Things are decidedly not good in the NRL for the Parramatta Eels. Their follow-up effort to the Round 1 debacle against Melbourne was an insipid, uninspiring, lethargic offering against the Wests Tigers that presented no tangible improvements on a team level. Jason Ryles is getting the deluxe ‘Welcome To The NRL/Parramatta’ package right now and we are getting an immediate and intimate look at his crisis management abilities and how he deals with extreme adversity.

More on the NRL shortly though.

With the Junior Representatives on a global bye it fell to the Jersey Flegg and NSW Cup to fly the Blue & Gold flag on the weekend. Alas, mixed results were produced with the Flegg squandering a chance to put the Tigers away on Saturday. Meanwhile the Cup ground out a tough victory over the Magpies in the soaring heat on Sunday.

There is much to talk about, just look at the visceral and understandably emotional response to the Instant Reaction podcast, so let’s dive into the weekend that was.

NRL

Wests Tigers 32 defeat the Parramatta Eels 6

There is so much to be upset or concerned about coming out of this result. While the Melbourne Storm were absolutely electrifying in Round 1, I personally felt like the Wests Tigers erred closer to mediocre through long stretches on Sunday. Even in that mediocrity they still managed to post 32-points and damn near shut out the shambling mess that was Parramatta.

For all of the mechanical, schematical and personnel issues, watching the game live at CommBank Stadium made one thing stand out more than anything else.

Where is the fire?

At no point in the arduous slog that was yesterday’s game did the Eels have anyone stand up during play and claim ownership of the team. There was no one barking orders and baying for blood – screaming at his fellow soldiers to get in line. I am not talking about delivering a passionate speech inside the in-goals after conceding yet another try – I mean taking control of the team when it counts.

Yes we all know Mitchell Moses is that man and certainly Josh Addo-Carr will help to some degree there but the shocking void of leadership in their absence is frankly terrifying.

Sadly, the Parramatta Eels are currently the rugby league equivalent of cavemen before the invention of fire. Almost fittingly, the likes of the Storm and the Panthers are either mystical, unexplainable phenomena or aggressive apex predators to our proto-footballers fighting it out in the vast, unassailable darkness.

Who can be the spark? Who can nurture a fledgling flame into a beacon of passionate fury and progress? Do the Eels even have that man on the roster right now among their healthy and available players?

The silver lining, again, came in the raw, unbridled efforts of the rookies. The fact that their contributions – ranging from modest to impressive – stand out so much only serves to further highlight the lack of production from their senior cohorts.

Jordan Samrani may have missed a couple of passing opportunities but gee it it difficult to fault the involvement of the young back on debut. 194m from 15 carries with 7 tackle busts thrown in for good measure is the kind of backline production fans have been screaming for in recent seasons. He threw himself into the contest whole-heartedly and should be a serious consideration for continued first-grade selection moving forwards – roster restrictions considered.

The difficult balancing act of giving these rookies more playing time versus exposing them to a poor game day culture will be a crucial challenge for Jason Ryles. Does he empower them with more responsibilities and minutes at the risk of picking up bad habits? Is he confident that they can overcome those tribulations and become the torch bearers we are so desperately looking for?

I don’t have anything close to an answer here but hopefully Ryles does.

NSW Cup

Parramatta Eels 20 defeat the Western Suburb Magpies 10

Welcome back Haze Dunster. It was a banner day for one of Parramatta’s must unlucky players with the winger delivering an outstanding comeback performance to help the Eels to a 10-point win in the NSW Cup. Haze helped himself to 227m from 21 carries and a whopping 12 tackle busts on Sunday and threw in the opening try of the game for good measure. I don’t know what that means for him in the context of a NRL recall but gee it was heart-warming just to see him carving up out there after all of the setbacks. Well done, son.

The game itself was not particularly aesthetic with the Eels playing their first game of the season following a Round 1 bye. Parramatta fielded a far more seasoned pack but didn’t take a stranglehold through the ruck. Perhaps due to a combination of the conditions and a belated start in Round 2 but it didn’t feel like any of the forwards delivered a commanding performance to put Ryles on notice.

Joash Papalii and Joshua Lynn had some nice moments throughout the torrid contest in encouraging signs from the young playmakers. Lynn in particular did well considering he was thrust into reserve grade after starting in Flegg the week before. In a concerning sign though, Dean Hawkins failed to finish the game with Joey Lussick stepping into the halves during the second half. Ryles did comment in his post-game presser that Hawkins would be fit for Round 3 so we cling to that hope in the mean time.

Jersey Flegg

Wests Tigers 26 defeat the Parramatta Eels 22

The Eels will definitely rue this game as one that got away after letting the Tigers score three late tries to let slip the lead and see Wests claim a 4-point victory. Fatigue in combination with the oppressive heat lead to defensive breakdowns on both sides of the field for the Eels and kept the door ajar enough for the Tigers to kick it in – despite Parramatta’s relative dominance of the majority of the game.

As frustrating as the end result was, there were a healthy amount of positives to take away from Round 2.

Matthew Hunter and Domenico De Stradis were cooking down the left edge as the halfback and backrower combined for three tries and generally just terrorised the right edge of the Tigers. Jayden Ambichi did a stellar job stepping into the grade to make his debut at fullback and his effort in defence was absolutely top notch. Likewise, Bradley Avery had great involvement through the game on the right wing while big bopper Teancum Brown pushed through the challenging conditions to deliver a superb platform. Ieti Samuelu was a firebrand from the bench for the second week running and with continued tuning it isn’t hard to imagine this squad competing hard every week.

Dropping this game is certainly frustrating but through the lens of the NRL a 1-1 record look positively amazing right now.

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