Last week’s wrap was titled The Sweepster Long Weekend as the Parramatta Eels completed a perfect run across six grades ranging from the NRL right down to the Lisa Fiaola Cup. Improbably, but clearly not impossibly, the Eels have made it two flawless weekends on the trot. The NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg consolidated their spots inside their respective Top 4s while the SG Ball, Tarsha Gale and Lisa Fiaola Cup squads all punched their tickets to grand finals in spectacular fashion.

Indeed, it is a watershed moment for Parramatta’s female pathways programs with both grades making their maiden grand finals in a wonderful validation of all the hard work put in by players, coaches, staff and families.

I would say that making three grand finals in the Junior Representatives is an unprecedented achievement – and it is certainly true – but unbelievably the Eels have been matched by the Sydney Roosters in each grade. The Tri-colours, in three different forms, will meet the Blue & Gold in premiership deciders next weekend in a stunning outcome for both franchises.

The club is humming from top-to-bottom right now. While the NRL squad still has plenty of work to do in their quest to ascend the ladder I do implore fans to sit back in the meantime and bask in the afterglow of Perfection, Part Deux.

NRL

BYE

The Eels did absolutely nothing and still won this week. Anchored to the bottom of ladder since the conclusion of Round 1, Parramatta began their journey of thousand miles towards the finals with less of a step and more of a tilting of the head to put their noses in front of the Penrith Panthers. With an assist from the Manly Sea Eagles on Saturday night, the Eels jumped their Western Sydney rivals on the back of a boost from their bye. Naturally, both teams are still locked together with 2 wins a piece but the good guys in Blue & Gold can enjoy a momentary slice of relief this week.

NSW Cup

Parramatta Eels 50 defeat the South Sydney Rabbitohs 20

Parramatta notched their first half century of the season with a commanding 50-20 victory over South Sydney on Saturday afternoon. A first half treble to the scorching hot Jordan Samrani powered the Eels to a 32-6 lead at the break that was always going to be too big a margin for the Rabbitohs to run down. Samrani matched his flashy try total with equally gaudy numbers under the hood with a game high 194m from 16 runs as he continues to build an impeccable port folio in the NSW Cup.

Equally impressive was the work of Joash Papalii who continues to shine at fullback for the Blue & Gold. The South Sydney edge defence could not contain the live-wire play-maker and even though the stat sheet says he was kept under 100m on the ground, his combined 5 (1 line break, 4 line break assists) perforations of their defensive line shows exactly how damaging he was.

Both halves enjoyed very productive games as well with Dean Hawkins and Ronald Volkman both imposing themselves upon the Bunnies throughout the contest. It was more of mixed bag for Bryce Cartwright with a handful of miscued options to his name. However, that was offset by some of his best passages of play this year including outstanding involvements in 2 of Samrani’s tries as well as a great combination effort with Hawkins to put his halfback over.

The win keeps the Eels paced just behind the Warriors and Jets at the top of the table and plenty of credit should go to Nathan Cayless. While he has been handed a talented roster this year, he has done an excellent job of navigating a heavy run of early season roster traffic flowing between the NRL and Jersey Flegg.

Jersey Flegg Cup

Parramatta Eels 32 defeat the South Sydney Rabbitohs 22

A sluggish start from the Eels in the Jersey Flegg saw their opposition race out to a 12-0 lead and left Parramatta with plenty of work to do in order to salvage the game. Thankfully, the boys dutifully rolled up their sleeves and got stuck into the task at hand to pound out 32 points and lock in a 32-22 win. It wasn’t their most compelling or fluent victory this year but it showcased how deep their playing stocks are and just how committed the team is to their brand of footy.

Fresh face Dakota Kakoi, called in to replace the NSW Cup promoted Mohamed Alameddine, started the comeback for the Eels with a nice finish in the left corner. It was something of a theme too as fellow season debutantes Javahn Stevenson-Hala and William Lewis delivered crucial follow up strikes. Lewis, in particular, stood out for his extravagant swan dive over the line after storming through the right edge defence of the Bunnies.

There were plenty of worthy contributions across the park for the Eels but it is impossible to ignore the unstoppable freight train that was Damascus Neemia. He was a man possessed on Saturday and the Rabbitohs had no idea how to stop him as he rampaged through their pack run after run after run. No doubt the most impressive play came from a near length of the field effort from a kick off. Neemia plowed through the kick chase and had the outrageous conviction to take on the fullback with the plan to win with speed rather than power. It turned out his conviction wasn’t all that outrageous mind you as the cover defence barely brought him down after plundering 80m.

Neemia, alongside fellow bookend Teancum Brown, have been exceptional across the first seven rounds of the Jersey Flegg. Their biggest impediment towards a NSW Cup promotion could simply be the similar sustained success their cohorts in reserve grade are currently enjoying.

The Eels finish the round in 3rd and are positioned a solitary win behind the Penrith Panthers at the top of table. However, Parramatta still hold a game up their sleeve with their postponed fixture against the Sea Eagles (currently 13th/2nd last) from Round 4 so that gap could be closed with the aid of the make-up game.

SG Ball Cup

Parramatta Eels 34 defeat the South Sydney Rabbitohs 4

Welcome back the SG Ball Cup we all know and love! After an ill-timed slump through the opening weeks of the finals where they were ambushed by the Roosters and then forced into a desperate brawl with the Storm, the Eels returned to the peak of their powers against the Rabbitohs to march into the Grand Final.

On a day where it had been bucketing down for hours on end prior to kickoff, Parramatta looked like they were playing on a picturesque Sunday afternoon. Rapid ball movement, aggressive offloads and clinical finishes – the Eels pulled it all out of the bag as they took a very talented South Sydney outfit to school.

Christoper Petrus ignited the scoring in just the 2nd minute with a spirited chase on a deft kick from Lincoln Fletcher. Fellow forward Ryda Talagi delivered a thunderous blow against the run of play when Lachlan Coinakis pounced on a dropped ball from a South Sydney penalty restart. He quickly shoveled possession to Ryda and the athletic prop left defenders strewn left and right in his wake as powered over from 20m out to score. A rapid fire double to Dom Farrugia in the 25th and 29th minutes – the latter of which featured a frankly ridiculous sequence of offloads and passing in the context of the wet conditions – positioned the Eels with a commanding 22-0 lead.

South Sydney would strike back just before half time but that would be both their first and final scoring effort.

The second half marked less scoring plays from the Blue & Gold, although Aidan Kebourian and Lorenzo Talataina did build onto the lead. Instead, Parramatta ratcheted up their intensity in defence as they unleashed a relentless salvo of (mostly) controlled violence. Petrus, Talataina and the towering Isaac Jim were among some of the Eels who contributed to the cause with hits that spectators felt. From my notes, Jim and Coinakis were put on report during the second half so we will have to wait and see if either have a case to answer this week.

Each of the players mentioned above played starring roles while the ceaseless efforts of Jezaiah Funa-Iuta and Max Popo never gave the Bunnies a chance to breath. Throw in the slick play of Cameron Bamblett at the back and some tremendous contributions from the bench and it really was the best of the Eels.

There is one last summit for the Eels to conquer now and in order to attain a second SG Ball premiership inside 3 years they must conquer the one team that has defeated them this year. In another Hollywood style script, Parramatta will indeed meet the Sydney Roosters in the big dance next week. Can the Eels finish their story?

Tarsha Gale Cup

Parramatta Eels 18 defeat the Canterbury Bulldogs 8

Sometimes you can pinpoint a specific game where things just click for a team. In the case of the Tarsha Gale Cup squad that was Round 9 – the final game of the regular season. After stumbling through the middle of the season and squandering a golden chance to topple the Illawarra Steelers in Round 8, the Eels desperately needed a result against the Bulldogs. I was willing to settle for a physical, competitive loss given Parramatta were all but assured a berth in the finals. Instead, we got a gritty and courageous upset 20-18 win that has served as a planting of the flag for Char Henry and her charges.

Sudden death victories against the Cronulla Sharks and Penrith Panthers followed and on Saturday the Eels delivered the death knell to Canterbury’s season with an utterly composed performance that ground down one of the best teams in the competition.

Ryvvr-Lee Alo ensured that Parramatta would play from in front when she refused to be stopped from a tap restart near Canterbury’s goal line in the 8th minute. From that point forwards, the Eels would never relinquish the lead. While the Dogs would hit back twice with tries in the left corner on either side of half time, Parramatta matched each blow. Kyliah Gray, more renowned for wicked offloads, provided key touches with her boot with a pair of try assists/involvements for Ava Jones and Tess McWilliams. 

Parramatta’s forward pack were brilliant as a unit. Taylah Falaniko, Fontayne Tufuga, Matoisha Kalepo and Ryvver-Lee Alo were on fire all day while the bench brought the juice as well. I can’t go past the form of Tess McWilliams though. The Bulldogs simply had no answer for her through the ruck as she dominated their pack across two imperious stints on the field. Her try to seal the game was a most deserved reward and her emergence through the back end of the season has solidified Parramatta’s pack as one of the competition’s best.

Like the SG Ball, they now have a show down with the Roosters – albeit their Indigenous Academy squad – with all the marbles on the line next week.

Lisa Fiaola Cup

Parramatta Eels 22 defeat the Canterbury Bulldogs 20

I previously badged the Tarsha Gale Cup’s Round 9 victory over the Bulldogs as the most impressive result I had seen in the history of Parramatta’s female pathways programs. That was true, at least until this match. That certainly does nothing to discredit that Tarsha Gale result but the Lisa Fiaola Cup found a level of play on Saturday that I did not know they had.

Against the most dominant program in the two-year history of the competition, the Parramatta Eels delivered the Canterbury Bulldogs their first ever loss. Not the first loss of 2025. Their first loss ever. The Bulldogs were 18-0-1 coming into Saturday’s grand final qualifier. 18 wins and a single draw across the entirety of 2024 and 2025. Oh, by the by, that draw came this year and was a weather impacted match against the Dragons that was washed out.

Early game jitters from the Eels resulted in a pair of errors that the Dogs capitalised on with a brace of tries. To be perfectly frank I was worried about the very real chance of a spiral from that point but the Eels were made of sterner stuff. Sharp ruck work from Bailey Ma-Chong leveled the scores up after the first Canterbury try while a perfectly timed run from Cody Tuimaseve allowed Sharon Latapu to lay on the money ball from a scrum for Parramatta’s second score.

That gave the Eels an improbable lead and more importantly – the belief that they were in this one up to their eye balls.

As a point of reference, the Bulldogs have never won by anything less than 18-points in this grade. In fact, their average margin of victory is a jaw-dropping 46.44 points a game. They have trounced both oppositions teams and the clock with wild abandon with 5 games won by 60-points or more including scores of 80-0, 94-0 and 98-0 in the last two years. Bearing in mind that the Tarsha Gale Cup is played across two 30-minute halves.

Thing is though, as outstanding as the Bulldogs have been over the last two years – no one has ever really asked them a serious question on the football field. And when no one asks you that single, simple important question you simply do not know if you have the answer within you. So when the Parramatta Eels kicked down the door on Saturday screaming “HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT?” the Dogs were left fumbling for a response.

Don’t get me wrong. It isn’t like Canterbury wilted and got blown off the park but they had the one mode of operation and one mode only against Parramatta. Their smash mouth, powerhouse brand of footy – so effective for so long – was foiled by the desperation of the Eels who employed the singularly most pliable version of a bend-but-don’t-break defence that you will ever see.

Canterbury would go on to reclaim the lead shortly after half time but a sensational long-range effort from Hine Rikiti snatched back the ascendancy for Parramatta. The see-sawing battle continued when Evelyn Roberts plundered a try for the Dogs from a quick tap but again the Eels refused to be cowed as Temieke Withers sliced through in reply.

Ultimately it came down to a Ma-Chong penalty goal – banged in off the left upright no less for the extra spice – to split the two teams. Even then the Eels were called on to make a final goal line stand where Georgia Wansey delivered the knockout blow with a stellar tackle that forced the ball loose.

It was a mentally and emotionally exhausting result from a purely spectator point-of-view. I can’t even begin to imagine how the girls and the coaching staff coped with it!

Obviously this kind of win could only be engineered by all seventeen Eels playing out of their minds. Each and every one of them deserve their flowers but I thought Irae Savea stood tall even among those champion efforts. Parramatta’s fullback made a number of critical plays in defence and picked apart the ruck of the Bulldogs with surgically precise carries. She induced further fatigue into the Dogs with some clever offloads and passes in an incredible all-round individual performance.

Unbelievably, the Eels find themselves faced with a championship match-up with the Roosters for the third time next week. This flavour of chook comes in the form of the Central Coast Roosters  – the team that narrowly pipped our girls back in the first week of the finals. The major concern for Ryan Walker and his team will be around how much of an emotional and psychological tax this game takes on the squad. This week will be about conquering themselves in preparation as much as their opponents in the grand final.

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