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The Parramatta Eels still have 3 teams in the hunt as we enter Week 2 of the Junior Representative Finals. The Lisa Fiaola, Tarsha Gale and SG Ball Cup squads all venture out to Penrith on Saturday to try and punch tickets to the grand final qualifiers. The preview podcast has a bit of news to cover first though with the development in the NRL around the release of Joe Ofahengaue. Sixties and Forty20 share their thoughts on the move, Joe’s time as an Eel and what it means for the club.
How do the Lisa Fiaola and SG Ball bounce back from losses last week? Can the Tarsha Gale keep rolling on? Which players and what strategies will be key in these sudden death show downs? The show covers all three games in depth and the paths to victory for each team.
Credit to forty recognising that there were many mistakes made via recruitment and retention whether it be mon or brad arthur, leaving the club with a lopsided pack age wise who are mostly on the downslope at their stages in their careers.
Sarantinos did say that tge coach always has the final say on recruitment and retention.
Not bashing up anyone here but I’d like to know why the club didn’t overrule these decisions.
Anyway, I’m really happy that we’re now looking to build our junior development into fg with Tuivaiti and Ryley Smith and many more to come
This is why ppl need to lay off Ryles. He has inherited a forward pack of almost exclusively past it or declining due to age players.
Let him build his own squad and move on these older players, judge him later after that.
Absolutely
Length of deals, contracts with clauses are the greatest issues with roster management. Most of the longer term players who are being moved on had a role to play in better seasons. The length and size of contracts related to whoever did the negotiations.
It’s history. Done.
We now judge on what happens from here on. The new Chairman of the Board, Matthew Beach, has declared that there will be no more player options in contracts from this point.
True and good points. Those players were very important a few years back but either the length of deals or lack of consideration for age as a factor may have been part of the downfall. I feel like we just didn’t cycle our roster, we had success and tried to hang on to it by sticking with too many older players. You can’t really sign older players on longer contracts if it’s forwards. Their best is rarely around age 30. Age 24-28 is the best years for forwards as we all know. But you don’t want to be paying big contracts to people who are 2-3 seasons past their prime.
I mentioned this multiple times last year when everyone blamed only the coaches. Our symptom’s were largely a manifestation of poor roster management. The coaches being replaced is rarely as impactful as roster being refreshed if your key players are all around 30. New coaches can’t make old players young again. Lol
One lesson for the fans will be to hold the ceo and HOF etc accountable next time, throwing a coach under the bus and saying you still have the roster to win comps when it clearly was not true isn’t a good look, it shows a lack of understanding up in the front office.
If Wayne Bennet saw a better roster at parra he probably would have considered us. Some people won’t believe that. But he is a shark, if he saw much better chances of winning the comp with parras roster he probably might of considered us more.
The roster has been so badly managed majority of Snr players will go to super league, other nrl clubs would not take majority of them, even at a huge discount.
So we essentially have a super league equivalent forward pack besides a few of them.
Getting worried about Galvin now. I know Sixties you are very confident but you were with Dyl staying as well.
Andrew Webster the journo called it very early that Dyl was gone to the knights and has now said he thinks Galvin is a done deal to manly.
Sixties I respect very much how you do not let anything that you see at training come out but if you can joke about wearing a parra Galvin jersey to the game can you give at least a cryptic hint as to why you think Galvin will come to the mighty eels?
Parramatta have announced that second-rower Shaun Lane is taking time away from the game to consider his future.
Lane was named in the starting side for Monday’s clash with Wests Tigers at CommBank Stadium but has withdrawn from the match.
In a statement issued on Easter Friday, the Eels said: “As a Club we are supporting him through this period”.
Interesting times!
The Galvin speculation is just getting insane. His not a done deal anywhere he can’t be his not available for two years. Yes there are strong links to a few clubs and i believe we are a very good chance at getting him if and when his available. The manly connection out of all the clubs in the running seems the least credible in regards to development. Playing alongside Luke brooks and seibold as your coach is not exactly the pinnacle of development. Moses is a huge draw card for us as he is an elite half and them two together would actually compliment each other really well I think we’d be well ahead of manly.
Good luck to Shaun Lane as he takes time away from the game.
I hope he’s ok. If his heart & body is no longer in it, he needs to retire.
Our team could desperately use that cap scale which lane, Carty, and previously Joffa were using.
Our team is absolutely desperate for a clean out in the older forward stocks.
Yeah Muz, he hasn’t been the same since the broken jaw.
Hopefully he’s got the support around him that he needs.
Apparently he has a mutual option for 2026 that both parties have to agree.
Ryles is clearing space and also allowing players time.
The common theme is the dramatic decline of the senior forwards since the Grand Final loss in 2022.
That pack was built on domination through power and size but was brutalised by the Panbthers pack in the GF. What needed to hsappen after that was that the demons from that night needed to be overcome and banished. The pack also needed rejuvenation. Neither happened, in fact, the worst thing happened. We let go of the younger forwards (Isaiah Papali’i, marata niukore and Reed Mahoney) and kept the aging Lane, RCG, Paulo and Matto and then attempted to rejuvenate the pack by adding an aging Joe O and elevated a aging Cartwright.
Since the GF the balance of the pack – youth and experience – has been off, and those experienced leaders who stayed had lost belief in themselves.
So… what is happening now, is the natural consequence.
That said, I am really happy to see Junior fighting hard for the eels badge and to reinstate the pack.
It’ll take time, but, it feels like it will happen. Short term pain…
Well put Kenny
Sean hang up the boots asap. Good luck buddy.