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Mitchell Moses missing Parramatta’s Round 1 blockbuster against the Melbourne Storm was not how the Jason Ryles era was meant to kickoff. The fact that he heads an extended unofficial injury list is incredibly unfortunate and it sets the tone for the early discussions in this episode of The Tip Sheet.
Sixties and Forty20 evaluate where the Eels stand with the team named to take on the Storm. Ronald Volkman has been named to replace Moses while Ryley Smith makes his NRL debut. Is this the best team Ryles could have named all things considering?
The Junior Representatives are over the hump round are three teams posted victories on the weekend. The boys wrap up all four games as the Lisa Fiaola and SG Ball continue their undefeated runs while the Harold Matthews finally put it all together against Penrith.
The Vegas debrief looks at a mostly lopsided slate of results. Was four games too many? Sixties argues that three games might be the sweet spot moving forwards. The Warriors looked a mile off the pace against the Raiders while Cronulla and the Panthers battled to the final moments – what were the takeaways from Round 0?
If anyone, Sixties should have more info than any other fan on how Moses was tracking at training, and when his training was minimised in the ensuing weeks.
Most fans wouldn’t have known there were any issues until he was left out of tge second trial with the club reporting he had foot soreness and subsequent scans that didn’t find anything to be overly concerned about.
What we’d like to know is was Moses comprised during his training runs when he seemed fit?
And has he training in the past month full contact, or at all in full contact. We know he did full contact but it seems like it was only for around 4 weeks
Chief, I can’t answer a single one of those questions. Anything that I see in the way of injuries, I never report. There is a matter of trust with regard to that. Any information regarding the specifics of an injury, the treatment, the time out has to come from the club.
Even though I still attend training during the season proper I don’t write it up as it would literally be conveying a collection of intel for each opponent.
Yes that’s totally understandable Sixties.
I’m giving Ryles the benefit of the doubt, but hard to believe Doorey is ahead in the pecking order of Moretti, Carty and Greig given all three aren’t listed on the injury update.
Odd that R Penisini is named in Flegg despite being on the injured list too.
Moses injury seems pretty troubling after Ryles said he was good for round 1 and now has no return time listed.
Greig cmon. He was gassed after 5 minutes in that trial. Are you being serious?
And Cartwright also that trial cost him, with a few brain snaps trying too hard, but that’s nothing new with Cartwright.
Also, Doorey can cover the middle and back row and is looking very strong build wise this season. He looks to have put on 10kgs of muscle
The criticisms of Carty and Greig are valid, but they’re ones that also apply to Doorey. I’ve never been a huge Carty fan and Greig’s never kicked on, but at times I’ve seen them be capable first graders and I’m not sure that can really be said about Doorey.
I understand, but i have great faith in what Ryles is thinking. Let’s leave it to Ryles who knows how everyone is tracking through training and how certain players will more suit his game plans
Let’s remember Ryles is the coach and he has quality assistant coaches who would have had a long discussion about the team selection. They have an advantage over us – they are there at training. Wayne Bennett once said if the coaches listen to the fans it wouldn’t be long when they join them in the stands. Considering our injuries it’s the best they can come up with. This game is not a write off – it is the very start of a new era. The boys can do it and will.
Seven top 30 players unavailable plus one dev list player. That means there were 21 fit players from the top 30. I’m waiting for the injury curse to end.
Are Gideon and Luca injured?
Gideon seemed to be a shoe -in for edge early on? Trial form handling was an issue…
Luca also seemed to be ahead of Doorey for a bench spot?
Shame about Mitch he’s been unlucky.
When neither have been named the answer is there.
Luca isn’t listed on the most recent injury update: https://www.parraeels.com.au/news/2025/03/05/injury-update-round-1/
Thanks Phil I see they have now updated the injury list!
But As you pointed out Luca is still not on the new list.
Hoping Sixties knew something about it
Was asking because the list I saw this morning wasn’t up to date. Phil showed the link to the updated list and the updated list still doesn’t have Luca….
Mighty Eels to pull off the upset by 13+ 🤝 💙 💛
Man of the match either: Dylan Brown (or) Iongi
Brown now has the agile & aggressive Williams on his edge, and will penisini, plus the seemingly elite ball player un Iongi who will be involved.
All 4 offer an aggressive running threat near the try line. They cannot just mark up brown now, they will have to strongly mark up those 4 very dangerous ball runners which should help Dylan find space as def
Then Iongi will be sweeping up behind Brown who’s extremely dangerous near the try line and looks like an amazing ball player near the try line. Bellamy will have storm defenders rushing in to try put pressure on Brown & Iongi, this should give brown a tiny bit more space or time since now they will have Iongi identified as probably our most dangerous player besides brown.
Our attack in this game will have the Storm working much harder mentally than before, in the past all they basically did was heavily mark up brown in Moses absence – as nobody else had the speed or X-factor to cut open the line or ball play like Iongi or brown. Storm will be taking Browns side extremely serious this game in defence I would suspect.
I think if we can hold the ball and complete sets there’s no doubt we’ve got the strike to get tries. Iongi’s ball playing now adds a whole new dimension to our attack his ball playing is unbelievable.
Love the optimism Muz. My wife always tells me to stop being such a pessimist, and if I want to remain one then to shut up!
I hope you are right. I’m still a bit concerned about the potential for Tuilagi and Doorey defensive lapses to hurt us. But they are both enthusiastic and you can tell from Sixties pre season reports that Ryles sees something in both, especially Tuilagi.
As a supporter of a team with a lot of off season changes I need to show faith, at least in the first few rounds, in what is being done. There is a reason Ryles is getting a big sum of money to coach and I sit in an average everyday house getting average pay packets. If I was good enough I’d be doing his job.
I’ve picked a lot of players over the years to be stars for Parra only to watch them fizzle out. So maybe I should listen to “she who must be obeyed” and take in some of that optimism you and a few others are showing.
Either way I know who I will still be cheering for on Sunday (cyclone permitting) regardless of who is wearing the respective jumpers.
if any team could pull off the upset and break their streak record it’s parra
This team for years has done some crazy things
I think for this reason and how strong some of our recruits are
Even if a few players are not guns defensively we know how to give the storm problems in attack and they won’t even know how to defend against us the same since we’ve got completely different attacking shapes and new recruits
I think we can win it, keep the position vibes mate, I think at worst we still impress everyone and make the fans proud – this is a very good eels team
Namrebo, it’s the start of the season. We have to stick strong.
Too true 👍
I like this analysis Muz. There is definitely more strike in this team on Sunday than there was last year. Can they win? They’ll have to play with a high completion rate and stick to their defensive systems.
100% sixties I think if they get a high completion rate like we have in previous years when we’ve beaten them we will have the chance to compete and possibly win. It’s just the fact you are only a few errors and mistakes away from losing to the Storm that makes it difficult. Hopefully the ground is dry and the new boys nerves are calm and we take the win.
This first month presents as a great opportunity for players to step up and show that we are building a tougher underbelly. To many times have we seen this side just roll over with one big name player out. If we want to be a contender we need to handle adversity better because the injuries will come thru the season it’s inevitable and a challenge every team faces. Yes Moses is a very important player but him just being there doesn’t automatically win us games or make us competitive. Melbourne are going to be a real test but if the players go with a complete high and scrap for everything game plan and execute it we’ll compete no doubt. If we complete low and gift wrap Melbourne ball they will kill us. Moses would make no difference to this even if we had him. I think the club is starting to wake up to the realisation that you need 30 competitive players to win a comp not 17 but it might take time to build that but I do think we’re moving in the right direction
1960 – I’m with you on the compete high and scrap for everything approach. As for Moses absence, it is a big loss to overcome, but let’s not lose sight of the fact that the Eels are without seven top 30 players, with arguably five of them certainties to be selected if fit. So we are digging deep into the depth charts already.
I believe that Mitch showed his loyalty to the club when he knocked back bigger offers from Dogs and Tigers to sign with the Eels. The new extended contract is Mathew Beach extending the clubs loyalty to Mitch.
I also think it is a sign of new contract philosophy by both the club and coach. I for one am excited about Mitch signing for the rest of his career.
Come on Dylan show us you have the same loyalty.
No doubt that Mitch loves the club.
1st Game
You storm people need to Stop talking and see what happens
GO PARRA
Yes Harry!
Long season ahead….
Well a long 5-6 weeks.
It’s unfortunate that Mitch and others are injured but this presents an opportunity for those others to step up in their place. There is a lot of negativity surrounding this game from Eels supporters, I know that those playing will not be going in with the same defeatist mentality.
As for the sharks not being able to challenge a call what I thought was more egregious and incorrect was earlier in the game the panthers wanted to challenge a play so leota deliberately gave away a penalty. There was 2 things wrong with this. 1. The play that can be challenged in that case was the penalty given away by leota and given he laid there for an age it could only be a penalty and 2. Given it was a deliberate penalty given away to challenge this should have seen leota binned as the NRL changed the interpretation around that when the titans gave away 2 deliberate penalties against us to challenge plays they believed to be incorrect. I have emailed the NRL about this call and where they’ve been quite open to responding to my queries in the past they have not been so forthcoming this time. Maybe if the commentary team weren’t so busy with something else in their mouths there would’ve been more controversy surrounding this decision, I’m sure if it were the other way around they would have.
The fact we are under dogs and Jason will be mentally preparing these young blokes to win I think will give us a chance
Eels are the only team who can really beat the panthers or the Storm and we often did it with less strong starting 17’s than this one
I think we might suprise some people and might even win
Eels fans must lose the defeatist mindset, we now have depth and don’t rely on Moses or gutho to carry us
Agree Muz.
Whilst it isn’t ideal preparation for the season. There is a difference from last year. In that Dylan will stay in his natural position and allow Volk to play at 7. Dylan is not a halfback and we saw that repeatedly last year. Dylan is a 6! So instead of weakening 2 positions like last year. It will give Volk the necessary
confidence to play at 7 and take the pressure off Dylan knowing he doesn’t have to be the sole runner of the team.
If we keep it simple and defend. We can
come out ontop.
I agree mate and Dylan being able to play his own game in his own position makes him and the team a whole lot better. He is an out and out 6 and will benefit a lot from having a #7 out there to help guide the ship.
Well noted Ham. It is to me a simple case of extreme incompetence from the match official.
Tks guys, it’s raining, enjoyed the chat, took my mind off the 2 blokes outside with maxi-chainsaws cutting a large tree right next to my wife’s favourite gardens. She went out for coffee with a friend and left me here to deal with it. And Mitchell Moses is out, not sure which situation is worse.
Was impressed with Hopgood’s quick summary of things on Ch9 news last night, he’s one player who’ll give us a boost, I note that he hasn’t convinced everyone of his quality, but I just like the fact that he’s a competitor to his bootstraps, the fine tuning will come with experience.
Well noted about Hoppy Don. And thanks for listening!
Not good news this morning.
Volkman will have to step up fast.
If we win 50% of the games while he is there, we should make the semis.
If we lose them all, it’s another grim, injury plagued year.
We’ll pick up wins 57.
I feel like what 60’s & forty said about Nicho Hynes is spot on
– the media blow smoke up his tail and built him into something he is not unfortunately
– the sharks should have Nicho at fullback or 5/8 actually Trindall is good, possibly a better #7
– also for all the clowns who support parra and constantly pick on brown, imagine how sharks fan feel Nicho is on big bucks as a half back and looks like 1/2 of the player Dylan brown is and some fans still aren’t happy 😅
– p.s this isn’t an attack on Nicho he is a good player but he is on huge money and unfortunately that generates a lot of opinions
Cheers Muz. In being critical of Hynes, I’d like to think we’ve been balanced. He is a good player, and he’s a good human. But he just doesn’t play like a halfback.
Most definitely. and the sharks also have an extremely good roster for Nicho to steer around. Let’s be fair, it’s probably a top 4 team this year and will flog most side besides storm & panthers. Now let’s pretend Nicho went to tigers or titans. He would possibly be flat out holding his job at half back within two seasons probably. The fact Nicho can’t look good with that sharks forward pack and insane outside backs depth is crazy. Sharks must do something for his career before he loses all confidence, a stint at fullback may do the trick you would suspect and Kennedy isn’t looking as good these days.
Great to see your happy faces back on the big screen. John, the tumbler got a workout, great to see. Sixties, mate come on, a boring water bottle? Mate, time to dust off your Hi-5 cup.
You guys need to start looking over at each other, like the Brady bunch, that’s what my daughter suggested.
Six weeks for Moses. This season has started worse than the last. Welcome to Parra Jason. What are odds, FMD.
Very good Joseph. Maybe we need to swap our intro music to the Brady Bunch!
😂 now you’re getting it Sixties.
Joseph the injury crisis has already hit us and it’s not even round 1 (😅)
On a more positive note, Hawkins I believe will be back soon and can steer a team around. I predicted on the podcast these depth signings would be the game changer for our team in 2025 due to the high likelyhood injuries to key players will mean these depth options will be extremely important & make is competitive regardless of Moses health.
Let’s see if I’m right and that we become more competitive now with the depth, or if the shoes to fill from Moses are too big? I guess we will see by about round 6! 😅 let’s hope the young recruits can play well & secure us a few wins before Mitch returns.
I hope you are right Muz, man, what are the chances? We don’t even need to play a game to suffer an injury crisis.
Despite having 7 players out, we still look better than last season, like you said.
Fingers crossed we can hang in there long enough for the troops to return.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Mitch returns earlier than expected.
Good points tho mate, we do look better, even with 7 players unavailable. I would argue this team even as it is should beat a lot of teams. There’s plenty of points in this squad you would think. There is a lot of talent and not relying on forwards as much