Eels supporters have just been through the toughest eight days in recent memory.
Yes, it’s early in the season, and we’ve seen teams turn things around in as short as a week, but there are some harsh realities that seem to be coming to the fore after a preseason of promise.
I watched the preseason as I always do. I never had unrealistic expectations, but the messaging that I felt confident in expressing was that the results would improve in 2025.
Unfortunately, the side is struggling to transfer their preparations from the training track to the playing field. Beyond struggling to be truthful.
To state the obvious, no team trains to lose. And individual performances, including failures, can have a huge impact on what transpires in a match.
However, what we have witnessed in the first two weeks are problems of a macro scale. Throw in the disclosed departure of Dylan Brown, and for the majority of fans it looks like a group that are devoid of confidence.
In week one, the starting 13 showed minimal intensity and energy in a first half of the opening game of the season. How does that happen?
Then yesterday, there was an improvement in the energy and intent, but the execution was, to be blunt, inept. And this was against a Tigers team that was rank awful across the opening half hour.
The Tigers celebrate at our home ground
Let me be very clear. And anyone who attended a training session across the preseason, including the open sessions, knows this to be true.
The team trains to play up tempo. They don’t train to play with one out runs that have no support. The halves are trained to dig into the line with option runners. There are attacking shapes in their plans. There are last tackle attacking kicks that are rehearsed over and over.
Skills work has been a major focus of the preparations, whilst the drilling in defence has been, and continues to be, a huge component of training.
Something is going terribly wrong.
In the first instance, game management is struggling without Moses. But more than that, there doesn’t appear to be a replacement voice barking orders at the team without Mitch, and especially without Gutherson.
Don’t get me wrong. The King battled injuries in 2024, and was close to the end of his career. But his hard nosed on field attitude was always going to be difficult to replace. Without Moses, nobody has filled that breach.
In the second instance, there are players who are performing at nowhere near their best. No fingers should be pointed at the younger players or the new recruits. This comes down to those who would readily admit that they are out of form.
So when you combine young promising rookies with struggling experienced players, and minimal game management or on field leadership, the product is a team that has minimal cohesion.
Tough decisions are in the immediate future for Ryles and his assistant coaches.
The rookies are doing an admirable job. In terms of experience, consider the mismatch from yesterday’s game.
On the Eels interchange bench, the players came into the contest with the following experience: Smith 1 game, Kautoga 3 games, Doorey 33 games, Tuivaiti 1 game. That’s a grand total of 38 games, with nearly all coming from one player.
In comparison, the Tigers had 274 games with Da Silva the least experienced with 12 games.
Then there’s the other inexperienced starters – Iongi 2 games prior to yesterday, Volkman 6 games and Samrani on debut. None of these blokes should have the weight of criticism. But neither should we expect that loading a team with rookies will turn the tide.
Players will be available for selection over the coming weeks. But maybe it should not be the less experienced, or the “expected” players, who make way for them.
Then there’s the players running around in NSW Cup. Players who’ve dropped down the pecking order might deserve a shot. Only the coaches can answer that.
I don’t want to hear the word “rebuild” even it’s a reality. Round two has just wrapped up and there are 25 to go.
Supporters have the right to expect better than a team that didn’t turn up with any intensity against the Storm, followed by a thrashing from a very ordinary Tigers outfit in the first home game of the season.
And no matter what needs to be done with the roster, each season should be delivered with respect given to supporters. We have to believe that those that pull on the jersey will give us their best.
There can be no argument that this hasn’t been the case across the opening two rounds.
Finally, on the subject of respect, it goes two ways.
Every supporter has the right to express their views, but the boos directed at Dylan Brown yesterday sickened me.
Dylan Brown
He did what anybody in his position would have done. He accepted an undeniable offer. I also suspect that his is somewhat uncomfortable about doing so. I’m still disappointed he made the decision but how could he not?
The press conference was poor. His agent did not prepare him well. Instead of deflecting Knights questions he continued to answer them and even sounded as if he was part of the club.
What we have seen across the first two rounds is the worst version of Dylan Brown. Past criticism of him has always been, in my opinion, unfounded. He deserved every bit of the criticism of his performances over the last two weeks. Perhaps he deserves to be dropped.
However, booing him is not going to help him to regain what it appears that he’s lost.
Furthermore, he’s been a part of this club since he was a 15 year old kid that moved here from New Zealand, on his own, to make his career as a footballer. This year, he’s still an Eel, pulling on the jersey. It’s the coach’s decision to select him or not.
And it does nothing for the relationship between the entire playing group, or future players, if the supporter base is one that boos its own. It was a disgrace when some fans went down this path with Jake Arthur.
Just my take. I’m sure many will probably disagree.
Eels forever!
Sixties
Will Penisini made terrible decisions in defence.
He should have been asked at halftime to take his jersey off and sit on the bench shirtless while supporting his team.
Kitione Kautoga should have been asked to do the same after that chase and zero attempt to tackle just before halftime.
As for Ryles, I was hoping he would inject some “hardarse” into our team… on that front, we have gone backwards since he has started.
It’s going to be a long year, and at this rate, we will be lucky to win a game.
Can’t disagree. Booing is just unacceptable.
I can’t see him being dropped but maybe it would be better for him in the short term.
He’s barely a passenger out there at the moment for whatever reason and perhaps we need a lesser skilled player who will be giving 100% ?
But who do you put in ???
The cupboard is pretty bare.
Is Josh Lynn at any level to progress to the NRL ??
It actually wouldn’t surprise me if they club gets approached by Dylans manager for some time out.
We can’t rely on Moses as I wouldn’t be surprised if he misses the majority of the season with that foot injury.
It’s all pain for long term gain. Ryley Smith and Iongi will be excellent players for us down the track. Is there another kid we can debut ? Is Josh Lynn capable of grabbing the opportunity?
At this point they may as well say Brown has a calf strain or something and sit him out until Moses comes back. If nothing else he should be leading out there and he is setting an awful culture in his failing to even try.
Im sure 1.3 mill will soften the impact of the boos. I’d take a right booing for that
I don’t think i have been to a preseason training session since about 2009, so I am not having a crack at Sixties. Everyone who covers a club and their preseason says they are “training the house down”, as I am sure they are. But in order to have perspective, anyone reporting on a teams preseason, should probably check out other clubs for comparison to see if the club they are following more closely is behind or in front of other clubs. You can be training well, but if it isn’t as good as the other teams, you are still behind. But with a rookie coach and two weeks of a team looking simply not prepared, it is hard for anyone not to jump to the conclusion that either physically or mentally, the team are not ready. They could have gone down by 18 to the Storm and 6 to the tigers and you could call it a “slow start”. But giving up 16 tries in two games… C’mon.
I wonder if Ryles needs to literally walk into the video room today with the team and apologise for letting Gutherson and RCG go. Not because they are quality players, but because they were leaders, and clearly no one in our side is up to being a leader. And then ask them, “If I am wrong, and if you think you are a leader – prove me wrong.”
I also don’t agree with booing Brown from the kickoff. But when he stopped trying (about 10-15 minutes in), i would have been okay with it. Because that is when he stopped respecting the fans and his team mates.
If you talk about energy and commitment, Junior didn’t take a hit up until the 3rd set and then didn’t dent the line hitch is amazing for a player his size.Never before have I seen Dylbro walk as much through a game and fail to cover back when missing a tackle.
The back 5 can hold their heads high, behind the 2 props who were invisible and halves that kicked poorly and created little they did well.
When the younger players seem to have bought into the new coaching regime as evidenced by Tuavati (19yrs old) and Smith ( not in the top 30) , easy to question the players somewhat loyal to the previous coach.
That Tuavati has yet to sign for 2026 and Junior being overpaid, again seems to question our recruitment team. Why not see if the Canberra recruiter is available, he seems to find gems even in SuperLeague and from other teams junior reps that don’t seem fazed when entering the NRL.
Yep, our R&R has shown little perception in who to buy and who to keep to strengthen this team. Ryles will have to make some radical selections to at least make things look respectable. As it stands this team is already shell shocked. Do we have a policy against mongrel, because we are toothless.
Sixties,
It was up to Dylan yesterday to shut the boos down by playing his best footy for the club. At this rate, I highly doubt the boos bother him, because he’s already admitted he “can’t wait” to be at the Knights. He doesn’t need his hand held during press conferences, he’s going to be 25 this year. It seems he needs Mitch to hold his hand on the field, because he is diabolical without him. Poor Ronnie is screaming at him to do something, and he answered with uninspired catch and passes and short runs. He has given up on this team because he’s not going to want to get hurt.
The fans are booing him because of the fact that he is walking out on them and the club he supposedly “loves”. Of course no one can begrudge him for taking the deal of a lifetime, but to claim it was based on “security” when he had six guaranteed years here with options in his favour was a slap in the face to the fans. At this point, if he had it his way, he would be half way up the M1 by now.
Ryles does not have a lot of options unfortunately, as I think both Dylan and Will need some time in the reggies after yesterday. JAC will at least be vocal so maybe a slight difference. The front office needs a cleanout, starting with Sarantinos and O’Neil. Those two have a lot to answer for.
Agreed. The boos should have provided motivation. Other than 2 runs in the first 10 mins, he looked like a passenger. He is getting paid Cherry Evans money and playing like he doesn’t know what our attacking structures are.
He, Paulo, Joffa, and unfortunately Hopgood did not stand up as the leaders they are supposed to be.
I feel sorry for the young players but mostly feel sorry for the mess that Ryles has inherited.
At what stage does the football management office take responsibility for the mess we are in? The HOF and CEO have presided over this. The rot started in 2021 when 6 top 30 players announced they were leaving and the football management office signed has beers, journey men and nobodies to replace them.
To be honest, I’m not sure why everyone is so surprised at how we have started.
There is no other team in the comp that has as many inexperienced players starting, and basically every one of our top players have been let go by the club.
Add to that an injured Mitch Moses, and the fox still suspended, and Dylan with his mindset already at the Knights,it’s no wonder we are getting flogged.
Booing Dylan is not going to help matters either, but understandably Eels fans are not happy.
I agree we really need a senior player to take charge and lead our team, but at this point I can’t actually think of anyone that would do that role justice. Maybe Lomax should voice up, as he has a lot of experience at rep level…
All in all, I think if we didn’t make as many errors in the first 20mins we could have scored and that might have given the team the momentum and confidence to go on and play better than they did.
Here’s hoping Jason Ryles can turn this around..
So far all of the best players are NEW recruits, young jnrs who honestly likely would not have been given these opportunities, had a new coach taken over
Who’s your man of the match or highest effort players in each trial + 2 NRL games?
Most people rate it:
1). Jack Williams our #1 forward (recruit)
2). Ryley Smith our #1 spine player (pathways)
3). Isiah Iongi our best back so far (recruit)
Then if you look at halves. Dean Hawkins steered the nsw cup team around decently yesterday until he came off.
Our best halfback is now probably Dean Hawkins who’s a career nsw cup half / depth half mostly.
Also (recruit)
So far all the stand outs even at cup are Jason Ryles new recruits.
Joash Papalii was the best player in the cup team on Sunday.
I made this prediction pre season and I’ll throw it out there again – we absolutely need to test out Joash Papalii in the 14 Jersey or this parramatta side offers no spark once we slow down.
Don’t need suprised if Jason Ryles goes with a 1 specialist hooker bench sometime soon (maybe even next game?)
Joash papalii if used properly and I know it won’t be easy, would absolutely tear up teams through the middle. Something we currently are unable to do.
The lesson from this whole situation is Jason’s right in recruiting and his choice on types of players are proven to be effective at parramatta.
Nearly all of the 22’ grand final forwards we still have would be dead set lucky to get a run even on the bench at any NRL clubs.
This is why Jason had to let go of RCG – no other clubs would have taken the others and we would have had to pay them out and probably be even worse off than we are.
I’m backing Jason Ryles recruitment choices as being an upgrade to the disastrous last few years we’ve seen at parra.
Even if his coaching isn’t there yet, we must at least be honest and say every recruit I’ve seen so far he’s signed has been good so far
Even guys like Samrani ran for about 200 meters on his NRL debut and made line breaks – NRL debut !!!!
He also out played the long time eels backs – the pattern here is new players and young players are all showing us the direction we MUST go, and quickly!
The clubs overdue for a massive clean out and while I like the older players, it’s absolutely necessary Jason swings the axe if rookies and new recruits are the only ones turning up!
If Jason’s coaching was to blame – the young players and new recruits would all be struggling but they aren’t!
The only players struggling under Jason Ryles are ba’s old players and they’ve gone backwards while all new recruits and youth have trended the other way
I highly, highly doubt there is no issues here – your Snr and long term club players don’t just stop playing like they are
Unless they are severely unhappy or disinterested in playing for this club
I want to see Samrani back out there, Joash Papalii in the 14
Hawkins in the 7 – Volkman or Lynn in the 6
Give brown 2-4 more games and throw him into cup if he’s not going to put his body on the line for the parramatta jersey anymore
Us fans have stood by this club by it for decades without winning one premiership since the 80’s
None of us including the coach should accept it AT all if blokes just decide to not turn up
Throw them in cup or push for early exit – it’s that simple, the trend at the eels now is the only blokes who are willing to play at 100% are new recruits and rookies, so let’s lean into that I say
If Dylan Brown and the other seniors aren’t happy their buddy ba got sacked or they dislike the new coach
This clubs bigger than all of them – I’ll be happy to see anyone who doesn’t show up be shown the door or be banished to cup
So far Jason’s shown he will do it – but I think this is going to go a lot further, all the seniors are playing at 50%
Its tough being a Parra supporter, we are expected to put up with a lot of crap. No-one in management steps up and says this is unacceptable and heads will roll if it continues. Parramatta accepts mediocrity like no other club I can think of.
Parramatta supporters who paid their membership (in many instances paying in installments to be able to afford them)had every right to express their annoyance by booing. Here is someone cashing in their chips after being nursed, developed and supported since he was 15, because “he had no choice”. Really? He’s in for a shock if he thinks Newcastle fans will be as patient with him as Parra supporters have been. Be very careful what you are wishing for Dylan because you are going to have to earn your money there, its a tough town.
Cap management is a fine art or a black art, not sure which, but some clubs appear to be able to do it better than others. Think about the Roosters and how much talent they lost, yet they can turn out a competetive team, what about Souths, in fact no other team in the comp dished up the garbage Parra put out on the weekend.
At least someone should be coming out and apologising to Parramatta supporters.
Old eel, I think this is part of the parramatta apologist mindset that keeps us let’s be honest – under performing for now almost what 40 years now.
Fans and club administrators make excuses for their decisions and players alike, there’s no hardcore accountability here like there is at clubs who consistently put perform us.
Whole other clubs hire & fire quickly, engaging in “dark arts” as you called it.
The soft belly and lack of ruthlessness on the field is a manifestation of the individuals at sit on top of the organisation.
We seemingly are a soft club who refuses to axe players who literally stopped playing at first grade level often 3 years back and we keep them.
Bulldogs got some ruthless new leadership in, Gus who’s absolutely ruthless and a hard noses expert defensive coach from the best club in Penrith, where he co- designed their defensive structures.
They tore the roster to pieces, axed players left and right, dished through coaches and assistants – purchased some of the best players and almost exclusively UPGRADED for every position available.
Any unlike us, anyone who was dead weight – somehow they moved them on even if they were still on contract.
We simply do not have the operators or ruthlessness of a truly successful organisation.
I hope Jason Ryles can help us shift us into the right direction, because us fans have had enough.
Why can’t we move on say Jnr paulo who’s on $1m? Lane who’s on about $600k? Matto who’s on around $600k? Carty who’s on around 400-500k? Lussick who’s not good enough to be a depth hooker at any other nrl club?
There’s loads of players here who are on big juicy contracts who quite literally dropped in performance and value for the eels like a brick into the ocean not long after their big pay days and contract extensions or updates.
We literally have millions in cap space locked in players that are not even guaranteed starting 17 players and we have no other alternatives besides kids with zero nrl games like Tuivaiti (who almost looks better by the way) with only 2 nrl games.
I’m not unhappy with these individuals, I wish them all the best. What I’m upset about is OUR club.
Why can’t our club do a clean out like bulldogs and other clubs do where they move swiftly, and somehow get rid of unnecessary players even before their contracts are up?
How did the bulldogs almost sack every single player it seemed, then sign a team of killers for the following season?
We need answers or we as a club most employ whoever can help take our club from a slow moving retirement home and turn it into an elite, ruthless, professional football club that makes the right decisions, and FAST like the others.
Us eels fans deserve better. No person working for the parramatta eels should accept mediocrity. It’s been nearly 40 years. We’ve all had enough!
Muz, it took the dogs a season to do it. The Doggies last year had a money ball team which worked well for them. But it didn’t start so well in the early part of the season. They had to gel! Parra are not doing that – they are not working as a team. New strategies, new training methods, new coach and new debutants. This is going to take some time and with Moses out it’s not helping.
Gould as you said helped instill ruthlessness into the Doggies and Parra can do this. Go back to the days of Ray Price. Price never had friends who played on the other team. The Eels were really a hated team for a number of reasons. There parochial fans, Cumberland Oval, the players hated the opposition and they played hard to win. JWH from the Roosters epitomised that and took no prisoners. The Eels are too friendly on the field laughing with the opposition while playing. They need a change in mentality and it’s not one of friendships.
Been a while since I’ve haunted the hallowed halls of TCT, but I wanted to comment and wholeheartedly agree, especially on the booing of Dylan .
It sadly brought back some terrible memories of the treatment that was handed out to Jake (I can recall being told that at a match, when a fan asked to take a photo with Jake, he allegedly replied “are you sure?”).
We’re all hurting , Eels fans.
And as someone like yourself who has been able to see a number of training sessions, and then us fans who saw the fruits of that in the first trial, it must be even more bewildering.
I have no doubt that Ryles will wield the axe come Team List Tuesday .
Like yourself, and many other Eels fans, I’ll still be cheering them on and whomever dons our colours.
Cheers,
Brother DK!
I would have Joash at either six or seven. Keep Brown then seven
Drop Brown then six
Well said Muz. Spot on with the new recruits showing up our experienced and in most cases, significantly more highly paid players.
Don’t worry Sixties I hear you.
Booing is not going to help! Who boos their own players? As tempting as some performances have called for it.
We are NOT in a rebuild! We are going to be in a PURGE!
The players from last year have all continued to go backwards. Some can be accused of tanking. Yes that’s right playing within themselves. Saving themselves for next year let’s say. I won’t name the players tanking but it’s pretty clear that the new players have not been infected with the contagion as yet. If you look at why the player options were taken up early by some and others were asked to have theirs removed.
The problem will get worse if these players remain in the team and infect the new players.
We have around 6 players off contract this year but around 15 next year.
As I said we are in the need for a Purge!
Luca Morretti out for 6wweks slight tear in his Achilles heels, we miss him
Thanks Ray, been asking for an update wondered if he was OK. Glad he’ll be back as you said we do miss him.
We don’t miss him at this time of year. He wouldn’t last 8 minutes in the heat we are playing in.
BTW: How did the Eels get landed with 3 straight 4pm games to start the year?
Yeah, but that 8 minutes is twice as long as Junior and Joe O.
Tyrell May and F Pole played in the same conditions. It’s about wanting to do it and our guys don’t want to.
I think it’s fair to boo Dylan. He was nurtured by Parra from 15. He was being paid a million bucks for the next five years. He could have said no – money is not everything and shouldn’t be. The NRL needs fans to be passionate, not objective. Passion means they’ll pay to go to games, buy merch, subscribe to Kayo. So boo the guy who took 1.3 instead of 1.1.
Our defensive effort lacks urgency, intensity, and cohesion. The team’s mindset seems fragile, and while this may be a straightforward assessment, it ultimately comes down to attitude. When even one player—such as Brown in this instance—is not fully engaged, there doesn’t appear to be the on-field leadership necessary to rally the team and shift the momentum.
Everything lacks urgency, the play the ball , the line speed, the kick chase, no enthusiasm. Lomax, Smith, Williams even Russel, had a go I thought Doory went ok. The rest arnt even getting off the bus. Pretty good orchestra no conductor
I understand the Booing i didn’t take part in it but I get it.
It’s not that he’s leaving its the disrespect with the distractions right before the season started.
I have no doubt they train hard but they also do opposed against the playing group its fair to say that they would be doing that against people who are not 1st grade standards so a good session can be misleading.
I went to the game yesterday I gave away my season tickets after 20 consecutive years I just don’t have the patience to do it again I’m trying to guide my son away from supporting this club.
Anyway I went expecting a loss but I was watching the off the ball stuff players attitude there were multiple examples of just low footy IQ
One glaring issue was our kickoff strategy. Unfortunately, we had to kick off frequently, and every single time, we went left. This played directly into the Tigers’ hands, allowing Hunt to dictate their sets while Luai controlled play. If we’re that predictable, we’re making it far too easy for the opposition to establish momentum.
Another example was Joe Ofahengaue’s decoy running in the first half. On two separate occasions, he ran as a decoy with his hands low, showing no intent to receive the ball. A proper decoy should at least create doubt in the defense—without that, it’s a wasted effort.
The kick chase was beyond bad I won’t shift the blame to young kids its senior players that let us down our depth isn’t a issue as our lack of talent Paulo and Offa would not start for any other team yet we are stuck with them Junior in particular needs to be as far away from the team as possible
I made a comment last week that Dylan had extracted what value he could from the club by driving his price up to get the deal of a life time – now that is safely locked away he has checked out. What a disgraceful way to treat the club that developed his career.
I also said I would never boo an eels player and stand by this. That said, I don’t think the boo’s he copped yesterday will bother him at all. I suspect Newcastle fans will work out pretty quickly delivering results on field is not a priority for Dylan, adding to his property portfolio is.
As for the rest of the club it’s more efficient to identify who has a future than who needs to move on. Of the 17 who played yesterday only Iongi, Lomax, Samrani, Penisini (there is still something there), Williams, Hopgood, Smith and Tuivaiti are genuine players to take forward into the future. We have a steep mountain to climb and Mark O’Neill isn’t the one to climb it with.
Agree BP.
MON and Rogers are millstones around our collective necks. They are drowning us with every contract they botch. They will only keep doing this year in year out. Being a Parra fan with those two in recruitment is like death by one thousand cuts.
There is real danger in the current situation . Eels supporters have stuck down the decades through some very lean times; one year in the fifties we didn’t win a game but Cumberland Oval was always packed. This is why – our players were not elite but they were ours and we knew they were giving us everything they had. The terrible capitulation started last year with players looking like they were limiting their efforts. The danger is, in these expensive times the fan base will walk away if the players seem not to care, to be serving time to get their contract money after lesser paid blokes who would bleed for the jersey – think Opacic and Stone – were let go
We,’re in real trouble.
It is highly possible we will not see Mitch back anytime soon, the new lads desperatley need a leader who is willing to rip in and stick it to the guys who are simply not committed to 100% effort. It’s sad to say but JP is not a suitable person to captain and motivate this team (probably never has been) so why not promote Hopgood and “C” if his committment and enthusiam can provide some much needed leadership.
The pre-season reports stated the team didn’t do much traditional endurance training. I think you reported there was less focus on long runs and Malcolm’s if that’s what they’re called. That has been clearly evident the first 2 rounds with the team looking less conditioned than their opponents. Its not a quick fix either. Takes time and effort to build a solid conditioning foundation.
Next would be the ruck. Obviously you can’t see into the rooms and view the wrestling sessions and but somethings not right. They’re totally dominated in the ruck on both sides. Can’t find their front and can’t get their opponents on their back. Look sloppy separating from the wrestle and finding maker.
Thoughts? Feelings? Emotions…?
Hmm that’s an interesting view.
I expressed previously that as an older gent I was worried about these new age approaches that Blair Mills may bring to the club.
Personally I still think there is no substitute for good old fashioned hard training.
The storm apparently flog their players pre season and it’s gone pretty well for them over the years.
Jason Ryles, who witnessed all of this, would be the best in placed individual to assess this so we just have to trust him.
I am really cannot see us win a game unitl Moses returns , it so depressing knowing your team has no chance or can give you hope
Some people saying we should have kept Reg
He had against Bulldogs;
39min
8 runs for 70m
4 missed tackles
He’s doing exactly what his former team mates are doing.
Gutho has been Dragons best in an average team (sound familiar) 19 runs 193m these are what’s needed from a fullback. The trouble is he wasn’t doing this in every game. Only 2 missed tackles he had 5 last week. Play the balls were slow 3.95 seconds (he was faster at Eels). Gutho is doing good for his new club.
Junior, Joe O are not cutting the mustard for prop forwards.
Lane, Brown and Penisini are all on the go slow.
They think by losing games and all the pressure goes onto the coach. Fans can see what’s happening.
Out of all the players we ran out in reserve grade I think Cartwright needs to come back in some capacity. He was probably our best second rower for a while there before he picked up his injury last year. Yes I agree his passing game needs to be put away but he can provide some sort of spark even if it is in a bench role. I get the feeling Ofa knows the writing is on the wall for his future and is playing like it mataele and Latu look like they could quite easily overtake him in the near future. Penisini needs a stint in cup he is every bit of a first grader but is a massive confidence player and his is very low at the moment. We continually do him no favours by changing his wingers back rowers and halves defending next to him almost weekly. He has no opportunity to build any partnership with anyone and it shows he looks lost. If he spends sometime in cup he has the ability to dominate that grade and at the very least get his confidence back a bit. Samrani can be a straight swap for him he looks like a dyl Lucas type player and is a very good body shape to potentially finish in the back row
We can do a lot worse than reintroduce experienced edge players until such time as the entire squad commits the new systems to muscle memory.
It’s very clear there is a lack of on field leadership and I just don’t see how Bryce Cartwright and Ryan Matterson are going to do anything other than improve on what we’ve seen the last two weeks.
Kitone Kautoga and Kelma T are no where near 80 minute players so you could start with Carty and Lane and have one of the more explosive guys off the bench to sub in at whatever point and switch Lane back to the middle.
It serves the team to have Jack Williams in the middle and if we can get Matto and Lane to play at anywhere near their best, that’s still a more than capable second punch when the starters are off.
For all the rot we saw yesterday, and the noted lack of contribution from the middle, the first 20 minutes were actually pretty encouraging.
If Ryles really wants to make a statement – Zac Lax or Jack Williams need to be captain until Moses is back.
With Adoo Carr and Simmonson back, and presumably Hawkins coming in for Volkman as a bone fide halfback who can steer a team around, I hope we’ll see a marked improvement even without Moses.
When you have Isiah Yongi, Riley Smith and Volkman trying to engineer a 16+ point comeback at a minimum at halftime, you’re going to in for a world of hurt.
And as for the booing – how pathetic. Yes Dylan has been bog average to start the year but if we have any hope of jagging a few Ws before Moses is back, it’s not going to come from stamping the guys confidence in to the mud.
Come on! Did the Panthers fans boo Fisher Harris, Kikau, Critter or Burton when they signed elsewhere?
No, but they did give to Nathan before he hit his straps
Hard to boo someone who has led you to four straight premierships. I don’t have a problem with the booing. It goes with the territory and if he’s so precious that he can’t handle some highly justified criticism then he’s in for a rude shock in Newcastle. If he plays worse as a result then we don’t want him. A little heat never hurt anybody.
On another note I’m now getting ads on this site. The ads block half the screen and sometimes the entire screen
Mr Sixties, no one likes to see a home grown kid leave – even for better money. It hurt the fans who supported him. By the Munster turned down a monster offer from the Dolphins to stay with the Storm. Money or not Parra looked after Dylan like a second parent. He is disloyal and he will learn money isn’t everything. Happiness is better and I always thought he was happy at the Eels.
It’s not like he is leaving eels for the Storm or Penrith. he is leaving us for Newcastle. Ouch.
I was talking to a couple of die hard Knights fans. They are not happy wasting that much money on Dylan Brown. He’s in for a rude awakening if he thinks he can just coast along like he does here.
Literally everywhere he will go a Knights fan will see him and ask him why he did x,y or z instead of ….. He will be seen everywhere he goes and be under the microscope early. They call it the fish bowl because everyone is watching.
Booing – I don’t do it but fans can do what they feel this way. Its emotion and some are very passionate in different ways.
We basically need our experienced players to aim up ocnsistently, as per last year and in 2023. To me a few of them are still playing inconsistently and we don’t need to list them. We can see who they are. Ryles has added some good kids for me.
Like others have said, our inexperienced players are doing well, and I think in a year or so we will be much better but with some new added forwards for me. Two forwards (prop and second row). The retention group would surely be looking at some players or we hope they are. In 2022, Lane, Matterson and Paulo aimed up….can they do this again? Or are they done? Time will tell and contract $$$ will be indicative of this.
I am happy to give the coach and squad the normal 10 weeks or so and Ryles needs these guys to aim up – its as simple as that. Add in JAC and Simmo and our backs are stronger. Dunster all looked good yesterday.
We need Matterson, Guymer and Cartwright all aiming up to add the depth to the squad.
Hawkins will probably come in as half if fit. New week and we start again.
Spot on, Sixties! Booing a player for taking money we’d all take in a heartbeat is unacceptable. If our former captain Nathan Hindmarsh can even admit he’d take the money then us fans have no right to boo. As far as saying the club has his back after his off-field issues, would we have done that for a lesser talent? I highly doubt it. While I don’t doubt there were elements of doing it because Dylan is a good kid and deserved a second chance. There were equal or bigger amounts of doing it because he is an elite talent and it served us to keep him at the club. It also doesn’t entitle us to expect him to pass up an additional 6M dollars. From a team point of view, I think this may benefit the club in the long run because as we have seen over the first two rounds we have major problems on our edges and that 1.1M might be best served on a cheaper 9 and upgrading our edges and a 9. Fingers crossed for an improved showing in rd3. Can’t get much worse… can it?
We need some on field leadership that can both reinforce the systems AND rrespond to opportunities when they arise – RV simply did the job he was given no eyes up stuff. DB took no ownership at all. I’d play Bryce C at five eight and Dylan at half. If Brown doesn’t give more then out he goes and either Hawkins or Volkman. We need some grunt from the forwards before trying out a guy like Josh Lynn or even Joash P
Interesting that Dylan has put out another puff piece sit down interview via Chammas about his move to knights. Talking about the mega ten year deal getting him over the line and what they have planned for him. I just don’t understand timing of all this. There’s a strong argument this doesn’t help him currently or the his CURRENT teammates. But the shitshow around him, his decision and his poor performances continues… surely someone in this club pulls him up about his current obligations to the team. Are we really that leaderless that this shit flies when you don’t se sit at other clubs?
Couldnt agree more, saw the interview last night and just couldnt believe he was still trying to justify his decision. At least he had a plain white t shirt on, not a Parra jersey like he did when he announced he was off. He has been very poorly advised. Contrast it to Zac Lomax last year, Zac made his decision, and then went on to play his best football.
My uninformed take from a million miles away…
There is hope
BA came to the club when it was a shambles. He was the glue that kept the club going when the front office had failed the club. In a sense the club became BA and the players played for him, knowing the sacrifice he made, the passion he had that got us through the salary cap disaster.
The issue I see is that the culture morphed from playing for the coach and not the badge. Now we have senior players who are stuck in that culture and have lost their coach and captain who were central to this culture.
The team isn’t just leaderless it’s – in a sense – lost its soul.
This isn’t an attack on BA – if anything it is an attack on an administration that failed the club and has run it so poorly, particularly leading up to the salary cap scandal.
That said, I actually have a lot of hope as I believe Ryles also recognises this and is working to re-centre the culture around the club.
Moses has bought into it…
I think Paulo has and I have a feeling that the shock and humiliation of the last two weeks will wake up some of the other seniors.
The ones who don’t wake up will languish in reserves.
The tragedy of Dylan is that he is loyal to BA and Gutho, it makes sense, he grew up with them. Now, with BA and Gutho gone he has lost his connection to the club. Can he find something to play for in the coming weeks?
I wonder
Great observations Kenny.
Gutho was BAs ‘attack dog’ (for want of a better description)on the field. He knew we were inherently not lazy but lacked internal drive and lack fight Gutho and Moses are fighters and provided the whips to verbally punish those flat performances. That worked sometimes but not always. Probably why we had so many up and down performances and seemed to struggle in games we should have won.
We’ve heard Reg, Carty, Lane, Brown and others all say how much they owe BA.
Dylan needs to stop talking – his interview on 100% Footy last night was poor again.
“I told my manager to go to work, hoping to get some more money or years out of Parra”
“Newcastle’s plan excited me more than Parra’s”
He’s done more damage talking to the media and I dare say it’s how he’s conducted himself rather than the decision itself that is getting him offside with parra fans.
Lomax did not disrespect the Dragons last year by talking up parra while he was still there. He went out every week and played the best footy of his career. Dylan would be wise to do similar.
Good points BP. Lomax was playing his best football and we all hoped last week Dylan would do the same. But has visibly stepped back and is playing in a dinner suit.
I’ll offer a slightly different – and selfish – perspective on booing Dylan. It won’t help us win games in 2025. All it will do is make him think “f%&k you”, and stop trying. I’m an eels fan first and foremost, and I hate watching them lose, so if a happy Dylan wins us even one more game in 2025 than a pissed off Dylan, then I’ll cheer for him every week.
I’ll offer a slightly different – and selfish – perspective on booing Dylan. It won’t help us win games in 2025. All it will do is make him think “f%&k you”, and stop trying. I’m an eels fan first and foremost, and I hate watching them lose, so if a happy Dylan wins us even one more game in 2025 than a pissed off Dylan, then I’ll cheer for him every week.
A very underwhelming team list, one change, albeit a necessary one.
Come on fellas. You are making out that Brown is some kind of sacred cow beyond any crowd abuse he gets. Tough titties to him. Big deal he came here aged 15. He is not the first teenager to do so in the NRL. Let’s break down Dylan’s contribution to Parra after the club and supporters backed him. 2022 we make the GF. We lose and Dylan is part of that. He also made headlines for being video taped banging some girl in a toilet cubicle at a pub. 2023 we miss the 8 by a bees you know what. Dylan’s contribution that year was to be arrested, charged and convicted for sexually assaulting another woman in a night club. 2024 we nearly win the spoon. Mitch Moses spends the majority of the season injured on the side lines. Time for Dylan t9 step up and lead the team. Nope, he did not.
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As for the Knights deal they remind me of Alan Bond buying the Nine Network for a billion bucks off Kerry Packer and then had to sell it back to Packer for pennies on the dollar. Old Dylan can use Kerry Packers own words and state, Admin at Newcastle only come along once in a life time. Who I am I not to take advantage.
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My message to the Knights fans who are concerned about his signing. If you hate it now wait until he plays for you.