. And hopefully he will be more flexible when it comes to two points in front or near the posts. If anything ruined Gutherson’s captaincy was his lack of awareness at times in not going for those two points – particularly when well in front or when we are in front in a tight defensive game. It has costs us games at times particularly where we have lost in the closing minutes where two points would have won the game. Hopgood will make an excellent co- captain but Mitch should be on the field for the 80 minutes.
I’ve never bought into the noise that Mitch was ever remotely interested in leaving. I don’t with Dylan for that matter either just quietly. But Mitch’s heart has always been with the Eels. His passion for the club is simply undeniable.
When Gutho’s departure was official, Muttman made an interesting observation on 1EE that he thought Gutho played with passion, but his passion was for his teammates and for winning but not necessarily for the Eels per se, whereas Mitch’s passion is for the colours.
It wasn’t meant as a criticism of Gutho, he pointed out Gutho will be just as passionate in the Red V, he is a thorough professional, but he never loved the club. With Mitch you get the impression it would break his heart to ever have to play against the Eels.
Yes I 100% agree with this sentiment Brett.
I live on the Nthn Beaches these days and when I spoke to Gutho once about his mum teaching my son at Newport primary school he was bemused why we were Parra fans. He was a passionate Manly fan growing up as most are who are born and raised in the area. If BA hadn’t been at Manly to see him in is early days I don’t see The King playing for Parra, but I’m sure glad he did!
He’s will always be super competitive and chase the win regardless of the colour of his jersey.
Great anecdote JonBoy and I think we have all come to a similar observation about the King. He may not have passionately embraced everything about the club, but he passionately gave everything he had when out on the field wearing the Blue and Gold. He’ll long be remembered for that.
That loyalty to the club came out during the interview when he was asked about getting the club captaincy.
Interesting and probably accurate take on Gutho.
It’s definitely a different dynamic at training. Moses and Gutho would be at each other with fun banter at different times. Clearly good mates. There’s still plenty of laughs on the training track and lots of voices, but I reckon Moses has been totally business. Not that he wasn’t focussed before, because he was, (and he was always talking to the coaches and players about what was happening during drills) but it’s been a slightly different Moses out there all preseason.
Great choices.
It sounds like one of Williams and Hopgood will play prop and the other lock.
I can’t see Williams being on the bench.
At some stage a middle will spend time on the bench regardless. It’s the time on the field that needs to be managed correctly.
Any news if Lorenzo Talataina and Elijiah Shane-Tapau are injured?
Answered but not answered in the training report.
Great show gents, I listened to the show on YouTube for the first time, great experience, I’ll do that again.
I love the awareness and appreciation shown for what it takes to be even considered to play NRL. Paul Kent often gets mocked for playing one first grade game, I’m not a fan of the guy but I would love to be able to claim that I played a first grade game, that’s more than most fans have achieved.
Muz, I also remember Guth and Moses having it out on the field. I often wondered who could make the best decision. Now we can find out. Moses will make a great captain and as Zero said, it almost certainly guarantees he’ll see out his time at the Eels.
Eels V Dogs round 3. I’m going to stop crossing rounds and eating 7 Eleven sandwiches until then, I’m taking no chances, I want to be alive to watch that game, I can’t wait.
True Paul Kent was probably better than 100% og fans who joked about him. As mentioned on the pod the absolute bottom of barrel is still elite you won’t get near nrl without being a top 1% player. Also mate I might be biased but I think Moses is a better choice as captain. Our clubs been failing. Moses is our rep star. Gutho never was. Not only will Moses gather more respect from players, now when we sign new players. It makes the club more attractive to get to play under & with Mitch Moses. Players (especially younger ones), do take into consideration who the Captain and main players are at a club before signing. A coach and what club it is are both important, but star players help attract star recruits. Mitch is the face of parra now and realistically should have already been the face of parra for a few years already. Thats why the external coaches made this decision before even stepping foot at parra. Mitchel is probably the best player we’ve had since Hayne, and HAS stared and succeeded at rep level. You want those players as your captain. I’m a gutho fan. But we needed change. Moses will do a great job. You look at cowboys or panthers, even Storm. You see rep stars, they are captains. Rarely do you see the best NRL players in the comp in a non leadership position at their home club. Mitchel was evidently mad at Gutho at times, I believe Mitchel is one of the supreme game managers in the entire comp. He’s your #1 player behind Cleary & close to J Hugh’s. He’s only just off one of the best club players in history (Cleary, played better than him at rep / NSW level. Moses is over due to be our captain and I’m 100% confident in him. We also needed new voices. This is regular practice within any organisation that’s failing. Sometimes just a change in leadership is enough to create a fresh start in the minds of the team.
I pretty much agree with your thoughts Muz, I always thought it was strange that our best player, our play maker and general and the player we rarely win without was not our captain.
I guess there were politics at play, BA and Gutho were very close, I’m not having a go at BA, its an awkward position to be in when a relationship extends well beyond the training paddock, we are human after all.
I feel Mitch has wanted the captaincy for while, on reflection, I don’t think Mitch was gutted to see Gutho leave.
I remember Mitch being interviewed on channel 9, this was when speculation of Gutho going to the Dragons had just surfaced, he was asked if he would accept the captaincy should Gutho leave, he didn’t hesitate to say it would be an honour to captain the team.
Muz and Joseph, I’ve said it many times, Moses was already a leader in the team via his role. He is now officially the leader in the team. He is now the voice of the coach on the field. He is now the number one ambassador for the club.
Cheers Joseph. I guess we have seen the sheer weight of talented players that come through pathways but never get to first grade. The difference in talent can be minimal. Sometimes it comes down to opportunity. But often times playing first grade is a measure of the sacrifices made, the work ethic, the determination. Much respect to those who get there because every journey would have had its challenges.
Sixties, I played juniors for the Tigers.
Disclosure: I was a Parra supporter during that time.
Mate I would’ve been happier than the girl in the silver shorts who has an orgasm after drinking her Macca’s Iced Coffee drink if I had played just one under 23’s game.
Like you said, I saw plenty of players with much more talent than I who never got a run in 23’s.
I think Spark played 23’s, something I always dreamed of doing but never came close.
J, I had 3 blokes working with me at one stage who played NRL but got bad injuries (mainly knee) early on and years of application and effort straight down the sink. All first class people, excelled in team environment.
I can’t stand people who make random judgements on RL players and the game. I heard a current affairs journo deliver an opinionated smack down of RL players one night…from an industry half full of truth-stretchers and shafters.
For sure BDon, some journos and fans need to stop and appreciate the dedication, sacrifices and the toll this sport takes on their bodies, all the while knowing their chances of making a career out of the sport they love is slim.
No player starts playing Rugby League for the money, they love the sport and very few actually make money. It’s the toughest sport in the world, every other career option would be better than busting your body with little to no chance of making a quid.
This is a great choice.
The ‘discussions’ with Gutho on field which people remarked as flapping arms – was merely Mitch trying to get his point across (within 10 seconds) especially on challenges. Mitch has a very good footy IQ and rarely gets challenges wrong. Gutho at times was not able to identify as quickly. Hence the urgency from Mitch. I think without Gutho it will smooth out the process and Mitch will be a brilliant captain. He has capacity to be Cameron Smith KC and we will be a much better team as a result.
Bring on 2025!!
I’m with you all day Moses is best choice now and has been for some while. We got too loyal and stuck doing the same old things in the past with not enough player turn around, no changing of captains or leadership in the team either. Moses should have been at min, a co captain a long time ago and every non parra fan I’ve spoken too could understand how Mitchel Moses was not already a captain or co captain. Obviously he played an important role. But Mitchel has been the face of parra for years. Our rep star, our half back, our top 3 half back in the NRL. Out parra boy who lead blues to a historic victory. It’s a great moment for parra fans. Moses just like origin will now take this team and own it. We will likely see a whole new level of commitment. Moses owning the team will give him a new identity within the game. He sees parra as his team now. For good players, this usually only benefits them. Mitchel is A + competitive. It suits his personality type to give him the leadership. He isn’t only a hard worker. This bloke is one of the games best organisers and not afraid to bark at every player to push them. He’s perfect for it I think. He is also pretty spot on with most ref challenges too I think. Moses is smart / high iq footy brain.
Agree Muz,
Mitch decision was a no-brainer as indicated. Williams has come to start and Hopgood was identified from day 1 as a professional that would be captain a question of when and not if. Both these guys are what Ryles wants. Junior is better in the tent. I hope he regains his 2021/22 form. But, given he’s an Ayoub player. If he was not kept in the tent Ayoub would no doubt make sure it
played out in the media as a distraction. So the call was a very good call. All reports indicate Junior is at a much better weight this year. Whereas last year reported as playing at about 125+ in 2024.
I really like what Ryles has been doing and he’s transforming the club not just the nrl side.
Pete, he has been outstanding at identifying challenges.
Haha, never thought I would hear about Life On Mars on a Parra podcast. No mention of the follow up series Ashes to Ashes though??
Moses though is the most logical choice. He has been running the team anyway. Also won’t be shy in giving someone a bit of a rocket if they need it, and his captains challenges are pretty spot on.
This has been Mitch’s team for a few years now.
Agreed, I’m more looking forward to seeing Moses giving it to the refs when they rip us off.
He has the street cred now, Origin winner, Test winner, refs will have a different level of respect when one the best players in the game arcs up as captain.
RC, it just wasn’t anywhere near as good as Ashes to Ashes. Forty’s intermission interlude gives us the opportunity to sidetrack whilst momentarily. You’d be surprised about the feedback or requests we get from time to time for that part of the pod. Moses was the expected, logical, correct choice. He shared leadership before. He’s not at least the majority shareholder.
The other thing with Mitch being a great captain. The addition of Ryles will make the post match presser a better proposition. Because they were excruciating to watch for the most part. Even, when we won they were uncomfortable at times but excruciating after a loss (not as bad as Wayne Bennett though….) .So I’ll be looking for a change to that and I think we will be taken seriously by the media as a result.
Nah. The media will never take Parra seriously. Even if we win the comp.
Mitch’s first job is to help get dyl brown resigned. Dyl can really take a step up this year if he’s happy, injury free and playing consistently with Moses. The weapons and support dyl will have outside him won’t be like years gone by. But ultimately it’s up to dyl and whether he wants to take this club forward. I’m the situation at the moment seems like the calm before the storm (ie I think a decision will be made in next 3 weeks).
I’m not stressing over Dyl. I reckon he’s staying.
Fingers crossed his meeting with the roosters next week does not go well.
If he goes I hope Ryles plays him off the bench this year and give the 6 to volkman or Hawkins