Eels fans making the journey to Magic Round has often felt like when Dad made you pick out your own switch from the backyard, but this year is going to be different, I feel it. The return of Mitch Moses revitalised this side two weeks ago, and with a bye round to work on new combinations, particularly with rake Ryley Smith, we’re going to see what the Eels attack can do. If the Eels defence can just hold it together well enough, we might just be looking at a turning point in what is shaping as a wild NRL season.
Apologies for the short preview this week, while the revitalised chances of the Parramatta Eels deserve a good deep dive, life hasn’t cooperated this week. Here’s hoping we have even more to dive into next week after a big win. On we go!
Game Info
Date: Friday, May 2, 2025
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Kick-off: 6:00PM AEST
Referee: Peter Gough
Bunker: Chris Butler
Weather: Warm, small chance of rain
Broadcast: Fox League, Kayo
Sixties Speculates (Odds quoted are NSW TAB)
The Speculation has been on the money lately, with the most recent tip for Isaiah Iongi to be any anytime try scorer saluting. And Iongi even reinforced the call by crossing twice.
This week, the Eels are big outsiders against the Sharks, so the tip is simple.
I’m backing the Eels to win, and the head to head market lists the Eels at $2.65. That sounds good to me.
But as always, keep it fun.
Happy, responsible punting everyone.
Sixties
Teams
Parramatta Eels
1. Isaiah Iongi 2. Bailey Simonsson 3. Will Penisini 4. Sean Russell 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Dylan Brown 7. Mitchell Moses 8. Jack Williams 9. Ryley Smith 10. Junior Paulo 11. Charlie Guymer 12. Gideon Kautoga 13. J’maine Hopgood. 14. Dylan Walker 15. Luca Moretti 16. Matt Doorey 17. Sam Tuivaiti 19. Joash Papalii 22. Jordan Samrani.
Jack Williams has overcome an injury scare to be named in the front row, while Charlie Guymer is the somewhat surprise replacement in the back row for the suspended Kelma Tuilagi. Otherwise the lineup that bullied the Tigers on Easter Monday remains unchanged.
Cronulla Sharks
1. William Kennedy 2. Sam Stonestreet 3. Jesse Ramien 4. KL Iro 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Braydon Trindall 7. Nico Hynes 8. Addin Fonua-Blake 9. Blayke Brailey 10. Oregon Kaufusi 11. Briton Nikora 12. Billy Burns 13. Cameron McInnes. 14. Dan Atkinson 15. Siosifa Talakai 16. Braden Hamlin-Uele 17. Tom Hazelton. 19. Tuku Hau Tapuha 20. Jesse Colquhoun.
Kayal “KL” Iro’s name update is the most exciting change to the Sharks backline, while Billy Burns starts for the injured Teig Wilton in the back row. Addin Fonua-Blake looked to be in some discomfort following the Sharks loss to the Tigers last week, but is named and looks set to play.
Moses Magic
Not to repeat myself, but Welcome Back, Mitch!
While an off season of defensive drilling was seemingly lost the moment a footy was kicked off in anger, it was nice to see that the time Mitchell Moses spent with the squad in attack over the summer produced immediate results. From the smooth line Tuilagi ran for his try off of Moses’ shoulder to the space created for Iongi to get more involved with room to move, this was a different, more cohesive and dangerous attacking group. We also got to see the benefits of the vision Moses has, his kick ahead to Simonsson was a play we’d expected to see for Josh Addo-Carr this year, but was a fine example of opportunism in a pressure situation all the same.
It will take all of that cohesion to crack an impressive Sharks defensive unit that is one of the few this year to not be blown out by an opponent. They’ll reliably leak 18-24 points to a decent attacking unit, but will usually make the opposition work for their points. Without weak point Mawene Hiroti in the backline they should be further strengthened.
The Sharks gameplan is simple: “run it straight”. They lead the NRL in runs, are second in running metres and metres gained, and first in “biggest units coming off the bench”. Their big boys rolled through the Tigers in the later and golden point stages of last week’s match, but their playmakers couldn’t organise a fight in a Bulldogs crowd and they blew the many chances presented by their middle roll on.
This is a massive concern for an Eels side that has loved to turn off around the ruck when defending the line. Jack Williams has had multiple failures on that front, but just about all of the Eels pack has let the team down in their contact in critical situations at some point. With AFB, Siosifa Talakai and Briton Nikora coming at them, those mistakes will certainly lead to tries conceded. Moses and his kicking game will help limit the opportunities, but in the end the fix is to be better at defending the line.
This will require aggression off the line and good contact. While Rugby League Eye Test reported the Eels are actually doing very well at limiting hitup metres, suggesting good line speed and contact, just watching the tries conceded by the Blue and Gold suggests that all disappears on the goal line where they are regularly caught retreating, arm grabbing or simply looking at a gap they should have hustled to close.
Mental Strength
Bailey Simonsson has been mega in his return from injury.
There is no good reason for the Eels’ inability to perform at Magic Round. They’ve played a string of tough opponents (the Storm twice, the Roosters), but they also embarrassed themselves against the Titans in 2023 in an incredibly winnable game that the side just didn’t lift for. A lot of these performances have come late in the weekend, in front of a drained crowd (the atmosphere at that Titans game, the last of the weekend, was one of a spent, near half empty stadium), so maybe playing the opener of the weekend will see a more lively crowd and performance from the Blue and Gold.
It is important that the Eels cement back-to-back good efforts after the Tigers win. Not just because we’ve barely won a game and have some catching up to do, but to put some positivity back into the place and the fanbase. Eels fans love a bit of self deprecating misery, and will have “here we go again” waiting to text to their mates the second we go down a try, but a win here against a decent but vulnerable Sharks side would go a long way to restoring some faith after a rough opening two months to the year.
I’m bold and I’m behind by about 15 points in the tipping comp, so I’m going to be optimistic and tip it to happen. While I worry that the Sharks middles will simply waltz through the Eels defenders too often, I also see more danger coming from our attacking stars and a hunger to keep the good times rolling against a Cronulla team that should have been thinking “this is finally our year” as the Panthers stumble but instead sit mid table and are losing the kinds of games they have made their bones in consistently winning over the last four years. Normally they’d only be losing to the best teams on the rare occasion the draw decided they play them, now they’re losing to the Tigers.
Come on Parra, give me something to cheer about. Let’s get this done. Go you Eels!
One last note, we’ve got three junior teams in Grand Finals this Saturday out at Leichhardt Oval with the SG Ball, Tarsha Gale and Lisa Fiaola teams all big chances to take the prize. Good luck to all three squads!
Prediction: Eels 24 d Sharks 22
Man of the Match: Mitchell Moses
Gol
It’s a tough match but winnable. Cronulla play a high energy attack game that seems to catch the Eels out. The danger is Trindall, Nikora and their wingers. With Wilton out it helps and Gol is correct our goal line defence is fluid while the long range tries are a game breaker. The key to this win apart from defence is to starve Cronulla of the ball. How do we do this – complete our sets. I tipped Parra to beat the Tigers and we can roll the Sharks. Will we? Yes! The end result Parra 30 Cronulla 18.
The new coaching vibe appears to be making us competitive again through out the whole list of teams. Important game for the 1sts ,they need to cement this progress in positivity. I’m feeling our bench and it’s use may produce a big impact on this game.