I could have sworn I read a neat little column in a recent copy of The Economist about a bizarre spike in the sales of brooms in Western Sydney. Who on Earth could be investing so heavily in a simple bristled cleaning utility? Why the Parramatta Eels of course. They swept the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in Round 12 across the NRL, NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg Cup on the weekend and notched their second straight spotless week as the club starts to ramp up in the mid-season.

Let’s swap cleaning tools for your Monday beverage of choice and break down how the Blue & Gold beat down their arch-rivals.

NRL

Parramatta Eels 30 defeat the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 10

No Mitchell Moses. No Zac Lomax. No worries. Imagine telling yourself that last week ahead of Parramatta’s Friday night clash with the Sea Eagles! Funnily enough it isn’t the first time the Eels have delivered a staggering blow to Manly in the absence of their superstar #7. Daejarn Asi and Ryan Matterson spearheaded a 34-4 demolition job at CommBank in 2023 while Jake Arthur and Dylan Brown stunned the Sea Eagles in 2022 at 4 Pines Park with a 36-20 ambush.

The more you know!

Even if you were forearmed with knowledge of those results, it is fair to suggest that plenty of fans still would have been anxious coming into Friday night. Things certainly did not go to script early on either with Will Pensini succumbing to a Category 1 concussion almost immediately. That thrust NRL debutante Joash Papalii into the fray on the right wing and the Sea Eagles went after him immediately as Lehi Hopoate secured the opening points of the game down the Eels’ right edge.

In a hugely encouraging sign for the progress of the team, Parramatta did not let scoreboard pressure get to them in the slightest and simply refocused their efforts on winning the primary phases of the contest. They began to roll the Sea Eagles through the ruck and Dean Hawkins seized on this advantage with an exemplary long kick game that completely neutered Manly’s back three. It took them until the 22nd minute to hit back on the scoreboard but by that point they had taken the game by the scruff of the neck.

Hawkins and Papalii combined to put Jordan Samrani over in the corner in a stunning effort that reportedly had Mr Squiggles in the stand hooting “Upside down! Upside down!” before Dylan Walker blew the game wide open with an audacious show-and-go that led to Hawkins ripping a 25m cutout pass to his right from his knees. It was a frankly ridiculous transfer of possession and full credit to Dean for the core strength needed to fire that pass to the rookie Joash who slipped past a gaggle of Sea Gulls – I mean Sea Eagles – to score on debut.

Again, this is all without Mitchell Moses.

Manly would hit back with a second try to Hopoate shortly after in the 28th minute but that was their final scoring play of the game. Jack Williams secured a 16-10 lead for the Eels at the break when he combined with Junior Paulo and Dean Hawkins to score a simple but well constructed try down the right edge. A silky solo try to Isaiah Iongi and a scrappy, fortuitous passage of play that resulted in a deserved meat pie for J’maine Hopgood kicked Parramatta out to a 30-10 lead in the second half as they suffocated the Sea Eagles out of the contest.

The scoring summary is nice ready but it doesn’t really do justice to how much the Eels physically dominated their opposition. Even though the Sea Eagles had more balls, Parramatta bludgeoned them at every turn. Heavy shots in defence, violent runs in possession of the ball and some kick chases that were carried out with legitimate venom – Parramatta were dialed in for Round 12.

Everyone contributed, well except poor Will, in the victory as the team continues its ascent under the guidance of Jason Ryles. Iongi and Paulo were popular vote winners among viewers in the Instant Reaction live stream but gee there some worthy contenders.

Gideon Kautoga is really finding his feet in first grade now and is playing with a brash confidence that his raw athleticism warrants. He imposed his will on the Sea Eagles and tormented their right edge. He polled strongly among fans and certainly delivered on my pregame prediction of his status as a potential man-of-the-match.

Ryley Smith was a cattle dog all game – as he has been all season – while the cracking mid-season form of Jack Williams and Dylan Walker continued on Friday night.

Seriously though – take your pick of the players. Russell, Samrani, Addo-Carr, Brown, Hawkins, Tuilagi, Hopgood, Moretti, Matterson and Papalii all chipped in as the Eels delivered their most complete performance of the season…all without their two biggest stars.

It is a testament to the coach and to the team to have not only overcome a nightmare start to the season but to now put themselves in a position where they have built and built in the last month. We can quite literally see all the hard work starting to manifest in the results on the field and the swelling belief in the squad.

Although I have already written about both. special shout outs to Junior Paulo and Joash Papalii. Paulo has been outstanding in 2025 and delivered a stonking effort in his milestone 250th NRL game. How much more is left in the tank for the big man? Can our Blue & Gold unicorn get to the fabled 300? On form I wouldn’t be betting against him.

At the other end of the experience scale we had Joash making his debut in a real baptism of fire moment. Manly went after him, as they should, and while they posted early points down his wing he responded brilliantly. I already mentioned his involvements in offence but it was his effort in denying Hopoate a hat-trick in the second half that really stood out. That kind of desperation in defence isn’t missed by coaches. Papalii has been a clear cut above in the NSW Cup this year and the call up to the NRL was well deserved. The question had always been about where best to fit him into the team and perhaps he really could own that utility role in the mean time.

NSW Cup

Parramatta Eels 36 defeat the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 26

The NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg Cup were not at their best in Round 12 with both sides bleeding points to Manly but ultimately both teams had too much firepower for their Northern beach counterparts.

Parramatta swamped Manly in the first half as tries to Apa Twidle, Joey Lussick and Jake Tago took them to a 18-6 lead. The Eels’ dominance was partially built on the sin-binning of D’Jazirhaie Pua’avase who was probably lucky to stay in the game at all after delivering a violent direct blow to Sam Loizou’s head.

The Eels extended their lead in the second half with a second try to Tago before Loizou bagged a double of his own but from there the Sea Eagles made it something of a contest. Benefiting from prolonged runs of possession, Manly piled on back-to-back tries in the 54th and 57th minutes before a long range try against the run of play from Ronald Volkman put the game beyond reach. The Sea Eagles did strike a further two times but by that point the Eels were home – although the late tries would not be appreciated by Nathan Cayless. 

Still, the win keeps Parramatta placed handsomely in 3rd on the ladder and they had useful contributions across the park. Twidle had a neat game at the back playing in place of Joash Papalii and continues to enjoy a rich run of form in 2025. Matt Doorey showed why he has been trusted by Jason Ryles to play NRL this year with an excellent showing in the pack. Araz Nanva combined well with Tago down the left edge and is quietly establishing himself on the depth charts at the club.

The win avenges Parramatta’s Round 4 loss to Manly…although there certainly seems to be something about the match-up that induces a looser brand of footy from the Blue & Gold.

Jersey Flegg Cup

Parramatta Eels 40 defeat the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 24

What a roller coaster this one was. The Eels looked poised to race the clock early on as they zipped out to an 18-0 lead as Lorenzo Talataina and Damascus Neemia brutalised Manly on the field and on the scoreboard with the live wire five-eighth scoring the first two tries and the bulldozing prop nabbed the third. It was one way traffic until it suddenly wasn’t as the Sea Eagles struck back with a trio of their own tries to narrow the deficit to 18-16.

Critically, the Eels were able to strike before half time as Jack Hudson knifed through the front line and linked up with Josh Lynn who quickly turned the ball back inside to the towering Isaac Jim as the big man was rewarded by backing up with the 4-pointer.

Lynn was then the beneficiary of a combination play between Saxon Pryke and Tom Summer early in the second half as the forwards split the line and fed their halfback the scoring opportunity. Tuvaku Palu iced a straight forward chance down the left edge next before Lynn stormed over late in the game to secure his double.

Pryke was a real standout in this contest with the rugged middle forward pulling apart the Sea Eagles with a blend of violent running and deft passing through the ruck. Damascus Neemia was a tour de force in his opening stint and the form of Lorenzo Talataina did not go unnoticed by any who saw the game – especially in light on the news that broke the following day with Lachlan Galvin choosing the Bulldogs over the Eels.

Talataina’s place at the club will almost certainly become a point of frenzied focus in the near future as Jason Ryles looks to find a partner for Mitchell Moses. For his part, Lorenzo has been nothing short of sensational this year. After missing the opening rounds of the SG Ball due to injury, Talataina made such an impact on the competition that he would go on to win the overall player of the tournament and has now hit the ground at a flat sprint in the Jersey Flegg.

The burden of expectation will fall very quickly on his shoulders but he is making every move a winner in 2025 and I am very much intrigued by how high he can climb in the remainder of the season.

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