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This episode of The Tip Sheet sees Sixties and Forty20 joined by Chris Ricketts as the show dives into the ongoing fallout from Dylan Brown’s huge call to join the Newcastle Knights. Elsewhere, Jason Ryles was rung in the changes to his NRL roster as another rookie set to make his debut while in the NRL there looks to be some early season transactions taking place as the Dragons, Rabbitohs and Roosters look to add on to their first grade rosters.
Great to see a coach making his players accountable and unlike in previous years, letting players know what’s acceptable and what’s not. It’s refreshing and deserves credit.
Also, there has to be something in why Matterson was left out of the entire 21 man squad. Like someone said previously, Matto has had history on pulling out late, and Madge
pulled Matto up because of it. Ryles has put his foot down here
If Matterson was touch and go, he could have at least be in the 21 squad to give him to prove his fitness. But to have players like Lussick, Greig , Kautoga and Guymer all in front of him, it sends a direct message that Matterson needs to.get his act together fast.
I read the lists and my first thought was that he must be minimal chance of playing, or it’s a case of him having to prove his fitness.
Matterson has been a soft, mentally weak player his entire career, and that’s exactly why he ran from the Tigers when Madge was in charge. It’s about time someone exposed him for what he really is, and I’m proud that Ryles had the guts to call him out.
Avenger, I think it’s a bit strong to make such accusations about someone who has played that many NRL games. It’s a select group that gets to play one game, and it requires dedication and commitment and resilience to build a long career even if there are degrees of such qualities. In this instance, if the coach isn’t confident that he’ll play, then he has made the correct call as later withdrawal will only disrupt the team.
My accusations are based on facts. Matterson has always been fragile and has repeatedly refused to play through injuries—a well-known reality in league circles.
I’ll go a step further and say he won’t even see out his contract, despite taking up his option for 2026. The sooner weak players like him are gone, the better. He’s a liability to what Ryles is trying to build. And let’s not forget his infamous three-game disappearing act in 2023 when we needed him most. He has never been a true team player, just a physically gifted introvert.
I don’t know matto but I assume he won’t be part of ryles plans for future given his play style and defensive shortcomings. The deals we gave to him, lane and Paulo are putrid in retrospect. But even at time they felt like overs – especially matto and Paulo.
I guess the biggest worry is nobody knows when he’s going to pull out of a game. Its far to disruptive to the squad and he keeps doing it. If you cannot trust he’s going play Ryes has no choice but put him in cup. It’s the players choice how they respond to playing in cup.
It’s good Ryles has Nathan Brown who no doubt would have a bit of knowledge about some players behaviour already. It’s up to the player to respond or to sulk in cup.
Boys you are right about the lack of effort but when you use words like “there was no evidence” of the defence structures falling down in training I think we have to remember that having players like Papalil and hawkins and Api running lines at our first grade side in training is not Ryan pap, Munster and Hughes.
They are the second best side in the comp and probably play the fastest in offence.
Yes our effort was down but we are still a slow defensive side with Kelma and Charlie and Hopgood all looking so far off the pace with footwork speed.
Having players of the Storm talent running at our boys with the speed and creativity was just a reality check of where we are at the moment with our roster.
The training paddock does not relate to playing the best teams in the competition.
Until Ryles gets to completely over turn the roster and gets the faster leg speed players he wants like Jack Williams we are going to be in for some more heavy defeats this season in my opinion.
Tony, i get that mate, I always say that the real test comes with facing other NRL teams, not just the Storm. But, the training paddock is the launch pad for a team. It determines the standards and work ethic that a coach demands. I saw plenty in the preseason and zero in the first half. Zero.
Individual errors can be problematic – missed tackles, or worse still, dropping out of the systems they practice. After the length of time watching training, I am confident that I can tell the difference between players not following the basics of the structures and systems that they have worked on or not. Even though I wasn’t at the game, as the first set unfolded I was exclaiming “what the hell is this!” These weren’t fatigued players. Something was totally wrong from the get go.
There were holes everywhere for the Storm to stroll into, let alone the complete lack of line speed and wrestle. It was diabolical.
Now let’s talk the second half. I’ve said that I don’t subscribe to the takes of a team “winning” the second half. The final scoreboard tells the true story. Melbourne weren’t as dynamic but Parra didn’t present the same opportunities. The team did a better job of applying what the coaches have sought from them. Why on earth they didn’t turn up in the first forty minutes is beyond me.
I have no doubt at all in you knowing what you see at training sixties and have no doubt the boys looked really solid in all parts of offence and defence at training.
You are also right when you say they did not turn up and the effort was not there, eg hands and Kelma.
All I’m saying is when those Storm players play at the speed they do like pap and Hughes and Munster playing his unstructured way, that is when you really see where our issues were and that can’t be compared to in training drills and opposed sessions as they are 3 of the best players in the world and they carved us up.
Hopgood, Kelma and even will P out wide were found out with there footwork speed and lateral movement in defence and Kelma has always been terrible at getting himself off the ground after a tackle.
I don’t take any notice of the second half as the storm stopped playing fast and looked like they would just play a defensive mind set in 35 degrees.
They also made more mistakes in the second half which helped out cause.
Mitch will help a lot as will the fox and I think a player like Dan Keir will be starting before long as I think Ryles knows what type of defensive players he wants. Keir is fast and plays with effort.
Tony, you’ve only got to have one forward who is a bit less agile, a bit slower in lateral movement and naturally thinks and acts in a more lineal way(you know, one thing at a time type of response) and suddenly good forwards are getting caught out as well.The game is so fast now. I’ve reckoned since Niukore and Papali’i (then RCG)left that we’ve got more than one, and usually on the field at the same time as others with similar weaknesses, so the problem multiplies.I get the impression you have a good eye and knowledge and don’t need me to point out the obvious. These players all have strengths as well, but defence is primary and we suffer badly at times, particularly when our completions/errors/6Agains are not gold standard. Hopgood (and Penisini)has indicated he is a top level footballer but geez he’s been caught up in some dodgy roster mixes on the park. The old test…how would he look in the Storm’s structures and intent? And Billy Slater seems to think the same. I’m getting the feeling that Ryles is zeroing in on this whole issue.
Looking at the Storm team, they really have a lot of nuffies.
Granted they have some excellent players but there are a lot there who were unknowns but play like supermen.
It’s obviously down to the excellent systems they have in place down there where failure is just not tolerated.
When Howarth failed to cover Tago for his try, Munster absolutely gave Howarth a bath.
Notwithstanding the fact they were probably up by 46 points at the time, all they were worried about was that there was a break in the system.
They are a marvel.
The good thing is that Ryles knows exactly how to get there but it’s going to take a lot of pain and probably a fair few losses.
One of funniest episodes I’ve seen. Great work gents.
An MA warning would have been nice 😀
Very good Joseph. Going live will do that. The interaction with the viewers throws extra unknown and spontaneity into the mix. It was fun to mess up a bit.
Any idea when this is coming to Spotify boys? Prefer to listen whilst at work and Spotify is best
We are on Spotify.
Yeah mate I know I meant this episode haha. The episode seems to cut off after about 45 minutes
We need to win the collision and middle on this one in terms of physicality
(I’m channeling my inner ba here?) 😅
The tigers spine and main prop May here will absolutely flog us if we try to play pretty and do not play with high intensity on contact and give it to them.
If the eels try to play it pretty here – the tigers halves will manufacture points almost every time we give them easy ball on our try line if we don’t attack them physically early on.
We need to rely on our more physical forwards and open up some second phase play, tigers miss HEAPS of tackles but also don’t wrap the ball up very well so you can offload.
What I don’t want to see? If we play sideways like the tigers and try to finesse them, we will absolutely get beaten if we try to play their game.
The eels have done really bad against the tigers in recent times whenever we played sideways and went against our physical strength which is to dominate in the middle and play direct, then kick long.
Good luck to young Samrani on his debut – I didn’t hear anyone mention it on the podcast but Jordan offers a lot of meters from the back field and loves a hit up. This should get us out of trouble better than with tago who offered little run meters.
Muz, I really like the Tigers this year.
If they could only punt their coach, they could really go far.
I reckon they have some excellent players and could really dust us up on the weekend.
they have a lot of good players now spark and that spine is very strong
Our spine probably can’t out play them, the eels tired old forwards need to wind back the clock and win the middle
Or don’t be suprised if Luai, Galvin, Api K, and Adam Douhi absolutely tee off on us
That’s if we turn up looking anything remotely close to what we looked like last week anyhow
There is a massive transition going on at the Eels at the moment. The coaching staff have identified and are willing to accelerate a youth first policy.
Just have a look at this weekends Cup forward pack, which is basically last years NRL pack.
19, 20 year olds WILL play in an Ryles system.
The only way Dylan Brown gets dropped from the team will be on merit.
The only player who has a mortgage on a spot in the team will be Mitchell Moses.
I personally reckon that someone like a Apa Twidle or Hawkins are an absolutely red hot chance to take Browns spot.
I realise and support the fact that Brown is one of our best players, but Ryles was somewhat hamstrung due to his pending decision before.
If he doesn’t play to the standard that Ryles requires, he will be playing Cup. Take that to the bank.
Going further, I wonder how Brown will cop that? Or will he demand a release?
Interesting times ahead.
And if his replacement goes worse, which is highly likely, what does JR so then? Trust me, Spark, coaches are reluctant to make changes, it interrupts more than it assists. At the end of the day JR has a responsibility to win games and he’s mote chance of that with DB in the team. While there’s a DB lynch mob calling for him to never play NRL for the Eels again, that’s just venting frustrations and that mob swings with the breeze so much if there’s 6 or 7 losses in a row the pitchforks will be put for JR. I guarantee he won’t get too much leeway with some of the rabid fans.
Stubby can’t argue with much of that.
Fans do like the pitchforks that’s for sure and there is a real chance that we could be months away from a win.
Dylan has undoubted talent. Now we will see how strong he is mentally.
My point is that Ryles won’t leave Brown there, just because of reputation.
If he plays like a zombie, Ryles has the strength to punt him and damn the torpedoes!
Stubbs, your writing style reminds me of Poppa. Is that you or are you really Stubbyholder.
Definitely not mate, I see Poppa on here every now and then and he’s his own man. I like some of the stuff he says and the fact he doesn’t tolerate a fool.
So I just watched Dylan’s presser. According to him it was not the $ but length of contract that swayed him. Interesting, I seem to recall after his last signing for us him saying the option clauses in that contract were all about security for him. Now I understand what he meant. Not sure I 100% believe him.
As an aside, it left a sour taste in the mouth watching him in his Parra gear talking about the Knights. I guess the journos wanted to ask questions and I was there with my hand over my eyes but a couple of fingers open to sneak a peak. Who’s worse the journos or me, I don’t know
Another thing Brown said when signing his Eels contract was : “It’s purely just for security. When you sign the deal, you want to know what your future is so you can focus on playing good footy. That’s why we signed that contract. Parramatta has got trust in me and I respect that.”
Well I guess the trust was a little misplaced and later on trashed. The more I read what was said when Dylan resigned with Parra the less respect I feel.
Dylan brown saying “I can’t wait to go there” or something along those lines.
That’s absolutely disrespectful and disgraceful I feel just hearing it.
Do any other eels fans feel the same?
Muz, personally I’ve already moved on from him tbh. And will see how the season pans out. I’d prefer he moved on now but we would need a trade here and don’t see it happening.
It clearly shows that he is not Parra through and through..,and that’s life. Now he’s the Knights issue. And I find it funny that the media claim it was a two horse race for his signature
I recall Zac Lomax in an interview a couple of years ago stating that he would like to move into the halves at some stage. Could that be an option? That would open up going after another strike centre, say Manu or bringing a junior through like Richie Penisini. Another out of the box option could be gauging Ezra Mam’s interest in moving now that the broncos have Ben Hunt back.
Dylan’s press conference was a joke, a fitting end to what has been a poorly managed and painful process for our club.
I fully understand taking the deal, no one could begrudge that, but don’t treat the fans and club who have got you to the point of a life changing deal like they are fools.
This decision is about money and money only. There’s no problem with that, but have some integrity and be honest.
If you never wanted to leave Dylan you would have taken your $1.1m a year player option without having your manager take you to market for auction.
If $1.1m a year wasn’t enough to make you want to play for Parra don’t try and tell us you’re sad to leave and the true fans will still love you.
Dylan extracted what value he can get from parra and we should do exactly the same. Whenever we are out of finals contention this year he should immediately be sent to Cup, as he’s no longer of use to us.
Good riddance.
He gets paid more money for an extra 4 years and he asked the eels to match the extra years and obviously they wouldn’t.
It’s not about the money it’s the 10 years!
So if he was not playing great footy at 31 years of age the eels would not of re signed him and that would of been quite possible if he started to lose his speed at that age and we had great juniors coming through.
So he can play for 4 more years with the knights guaranteeing him an extra $5.2 mill.
Would you turn that down??
I thought he was quite honest saying it’s about the security and the length of the contract.
You think he signs that deal if it’s the same money parra had him on?
Like I said I don’t begrudge him, 99% of people would take it also, but the driver to this is $$$.
I’ll also reiterate Dylan would have instructed his manager to go to market with the only objective being financial given his existing parra deal.
I think Dylan’s press conference was laughable.
Yes I do because as we know its 4 more years longer than the parra deal of secured money.
Dylan does not want to play for Parra.
He wants to play for whoever will pay him the most money and that’s fine.
In his own words “I can’t wait to get there (Newcastle)” while he stands in eels kit telling us he didn’t want to leave. Spare me.
Tony if Dean Ritchie is right, the Knights have an option in their favour for the last two years of his contract.
He’s only guaranteed 8 years compared to our 7 year offer. He’s full of shit but you can’t blame him, what else can he say? I’m leaving the club I profess to love, the club who paid me well above my market value for years, the club who nurtured me and fully expected me to be an Eel for life, the club who agreed to pay me more than my market value over 7 years, the club who watched Blaize and Sanders walk because they stupidly believed I would stay loyal because I was being paid above my market value and I was given security for the next 7 years?
He was always going to the highest bidder, that’s why he wanted the clauses. And to add salt to injury? His answer to “Do you have any clauses in your new deal” his answer was “nothing ridiculous” talk about taking the piss.
I know that some supporters wish him well, I’m not one of them.
The Knights are talking about their hopes for Fletcher Sharp to become an elite half. Guess what you dopes, you won’t be able to afford him when he’s off contract. Karma is bitch.
You think he signs that deal if it’s the same money parra had him on?
Like I said I don’t begrudge him, 99% of people would take it also, but the driver to this is $$$.
I’ll also reiterate Dylan would have instructed his manager to go to market with the only objective being financial given his existing parra deal.
I think Dylan’s press conference was laughable.
I recall when his manager sent the email out ,certain people on here suggested outright that Dylan wouldn’t have known anything about it and that in all likelihood, his manager went rouge.
Its now quite obvious that it was all an orgestrated plan (which is how it should have been)
To suggest that his management would undertake such an action without the full cooperation and approval of their client is ridiculous.
I do have to take issue with something mentioned during the pod. That the second half did not matter. It did to me. As it was all I had to counter the merciless comments coming way on the footy tipping group chat. Please let me have it.
On what they do at training not transferring to the field, as a great German league coach, Helmut von Moltke once said “no game plan survives contact with the opposition.” As others have noted, the side is going through a great transition. As tough as the loss was, it may be a good learning experience. I just hope there are no more such good learning experiences during the season. But I do expect that it will come together.
As for Dylan, he’s made the decision and I’m not fussed anymore. It may be an opportunity for Parramatta. In this transition I suspect some of the old guard have bought into it, others may not have done so and this is influencing who turns up.
I agree Shaun. 2nd half also mattered to me. The Coach reacted at half time. The players responded. I saw a tiny bit of sunshine poke through the storm. That was welcome.
I also agree this may be an opportunity. I just did not expect it to be as devastatingly dramatic as we saw in the first half, that’s all.
I guess it’s time to see who in the Eels team stands up to make a statement about how much they want it.
I miss Gutherson’s fight-for-everything attitude.
Who will bring that to our games in his place now?
I’m not that worried about a new Gutho. If Ryles is the coach I think he is then that attitude will pass through the team. My rather optimistic prediction is that round one will be seen as beginning. There is some great young players on the squad and on the fringes. Watching them develop is going to be exciting. Ido think the cultural change is a work in progress but it will soon work itself out.
We lost three games last year equally meekly.
Maybe even worse, considering the strength of opposition against the relative experience of last year’s team v this years.
It’s next week that counts.
We have plenty of talent.
From here it’s about teamwork and commitment on the field.
Debutantes are nowhere near match hardened and Ryles has to trot them out weekly, maybe for the next 6 weeks or more.
Once Moses is back we will start winning games.
We need to win 2 or 3 before then.
Reread the line about teamwork and commitment on the field.
I think Brown will settle down now the contract mess is over.
Likewise, his big mate knows he needs to perform from this week like the pair did in 23.
I’m sure we will see a lot more effort this week.
I’d like to see Cartwright and Matterson back to their best.
We need the depth. It’s going to be a long season.
If they have the commitment, we can put a competitive team on the park.
If we are at 3:3 six weeks in, we will have exceeded plenty of expectations, and be set for a solid year.
If it’s 0:6, fairly or not, the early knives will be out for Ryles.
That’s football.
I’m not fussed with the Dylan situation, but far out, “I can’t wait to play there” is disgraceful
it is isn’t it. His message to fans via Instagram was also tacky. What a shame
Also you don’t see any players at other clubs say such. Silly comment about being keen while still at current club. Ryles had a lot of work to do to get rid of the experienced players who have created such a poor environment
It’s a sign of the culture and playing mindset of the senior parramatta eels.
Dylan Brown saying can’t wait to go there is disgraceful.
I don’t care what anybody thinks, if he played for the Storm, panthers, chooks, even the broncos or manly.
The club would consider pushing him out over this or doing something. It’s a sign he doesn’t want to be hear.
A big red flag 🚩 was how Dylan (our second highest player) was not included in the leadership group.
I know us eels fans are emotional, but as a struggling team it’s the last thing fans wanted to hear.
Interested to see what actions Jason Ryles does after this especially if Dylan decides not to play basically again this Sunday.
I also thought the Dylan Brown interview was a little poor. I thought that may be he’d read the room and be a bit more diplomatic towards the fans that stuck by him thru the good and bad. When I heard him express his joy at ending up at Knights, it wasn’t something I wanted to hear. That showed a lack of empathy towards Eels supporters I thought. Also just a lack of thought. May be he just isn’t much of a deep thinker about things like that. Not every player can express themselves like Tony Butterfield or George Peponis used to be able to. Dylan Brown signing with Newcastle is absolutely gut-wrenching for me. The only thing I can look forward to is the freeing up of cash to buy a fantastic player from another team. But I wish that he was staying
Don’t worry about what Dylan said in the interview. I’m sure he didn’t mean to disrespect the Eels club and the fans.
In fact, it’s probably the last thing he wants to do.
So why did he say it ??
Quite simply, and I don’t mean to be disrespectful but Dylan isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.
I’m sure he didn’t mean it like that.
I’m sure he’s thankful that he’s a good footballer.
I am sure Dylan Brown meant no disrespect towards Eels supporters. It’s just that the emotions are very raw. I’m gutted by the news of him leaving. I’m shattered. He is only 24 and his best days are ahead of him. Experts were saying that he has shown not enough to command that price tag. Then they also tell you that half backs don’t hit their peak till the late 20’s. Like Moses for example. I was looking forward to seeing him go up a level, I really was. But not for another club!!!!!!!! Yes, so, I know Dylan meant no disrespect but the emotiona are very raw for some of us to hear him express how excited he is to play for another team. It felt like being dumped by a girlfriend for me….
You are right, Dylan may turn out to be a great footballer for the Knights.
If I had to bet, I’m betting he has already hit his ceiling and I also reckon that Blaize Talagi won’t amount to much as well whereas I think Ethan Sanders will really be the one that hurts us.
But hey – that’s only my opinion.
Mate you never know what’s around the corner.
We may unearth a star from our own ranks or pick up someone who wouldnt get the opportunity to play for us if Dylan was still around.
I jumped on the Tigers forums to see what they were saying about Galvins possible defection to us and the general consensus there is that they have better players than Galvin in their lower grades !!!
No one player is bigger than the club.
I honestly hope no one gives it to Dylan when he plays this year.
I’m sure you would agree that whilst hes wearing our colours he deserves all the support and accolades that he can get.
Whilst disappointing we’ll be losing a player with real potential to be a very good 5/8, as Spark says there are others waiting in the wings. I think for Parra to be successful year after year, we need to get to a stage where whenever a player moves on we bring in another player who has been learning the ropes in lower grades. That’s how the successful clubs seem to operate. For far too long now we haven’t had that luxury, and that’s why we panic whenever we lose a star player. I can see that we are starting to get there, but at the moment those young players are not quite NRL ready. We’ve seen already that Ryles is bringing them in for NRL experience, but this is going to hurt until these players get some runs on the board in NRL.
For now, a development pathway is open for young halves, and it will be interesting to see how the club and young players respond to that.
This is so true, Dyl is definitely not over endowed with intelligence.
I actually think it’s part of the reason he goes missing in games and it’s common knowledge he does not watch and study other games and teams.
It’s why I think he will struggle being a game manager. I think he struggles to concentrate for long periods and as Copper Cronk said it’s different when you have to kick the ball well 16 times a game not the 3 that you were use to and you have to communicate and look after other players and not just yourself.
Good luck Dyl we certainly have not seen him capable of doing those things yet.
Your right his press conference was embarrassing in Parramatta colours with Parramatta Sponsor board in the background.
Spent 10 mins talking about the knights and what’s ahead with them & nothing about the game on Sunday.
And the true fans wouldn’t boo was a pathetic comment. I won’t be booing him but i reckon Dyl maybe in for a shock come Sunday.
I don’t begrudge other fans giving him a bit of reception.
A very tone deaf individual at the moment. I wouldn’t boo a parra player. That’s off the table. Bur Dylan’s interview was pathetic and disrespectful (even if unintentionally). You just lost by huge margin. You played terrible. You didn’t lead the team. And now you want to talk about what’s ahead and why fans should/shouldn’t do. Focus on your job this weekend for starters instead of the usual lip service about we are committed that comes out from this playing group year on year
You are probably right fellas
As 60’s has said many times he is a nice fella and loved the eels
He probably isn’t the sharpest communicator and didn’t mean harm
I just wish for a struggling club & fan base he was able to articulate a message that didn’t hint that he doesn’t actually want to be at parra more or less anymore
Just saying can’t wait to go to Newcastle or whatever has been received negatively by about 90% of people who heard him say it
If parra was doing well and we didn’t let go of most of our young gun halves to keep Dylan
I think the fans would feel a bit less disrespected or disappointed
All we all want to see on Sunday is a true performance and not let our team down – this is a game where tigers will absolutely smash us with that spine if Dylan brown decides to coast and not scramble defensively to save our team like he used to do in many games
I think if Dyl finishes the year strong people will feel much happier – fans just feel now if he doesn’t turn up regularly we’ve been robbed as fans, last week was disappointing and that cannot happen again
When John Singleton threw the kitchen sink at Cronin to get him to join Newtown, he even included helicopter flights to training to save driving. What did Mick say? “Thanks John but I can’t win the Premiership for Parramatta if I’m playing for Newtown”
Get Galvin asap (a Parramatta man) and get rid of Brown asap. Galvin can’t win the Premiership for Parramatta if he is playing for Wests and if Brown is saying he can’t wait to get to Newcastle then I am sure the crowd on Sunday may offer him some verbal encouragement to go.
Like this comment – Galvin had a decent game at Parra last yr too when they beat us!
Yep, I come from a hard headed era where blokes wore their colours with fierce pride for a couple of hundred quid a year. This bloke is earning millions from Parra but can’t wait to get to his new club. He wouldn’t have lasted two minutes when respect meant something.
Indeed
PT, I respect your comment re Cronin, however, your very next paragraph shows what the game has become now – it’s a business and don’t forget for 1 minute that Clubs throw players on the scrapheap pretty damn quick when it suits them. There’s very few one club players anymore, sad but true. I’d go as far as saying that some of the one club players nowadays are mainly from clubs that have stenches of salary cap cheating around them – think Roosters, Storm for example. I think it’s poor form booing a player in your team colours, although at halftime last week they probably deserved it as a whole unit.
I also have a real issue with fans booing a player for leaving when they either don’t understand or are ignorant of what has happened in the background. In DB’s case he is probably 100% correct saying he didn’t want to leave, he would have very much been in his comfort zone. I think if the Eels upped their offer to somewhere just below the Knights he may well have stayed, but they didn’t. In fact, it appears they never budged one bit. Now there’s a heap of potential reasons there – salary cap implications, they didn’t think he was worth it, it was too long, JR simply didn’t think he was needed – a heap of hypotheticals. Regardless of that, DB took the extra coin and extra years and I think it was a smart move. He will be 30 halfway through that 10 year contract and starting to hit the twilight years. Now he may thrive until he’s 35 but I think it’s more likely the Knights will be going “geez we’ve got this bloke on $1.3 million (and it will be more by then anyway with the ratchet clauses) for another 2 or 3 years yet” towards the end of his contract. The same Eels fans so desperate to boo him would be absolutely going nuts if the club had a geriatric player at 33-35 on that coin, so once again, a section of Eels fans show how stupid they really are by not looking at the big picture.
Would love to know why Luca is not playing
With the club and the boys not saying anything you would have to think it’s not a physical injury. Hope he is okay.
Agree Tony, he’s not showing up on injury list and not named. I thought he had some energy in his performances. Fingers crossed he’s back soon.
Sixties, off topic but I always admired Muhammed Ali with his rope a dope boxing tactic. It never failed to get the clueless ones in.
My preferred options as long term replacements for Dylan would be …
1) Tyran Wishart, he’s such a competitor, something we desperately need
2) Jack Welsby, he’s far too good to not be playing in the NRL
3) Lachie Galvin, an obvious alternative
All three will prove challenging to get, but they should be our choices I believe.