It’s no secret that the last three years of Rugby League have been agonising for Parramatta faithful. From a Grand Final appearance in 2022 to featuring in last year’s “Spoon Bowl”, watching the Eels play can occasionally be labelled as painful viewing.
However, there are so many positives that I believe fans have struggled to find especially during this 2025 season.
Jason Ryles’ coaching tenure at Parramatta took a rocky start, with fans losing confidence in the new coach’s plans for a rebuild. Understandably so as his team started their 2025 campaign 0-4, conceding 130 points in those first four games.
Friday night’s win over Manly showed the character and grit of this new-look Eels side. It must be remembered that Friday’s team featured seven players under the age of 23, three players who made an NRL debut in 2025, five players who have less than 20 games experience and eight of players who are 2025 recruits.
With that in mind, let’s consider some of the individual contributions made so far this season:
Isaiah Iongi
Isaiah Iongi completely dominated the fullback battle on Friday night, posting 265 run metres, a try, a try assist, 70 post-contact metres, 4 tackle breaks and one massive shot on Manly’s Tom Trbojevic.
Isaiah’s consistency throughout the season has been a highlight for Parramatta in a rebuild year, and he has done extremely well to fill the massive shoes left by Gutho’s departure.
lsaiah Iongi
Josh Addo-Carr
It’s hard to mention Parramattas star’s without speaking of the consistency and effort of Josh Addo-Carr.
The Foxx has stepped up massively in his role at Parramatta, becoming a vocal leader for Parramatta’s many rookies. Josh also leads the Eels in tries scored in 2025. Addo-Carr’s consistency in his role, his hit-ups, his effort and minimal errors have been crucial, and he has remained a star of the team week in and week out.
It’s difficult to praise Addo-Carr without also commending Ryles for the decision to add him to the roster. There was wisdom in the one year deal, with clauses, as it has brought out the best in the experienced winger. From their previous association at the Storm, Ryles knew that the Foxx could be an on-field mentor. Indeed, that aspect has come to fruition, and we have arguably seen the best of Sean Russell playing alongside Addo-Carr. With Lomax and Addo-Carr firing, Parra are fielding one of the fastest and strongest wing pairings in the NRL.
Josh Addo-Carr bringing the vibe to training
Jordan Samrani
Jordan Samrani is Mr Versatility. That capacity to play multiple positions has seen him quickly meet the team’s needs at centre, wing, second-row, and interchange. As a young rookie, Samrani (also known as “The Ibis” if you follow Zac Lomax’s socials) will only get better, which makes him one of the Eels most exciting prospects.
Jordan Samrani
Joash Papalii
There aren’t the right words to highlight the dedication and effort displayed in Joash’s debut performance on Friday night.
Whilst his stat line included a try, a try assist and a tackle break, Joash’s performance managed to stand out in the elements that NRL stats don’t show.
Joash had moments such as a try-saver on Lehi Hopoate, in addition to preventing a shaky pass from going into touch. However, his most important quality was following the advice of his father, Pele Papalii, who told him to add value to his team mates.
Playing almost 80 minutes on the wing was not part of the plan. But Joash brought both energy and composure to this unexpected role. When he set up Samrani’s try, then crossed the stripe himself, you could see the reaction of his team mates. Their regard for him and his contribution was evident.
In just one NRL appearance (along with stand out Cup games) Joash Papali’i has cemented himself as a tough, reliable player and someone who needs to be a permanent feature in this Eels side.
As an aside Joash currently has 13 try assists in NSW Cup, spending two games in the 5/8 position. Along with rising halves star Lorenzo Talataina, he provides an option for the Eels in the five-eighth role.
Joash Papalii lit up the preseason
Dean Hawkins
Dean Hawkins figured in “best on field” discussions after the victory over Manly and rightly so. With four try assists, he played a crucial role, filling the shoes of Mitch Moses with aplomb. Hawkins has proven to be an instrumental signing, and along with Ronald Volkman he provides the club with best halves depth that they’ve had for many seasons.
The former Rabbitoh took over the general kicking duties on Friday night and was most certainly the more vocal of the two halves. The confidence of Eels fans might have been at a low ebb given the absence of “Momax”, but Dean Hawkins gave cause for greater faith should Moses be absent for other games this season.
Dean Hawkins
Ryley Smith
If Jordan Samrani is Mr Versatlity, then Ryley Smith is the Professor of Energy. Sme make comparisons to Reed Mahoney, but Ryley is a much more disciplined and exciting version of the former Eels hooker.
The efforts of the 2025 debutant have been non-stop, regardless of 50-point losses or 20-point victories. On Friday night, Ryley starred on the defensive side of the game with 55 tackles made with only 3 missed and 0 errors.
Lining up against a pack consisting of Siua Taukeiaho, Jazz Tevaga, Ethan Bullemor, Nathan Brown and Matt Lodge would rattle many players, but Ryley more than held his own.
Smith has also been key in Parramatta’s kick pressure. Earlier in the season his pressure on Ilias set the stage for Zac Lomax’s winning field goal against the Dragons. Furthermore, he simply gets the one-percenters done, chasing kicks, cleaning up lost possession, and being present to take offloads. It’s what happens with the level of fitness he possesses. Ryley Smith has locked down the starting hooker spot, managing to play the full 80 minutes of games, and providing the opportunity for Jason Ryles to explore options outside of dummy half coverage on the bench.
Ryley Smith
Whilst it’s difficult to overlook the series of extreme and painful losses the Blue and Gold faithful have had to endure in 2025, it’s crucial to understand that despite the rocky season so far, there is so much at play behind the scenes working to shape a long-term rebuild.
Whilst many teams have flashy experienced stars and are flying at the top of the ladder, Parramatta’s team is beginning to slowly take form.
When fans say “We’re rebuilding” it is meant literally, with the young guns finding their place in this side, and building a culture fuelled by dedication and intensity.
The signings and internal moves made by coach Jason Ryles appear to have taken a while to prove fruitful, but the side, alongside Parramatta’s flourishing junior squads, are setting up a system and a club that will make its presence felt in the league for seasons to come.
Nat
Just so glad Galvin isn’t coming. He is a kid – no experience and clearly not the type of person we want at the Eels. We need to buy much smarter than Galvin!! Galvin is a waste of cap space. Ugly mug hooper May well float about this “loss” for parra but he’s not loss – Moses going elsewhere would be a loss. We need to buy a couple of hard edge back rowers, a five eight who is experienced enough yo let Moses run the show, and a winger/centre.
In conclusion, dogs can have Galvin. Dogs are not as good as they show on the ladder. In a year or two we will be winning a comp.
Damn some people in the media are well and truly under the spell of the oracle !
Gus could sell sand to the Arabs !
Galvin MAY turn out to be a pretty good player but you just knew when Gus stated that he was the best young player he had ever seen, that he was well and truly taking out of his ass.
Freddy Fittler was playing origin at 18.
Galvin is just another young player who was fed the kool-aid and happily drunk.
Young Reed Mahoney was fed the same bullshit, with Gus telling him he will play SOO and will be their long term captain.
Poor Reed firstly had the captaincy taken off him and now looks like being shunted from his boyhood club AGAIN !
Reed was absolutely blindsided when word filtered through that they had tried to sell him to the cowboys and throughout, Gus just continually lied to both the media and to Reed, insisting it was untrue.
The penny has now dropped for Reed.
Galvin has some pretty good footy IQ but he is suspect in defence and isn’t fast.
There are some pretty talented kids around.
If I had to pick between Iongi and Galvin for example, Iongi wins hands down for talent.
Izzy Katoa is twice the player Galvin is.
Another advantage is that we don’t have another player in the team managed by Issac Moses.
All said and done, Galvin may turn into a great player but there is every likelihood that he will be another Ash Taylor and Gus will just find the next shiny toy to fuss over.
If Locky Galvin is the star that Gus says he is then I must have been watching his twin brother during some of the heavy tigers loses over the last two years.
Chin up fellow Eels – the sun is shining and we are going great !
We have a host of juniors ready to burst onto the scene .In Twiddle, Talataina, Lynn there’s some real talent there in the halves. Issac Jim a prop ,runs like Eric Grothe. Have faith in OUR juniors. Under Ryles and the new coaching staff these blokes will get a go. There are champions in our system. Big Tino from the Titans would be the icing on the cake.
Spark, while some may call Gus simply being pragmatic surely undermining players by shopping them around when they fall from favour so quickly must start to affect the playing group at some stage. Yes clubs have to make hard decisions re keeping players but Gus’ ruthless approach does not necessarily make a cohesive team.
It will fall apart at some point Shaun. Their cap situation is constantly under pressure with staff having to extinguish spot fires from signings. Then there is the conflict of interest in Gus’ roles.
Very well said Spark.
If Galvin was a so called eels fan it would have been a no brainer for him. We are better off focusing on ourselves at the moment. Gould should be looked at closely by the nrl re player movements. I can’t think of a time when the boss of an nrl club had so much liberty in the press.
Anyways – i don’t think we are that far off without Galvin. If I’m sexton I’m filthy.
Yeah, Sexton should definitely feel dirty.
That was my take. No so called Eels tragic would ever sign with the Dogs, ever, unless they offered ridiculous money, and we offered more apparently. I think it was just a ploy to get us to the table. It’s not like he’d remember us winning anything. I agree with the prevailing sentiment, I think we dodged a bullet. He was never my first choice to replace Dylan.
Don’t blame Gus, he’s just working with the rules as they are, lay the blame where it belongs, League Central. PVL & Abdo might be fine commercial operators, but they have no idea about professional sport. Having a registered person working in the media would never be permitted in US Sports. They have a very clear line of demarcation, you’re either working in the sport or in the media covering the sport, not both.
When the head of the NRL is also the head of racing, a “sport” that was invented purely for gambling…
In fact at one stage early last century I think it was SA who tried to ban betting on horse races, thinking people would come for the spectacle – nobody showed up so they quickly ditched that idea!
Galvin would have been a good replacement for Dylbags, And despite the personal connections that lead him to choose the Bulldogs it is a puzzling given there is no immediate position he can fill without the Bulldogs moving a player. I’m sure Toby Sexton is feeling good about the move.
But I’m not too fussed that Parra has missed out. Joash might be an option as well as Lorenzo in Flegg pending his development. Of course, there is always a surprise player movement that could eventuate someone becoming available.
What I like about Ryles is he is putting time into developing young players and giving them a chance if they put in the work. Up and coming players stuck behind established players elsewhere will notice this.
Better days ahead
Unsurprising this is turning into a Galvin discussion. I am disappointed we missed out on him. We may have juniors in the wing, but Galvin is 24 months ahead of any of them in terms of development, which is the big advantage. Losing Ethan Sanders just more salt in the wound now too.
The Gus Gould conflict of interest (and people like Anasta) needs to be addressed. It’s unprofessional as it stands.
Fingers crossed we have our own destiny under control, despite missing out. To the content of this article, there is some real promise a bunch of the players have shown under the new Ryles regime. But a long way to go to competing week in and out in the NRL, let alone making finals and landing a long awaited premiership. A few big signings (eg a Tino) a potentially massive short cut to that wait.
I think it’s become a Galvin discussion because people are looking for a post to add their opinion. But I agree that we need to praise our current crop rather than worrying about what won’t be happening.
Yer have to agree with the Galvin situation he was a player I thought would be a handy pickup but also at the same stage had some real questions he was the right player. As people have stated we have some real talent in the lower grades who are relative to that position. Twiddle, Talataina and papalii maybe not be first grade elite right now but are all super talented and we have the second best talent half in the game at the club to learn off. Galvin was never going to be the final piece in the puzzle to take us to the promise land he was really just a straight trade with brown if that. Goodluck to Galvin maybe he might turn into a multiple premiership winner but his still a long way off a finished product and who knows if he even gets there. All I know now is his about to walk into a furnace. Bulldogs sitting top of the table and there about to waltz in a 19 year old kid who has just left a club on bad terms. This may be interesting viewing cause if it goes bad I think there will be riots.
Personally, I’m a big fan of Apa Twiddle. He could be anything. Definitely the closest we have to a Cameron Munster type of player.
Also as the game shifts to a competition that favours the swift smaller players, whose to say that Joash wouldn’t be an absolute sensation at 5/8 in the Bevan French mould ?
The one thing we have going for us is that our coaching staff are well and truly laser focused on giving these kids a go.
Very very positive.
I agree with you Spark about Joash being a distinct possibility to replace Dylbags.This could be either after he leaves or even before that when any of a few possible situations arise. And yes, I like the look of Apa in time.
If we are looking to spend money for 2026, I suspect a front rower or two more … given Wiremu doesn’t seem to be in favour…. and perhaps another class centre or wing (depending on where Zac is going to be played long term).
It really does feel like something special is building, You can see the improvement from week to week in the first grade squad and the buy in that has occurred throughout the club in the lower grades. This is no house of cards, this is something that has foundations.
Regarding Galvin, I’m sure he’ll develop into a fantastic game changing player, that said, I’m glad he’s not coming. Seeing the passion and emotion of Joash really epitomises the players we need and want. From what I have seen from Joash I truly believe he can fill Dylbags shoes. Moses and Joash at 6 and 7 will be dynamic.
Splash the cash on Tino or Payne 🙂
Is anyone actually surprised with Galvin situation if he does end up at dogs as reported?
When was the last time we signed a marquee spine player, or any player for that matter when there’s serious competition for the signature?
The only 3 marquee players we’ve got were unhappy or got asked to leave their former clubs.
Moses wanted out of tigers and they felt similar apparently.
Fox ado car was kicked out of the dogs for off field incidents and no clubs were interested.
Lomax wanted out of the dragons and we got lucky you could probably argue.
We do not have the administrative power going off results to sign stars that have significant interest on the open market from other clubs.
I personally think Galvin might have personality issues and he is still a 50/50 signing:
He will either be a super star… or join the long list of players who had the world of potential and fell short due to their ego, immaturity, or selfish tendencies.
You can’t wait until it’s a “guaranteed good investment” on players. Gus knows this and you won’t sign a Galvin or Moses or Cleary once their value has been realised.
Because once they reach their peak the price and difficulty to sign them makes it a near impossible task to sign them.
Gus is a lying scum bag who will lie, sell you a dream, then shaft you the moment he can.
But there’s absolutely no doubting his ability as an operator to sign premium players and sell them on his vision.
We do not have the administrative power or authority that some clubs have.
To point out how weak we are – a rookie coach with under 20 NRL games as a coach was seen as our saviour for recruitment.
That’s how much of a distinct disadvantage we have at parra, a new rookie coach comes in and does a better job in his first year signings & promotions wise than we have probably seen in a decade.
You have to sign the best or potentially best players that are spine players to win the premiership.
I think Galvin has character issues if he goes to the dogs if he is a parra fan. That’s my personal belief. Especially knowing how much of a snake Gus is.
But I still believe Galvin coming to us would have been a good long term play. He has the potential to be a premier #7 half back in future.
There’s only about 3-4 premier half backs in the NRL at one time who you can say are elite at any one time, getting them is nearly impossible.
It’s taken us since sterlo was around to get our Mitchel Moses.
And Galvin has the potential to become an elite half back, in fact he is miles ahead of Moses was at the same age.
Jason Ryles is doing a fantastic job – but make no mistake, Dylan brown leaving next year leaves a big hole.
He isn’t elite at 5/8’ at organising or running plays compared to some halves… I agree with that.
But make no mistake, Dylan’s defence and running ability still makes him extremely difficult to replace.
He may be that player Muz but the way people are raving about him .. no wonder he sees himself as the second coming.
I’d like to see him if he grabs an ACL or similar which would really knock his confidence around.
Secondly, as I said there are some pretty decent young players around. What about Ethan Strange ? Surely at this stage Ethan Strange is a better player than Galvin.
Also, let’s get behind the club. We have recruited the best young coach going around and have built some excellent bases.
Yes we have made some mistakes over the years but any suggestions that we purge the R&R officials like some have suggested because we missed Galvin is ridiculous.
Reports are filtering out that Galvin approached the Bulldogs so we were never in the hunt.
In just glad it’s over to be honest and I’m sure the Tigers boys are too.
Spark my view is he is high risk high reward
His ego and immaturity may cause issues
I wanted him – but if he wanted big money ?
Then I’m glad we didn’t engage in a bidding war
Bidding war w as never going to happen.
Market dictates demand and while Galvin may or may not have worked out, now we have the opportunity to focus on junior growth. Ryles has already elevated quite a few juniors into 1st grade, let’s see if we can bring a 6 up to join them. Do it now, and rest/ move /bench/ cut dylbaggs and see if we can grow a group to work together in the spine
I would love to hear Sixties explanation. Surely an instant reaction is in order.
Adam, no disrespect here mate but I’m over all the media crap with Galvin; we move on and the club will have things planned…I trust
I wouldn’t give him and his manager any oxygen
Adam, we will speak about it during Tuesday’s live pod. This was a dumbfounding outcome. My mail from multiple sources was incredibly strong. Throw in the completely unexpected departure of Dyl earlier this year and you have proof positive that the complete opposite can happen in footy at the last minute. The background to both situations is extraordinary.
Fair call. I’ve been telling my family for months not to listen to anything Gus says but wait until you see what he does – then you know what he is thinking and doing.
Secondly, I think Isaac seems to be receiving less attention than I would have thought for the current imbroglio. Another case of don’t trust what he says but watch what he does. It is the only way to know.
Sometimes it means when you find out that it’s too late to do anything so you move on.
Thing is Galvin was a player we wanted and we’ve missed out again, it’s not easy to take. For what it’s worth I have a neighbour who has a senior role with the NRL, a tigers supporter, he said to me when Galvin was left out of the eels clash “was I happy that Galvin was coming to the eels” I said i didn’t think so and it had a feeling of the dogs being all over it. He assured me it was already a done deal and those in the know knew already he was eels bound. There you go.
This is our reality right now we’re going to miss players no doubt we’re a bottom club as we speak. Ryles has proved that this current group are capable of at least pushing to the edge of the 8. If we show some results we will become a more attractive destination for players to come to. Or we will have to play complete overs for elite talent to come and is that something we really want. If we do head down that path you’d want to make sure you get a proven multi year elite player who has had success. I wouldn’t risk it on a rookie prospect.
For me with all the hype I would have taken him. But on reflection we dodged a bullet his heart is not Parra any more apparently plenty of young guns coming through or roostta cast off if dce comes. Prefer our young blokes
Seriously, is Galvin worth caring about? Lachie who? Let him go the dogs, literally and metaphorically. This post is about the improvement in our squad. Let’s sing their praises. I agree with the comments Nat’s comments about Smith, Iongi, JAC etc. Moretti is developing fabulously well. Kaufonga is showing real potential. Russell is developing into a really solid player with fabulous defence. The Cup and Flegg teams are going really well. We thrashed Manly. Hey, fabulous. There seems to be real spirit in the squad.The development has been stunning. The Riff next week. Suddenly I feel a glimmer of optimism. Go Eels.
Exactly mate for me in hindsight it’s a blessing plenty fish in the ocean
.issued a couple. The development of Luca Moretti has been outstanding. Kautoga is developing into a devastating left edge; he totally outplayed his much more expensive opposite On Friday night. Russell has developed into one of the best defensive centres in the NRL.
Yeah
A bit going on
I’ll share a wild / alternative take on Galvin:
He was ALWAYS going to the bulldogs and Jason Ryles may have caught on to this
– eels were used as a smoke screen to keep the negative press away from GUS
– eels were used again as a bargaining tool to increase dollars by using us for a bidding war
– Isaac Moses utilised parramatta for a phony bidding war but Jason Ryles saw through it and didn’t engage in it knowing Galvin was going to the dogs after gus kissed his ass every week on TV
– Galvin and his management were always landing him at the dogs and we were used to keep the attention away from gus
The rumours are Jason Ryles said he didn’t want to go into a bidding war over Galvin stating if he wants to play for us he will and that’s it, final offer XXX amount
This might not sound accurate but just think about how bad it would look if parramatta were not interested or Galvin wasn’t interested in parramatta and only Gus guild was
Everyone would of blamed Gus guild for feeding Galvin the look aid which ultimately influenced Galvin to want to early exit tigers
Because he is being told by the most influential person in the game he is the best player he has ever seen
Just think how badly it wouod of reflected on gus if he didn’t lie saying he wasn’t interested in Galvin
Gus guild would of been blamed for the whole tigers msss had parramatta not been openly interested in Galvin
The “Galvin wants to join parra” was also a smoke screen for fans to not detect Galvin wanted to follow his to bulldogs
I’m sure Galvin was possibly interested in us but ultimately Gus influenced this kid to exit tigers
Galvin thinks under Gus he will win comps at the dogs, play origin, and be the best player in history
This is the kind of crap Gus tells players to get them to sign
lol
Hey Muz, it might be as simple as the Dogs could flick Sexton but we couldn’t flick Brown, so we would have had a double up in cap impact restricting Ryles’ ability to buy or lock in talent. The shit storm created by Galvin at Tigers was something he probably needed to get away from ASAP. And that Chinese restaurant at Bulldogs.
Bdon there’s probably something to it much like you mentioned
I’m personally glad we didn’t go into a massive bidding war and end up playing him $1m +
It would of been good to get him but his red flags are glaring
I’ll back Jason Ryles – but I’m still very skeptical of our R & R commitment and head of football
Admittedly Jason’s made far superior calls on all fronts since joining
I think his direction has helped them made better decisions so far
Ps I feel for sexton, he turned that club around, they looked awful until he came
Gus is a flog and a snake who has zero loyalty
Shafting Mahoney is another example …
You deserve what’s coming if you join the bulldogs
I wasn’t aware of the Mahoney thing, when did that emerge? And Muz, for the record when Galvin dumped personally and publicly on Marshall, it just didn’t sit well with me regardless of how Luai and co reacted (like tools id say, patriotic tools). Another poster tonight labelled Galvin correctly based on that effort.
I started seeing the rumours about Reed this week or last. They are just rumours at this point, but people are now speculating Taylln de Silva will move to the dogs too. Seems a bit left field but funnier things have happened.
I thought Galvin was hung out to dry at the Tigers. How is it mature for a coach to tell your young gun 5/8 to stand up in front of team mates and explain why you are leaving. So I don’t read all that much into the red flags, other than he’s young and more promise than track record (just a statement of the obvious).
Galvin would, no question, have added to the depth of our talent pool but we are particularly blessed with potential on his position. We can replace Dylan from within
Fellas the Reed thing started in the off season
Gus was shopping him off in private in the off season to gauge interest
News / rumours started to circle and Gus lied saying it’s not true but it is
Gus told him to come there to be captain, told him he will Play origin and lead the Bulldogs team to get him outta parra
The first year he got serious players over like Crichton they took his captaincy and started shopping him to rival clubs while asking them for privacy so Redd didn’t find out (lol)
They are a classless club with a lying snake in gus ready to take the axe to anybody who loses his favour
Kind of like when Trent Barret rumours came out at the dogs and Gus came out saying “rubbish, Trent will be here for many years to come”
Then he was sacked I think 2 weeks later 😅
Mick I agree though regarding his treatment at tigers.. asking him to explain why he wants to leave …
The tigers have a notorious reputation as a toxic work place and minimal class and professionalism, that dates back a long time
But Galvin seems entitled and is showing potential red flags around his character
It will be interesting to see how he turns out at the bulldogs – Laui’s mates are bulldogs so they will know everything about him before he walks into the door
There’s a chance instability hits the bulldogs, especially if sexton is shafted
Showing no loyalty and lying will eventually catch up with him at the bulldogs with the playing group if gus keeps on going
The panthers admin and the clearys hate Gus – not on talking terms even
Gus might end up the same over there at some point
Seems like Mahoney is about to be on the outer at the dogs now too. Talk about a full circle moment if they do the dirty on him. I’d be wary of doing any sort of deal with the Dogs.
They are dogs as their name suggests
Mahoney also got told a bunch of BS from gus
Them shafted for captaincy the moment better players signed
No wonder the panthers admin including the clearys do not like Gus
Gus also got Ivan Cleary sacked from panthers the first time
Interesting that our last 2 wins I don’t believe Galvin played for us so we’ll survive, I think his signing at the dogs will derail there season as sexton , Mahoney Tracey and Burton will all be affected directly by him signing, also crighton kikau and Burton are great mates with luia who would of informed them what he was like , Galvin has a lot of ability but has a sense of entitlement about him and is similar to a Hastings in that he can rub people up the wrong way , we’ll be fine we can beat Penrith without Galvin and we will smash the dogs with Galvin , next man up
I don’t think Galvin is a long term 6 – too tall and slow for halves. Seems like he will be a Isiah yeo type lock. But would have helped us for a few years no doubt.
Onto the next, I’d get someone like kodi Nikorima for a year or two so as to give Lorenzo, twiddle, etc time to develop will ensuring we have a spark plug at 6. Kodi is underrated and won’t break the bank at all. If not kodi get Sandon smith of two years to let young parra halves develop
He has a similar body shape to Ryan Matterson at the same age. Remember he was a 5/8 in his junior days. I have a feeling he’ll have a similar career path.
Look it’s hard to discuss without sounding salty but the Tigers players were pretty up front saying that the kid has an ego as big as a planet, which would only have gone to a new level once Gus declared he was the greatest player since Daly Messenger !
It’s quite obvious that Galvin would t have left too many friends at Leichhardt.
I was always wondering how it would go if he joined us and over called Moses all the time.
Maybe , just maybe we have dodged a bullet.
I wonder how it’s going to go down out there at Belmore when wonder boy starts throwing tantrums at Critter and the others ?
He definitely sounds like a Jackson Hastings clone.
In truly excited by what’s cooking at Parra.
If we can grab a couple of decent forwards and a very decent centre we will be fine.
In Ryles we trust !
Spark, I don’t think we dodged a bullet because I don’t think he was ever coming. I do agree that he would have clashed with Moses. Before Lui arrived he would want the ball on every play.
Gould also thought Cleary couldn’t coach and sacked him.
Gould is a myth, he’s cheque booked the club into the top 8 thanks to Laundy.
He’s used a scatter gun approach by signing literally every notable player that’s comes to market with no actual planning other than collecting the best available players and hoping for success.
The Bullgrubs ladder position is a bluff, they’ve had a soft draw while playing with semi final like intensity.
They don’t have a notable game manager and they still don’t have one in Galvin. They have a promising young halfback in cup who they now stand to lose. Someone is going to have their noses out of joint with this signing, it could even be Burton.
I’d rather have him than Galvin, he’d be perfect next to Moses, a pure running 6.
Something good is coming our way, I have a feeling.
Great read Shelley, we have some great kids coming through. The raw energy and enthusiasm youth brings can’t be coached, only managed. It’s been a while since our team has looked fresh, excited and happy.
I was surprised that most didn’t pick Hawkins as best on field. I don’t think we would have won without him.
He’s a lot better player than I thought. He looks every bit a halfback and his general play was faultless.
As for Galvin, I’m not upset nor surprised that he signed with the Laundy Bulldogs, I am however extremely pissed that we were used by the media on behalf of Gould and Isaac Moses as a diversionary tactic to allow the Bullgrubs to do their dirty business. Galvin was never signing with us, we are victims of the grub club, Issac Moses, Gould and the Laundy group. This was a US style all out assault orchestrated by the Bulldogs to sign Galvin. “Galvin expressed his desire to play for the Bulldogs and we’ll try to accommodate that” I honestly had a belly laugh, the blatant bullshit Gould dishes out on TV needs to be investigated or at least questioned by the NRL.
We were porns in this whole charade but I’m not blaming our club, they were dealing with the devil. Issac Moses is a know grub with no moral compass. He’s a guy who will happily use his own family for his benefit including his nephew. There’s no honour amongst thieves and when you can burn your bridges with someone like Politis, then you know you’re a special type of grub.
You can bet your bottom dollar that Galvin won’t be paid a cent less than his Tigers offer regardless of what the media reports. And Isaac Moses came out of the deal with a fat Laundy wallet. I hope our club refuses to deal with Isaac Moses in future, regardless of the player.
How the NRL stand back and allow Gould to use his media profile to his advantage is sickening. The Galvin to Parra narrative was orchestrated by him and his media colleagues.
His decision makes no sense from a football perspective, he could have been playing with an Origin and Test player shouldering all the pressure. Now he’s under pressure to be the man. He went for money and Laundy perks. I’m glad we didn’t pay stupid money for a kid who stood out in wooden spoon team. We have our main man, Galvin wants to be the main man which would have clashed with Moses.
I think you mean “pawns” not “porns” …in the whole charade”
lol
Tks Nat,great take. I’m keen to see Moses and Lomax on the park with these blokes, and big Sam back, I’d also include Moretti in the transfusion, he looks like a new version, I could never quite work out how BA was managing/developing him, to me he had attributes we needed.
I’m glad Galvin signed with the Dogs. Since the announcement, the rumours have been flying, Mahoney shopped around, Sexton going, Sexton staying, shift Burton to centre to accommodate Galvin, Xerri to wing, Burton to fullback, Tracey to wing, Chrichton to fullback and Burton to centre, Galvin to half partnering Burton. So many players affected by this. And I bet Gus has sat down with all these players and said don’t worry your position is safe. You can’t tell me this won’t have an adverse affect on the playing group, at least I hope it does.
All the evidencwould suggest Galvin had no intention of joining. He was a boyhood fan and there was an open spot for him on the team playing next to one of the best players in the league. He would have seen the club at their best towards the end of the week. The new facilities and a brilliant win by a hungry young team on the rise. If all that wasn’t enough for him then he is no big loss. Much
The dogs are a red hot chance this year.
Galvin might be the last 5% to get them over the line.
Why wouldn’t he go there knowing that?
We should be a consistent top 8 team with the current roster based on the last few games, but we don’t have enough on board to take the title yet.
Good read Nat.
I feel Ryles is building something very special. Not just first grade it’s building across the club across all the grades.
All we want is a team to be proud of 21 and 22 we had it but we still had the blow out losses at times and that was frustrating. 2023 we stayed still and made some dumb recruitment decisions as a consequence we went backwards. Fast! And were clueless, didn’t know how to get out of the rapid decline.
But now once we get rid of the errors we will be
unstoppable.
If we don’t sign anyone Ryles has shown he can coach a player to improve them or move them as needed. Ryles clearly had a plan and we’ve been seeing glimpses. But the last two weeks were more than that.
Junior has never been fitter and he had to. We couldn’t have both Reg and Junior 120kg playing the middle it would be madness to continue that. Reg was a family favourite so that was hard to accept but it was the right call. Gutho is playing better than ever – a change to his training in the off season saw him build muscle and less running. Flanagan always pushes the envelope on performance enhancement lol..We had Gutho held together in strapping tape hobbling but putting in nonetheless.
We are on the up and at last defensive system visible that we can be proud of. Ryles is building something sustainable and not reliant on 1 player.
We are literally 1 win out of equal 8th and we are fixing F/A we’ve had numerous injuries and now Origin selections. But that can’t stop us!
Some good points Pete
What we can all appreciate and be grateful for is Jason Ryles doing a few very important things which many have not mentioned or thought about yet:
Jason Ryles got us our first win without gutho in over 5 years !!!! In his first 5 games as coach from memory
None of our previous coaches in BA or Baz coached us to win without gutherson basically
We also failed miserably without Moses since Moses came to us
Under Jason we had won of our most impressive wins over manly in recent times.,, and, that was without Moses!
Our sliding defence has our flanks looking rock solid if you look at the last few games, even with Papalii there who was on debut and isn’t a winger
Pete Guthos also got a good coach over there who’s won the premiership
With no offence to our coaches none had won the comp or had the success flanno has
Gutherson is thriving under new and probably better coaching, the way they are using him, it’s far better than what we did with him
There’s also the factor of a new environment and a point to prove because parra didn’t want him and gutho is ultra competitive
P.s i agree mate. We are on the up. Our defensive systems look much better. Jason Ryles and our coaching staff know what they are doing
If we can beat panthers and bulldogs we would be into the top 8 I think mate – how crazy would that be after the start to our season?
We now have strong emerging talent and money to spend.
Some proposed moves :
1. The Leagues Club buys Ray Hadley’s former home and offers it to the Haas family for peppercorn rent;
2. Ditto the place next door to the Fifitas.
3. The two Dylan’s switch roles as of next Sunday.
4. Dean Hawkins goes back to Cup to get experience at 9.
Our side for the 2027 grand final then is Iongi,Lomax, Papaliii, Simonssen, Addo-Carr, Walker, Moses, Paulo, Smith, Haas, Williams, Fifita, Hopgood, Samrani, Moretti, Tuivati and Hawkins.
We start favourites.
I like your thinking Noel
Sounds perfect Noel 🤝
Muz you are spot on with Gutho he has a big point to prove and really wanted to beat us but didn’t lol. His coaching has nailed his role. (Not sure for how long though)
Even in our good years we were getting blow out losses and games we should have won. Our edges were always poor. But even Papalii after a couple of misses fell into line.
Onwards and upwards.
True Pete. Also with guthoars I wish him all the best.
But you get the feeling his body is still a ticking time bomb.
We’ve made a great long term investment in Iongi and Papalii.
Two good young fullbacks with many years ahead of them should they stay healthy.
Gutho probably has max 1-2 good seasons left if you are being generous.
Our young fullbacks might have another min of 5-10 years of playing time ahead of them.
How the hell do we miss out on Josiah pulu – Melbourne sign him mid season when we are crying out for a young middle. Even if he isn’t a starting prop he’d be a solid bench prop to work with tuivati etc
Gus Gould possible conflict of interest not addressed by NRL. Openly courting a player ” the greatest Junior I have ever seen” Then denied interest and suddenly said player gets signed. Gould constantly uses his media profile to further his interests. By either throwing grenades or bouquets depending on his needs at the time. He is constantly using his profile to influence outcomes. Whilst it’s not illegal it is a very poor look for the game.
Gus is continuing to lie and snake his players and the NRL audiences alike who view his media coverage.
It’s a joke.
He openly manipulates an opposition play maker into exiting his contract early.
Don’t tell me he didn’t play an influence.
Not to mention all of his lies and abuse of power / influence on the game due to his media positions.
True Muz, People complaining about Isaac M’ and fair enough but forgetting Gus the manipulator is just as culpable.
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