The Tip Sheet is also available on Spotify and iTunes!
You will be hard pressed to find a more quintessential game of two halves than tonight’s clash between the Eels and Dragons. A lethargic opening stanza from the Blue & Gold allowed the Red V to soar to a commanding 26-4 lead before half time energised the Eels enroute to a valiant comeback effort save for a moment of unfortunate madness that changed the game. Sixties and Forty20 look at the key moments in a heart breaker in the instant reaction to Round 17.
The lack of kick pressure due to Ryley Smiths absence immediately put us under pressure from every kick.. We definitely look 2x better with Ryley playing.
I know we started soft and slow and “not good enough” and all of the other cliches people are saying. But I counted 3-5 times Dragons players either ran into or ran Lomax off the ball.
Josh Ado Carr try was actually a try. There was a gap between his foot and the line you could not see his foot touching the line.
The dragons got to slow us down all night and the moment we didn’t gift them super quick play the balls the ref blew his whistle.
I’m not convinced we lose that game if the officiating was accurate – It was so bad we had to naively jump off them in tackles or the ref blew the whistle.
It really annoys me when that we would get penalised every time we ran into players or ran them off the ball yet they got to even change directions into Lomax and nothing happens.
I know our club doesn’t want to use excuses and we could have did better – but this game’s a borderline farce where the referee controls the outcome and each team seemingly gets to play by a different set of rules.
Go watch replays and you’ll see dragons cheating swerving into Lomax multiple times, you’ll see them off side on their try line, you can’t see the fox’s foot on the line either watching replays.. we didn’t play our best but we still might of win with a few different decisions.
We’re blaming the referees for trailing 26-4 at half time to an ordinary team?! We’re blaming ref’s for 20 missed tackles in the first half and being out run by 350m in the first half?
We didn’t lose because of referee’s or bumps in kick contests. We lost because our props (who have been great for a month), both turned up and gave a lame duck effort in the first half. One got marginally better in th second half.
Blaming refs when you get your butt handed to you for 40 minutes is a loser mentality that will never see this club turn things around – anymore than signing a 35 year old props who have won nothing.
Totally agree, you said it all in your first paragraph. Anyone blaming the referee is seriously delusional.
Paulo was very average in contrast to what the commentators were saying. Why the hell was he third man in for so many tackles. A lazy arsed performance…again. SL beckons. The game is a rort, but that’s not the only reason we lost. Glad Dylan was back!😳
Yes Saints were in a mood in the first half, and we were miles away from keeping up with them.
I think we were down by 6 and I was thinking about how Paulo has come good again; then knock-on; then penatly, and suddenly the score blows out.
But comebacks do and can happen.
I blame the touch-judge and the ref for robbing us of this opportunity.
Addo-Carr’s foot was touchline-adjacent, and with studs on the boot, there is a very persuasive argument that the foot likely doesn’t make contact with the chalk – remember the good old days when they gave the ‘benefit of the doubt’ when you end up splitting hairs?
26-all we would have been running downhill, no desperate Lomax flick pass to give Saints another scoring opportunity etc.
Not singling us out as ‘poor Parra’ – so many games are being unduly influenced, and effectiely decided on adjudicating inconsistencies and blunders, that it is really robbing my enjoyment of the sport (now ‘product’) overall.
Got to love all you govern me harder daddy types that just love getting reamed, yes we played shit in the first half but the refereeing atm is blatantly managing games to outcomes, just look at SOO 2, so suck dik all you want but there is a big issue with officiating games fairly right now and its not just us.
Why were we not allowed to challenge the call or the ref could of went to the bunker
Touch judge rulings cannot be challenged or reviewed. .
I think that’s wrong you should be able to challenge any official not a good rule
I know it affected us in this one. But overall it should be changed
The decision was heart breaking but if it had been reviewed I suspect “insufficient evidence to overturn” may have been the likeliest outcome. I’ve seen it four or five times now and I’m still not certain whether he touched the line. If he did he touched, he didn’t step on it. The touchie had to make a call and he made one. One of those things.
Lomax’s brain melt was unforgivable.
That’s true unfortunately it was a sad moment lol
40 years of misery. A losing mentality overall at the moment. “It’s the touch judges fault says the eternal optimist” – please. We just have a sub par roster.
What we need to start asking senior management as fans is “what is the club doing to sign marquee players?” You don’t win comps without elite players. I’m not naming names but we are soooooo far off the top teams it is not funny.
Let’s face it – we have perhaps 3 more years of a losing percentage before anything may change with our young roster. Moses likely done by then. With PNG and Perth coming in the tent pool just gets more watered down. How do we become competitive again?
When you reflect it makes you realise how bloody tough it is to win one. I’d like nothing more than to just win one before I die. I just hope and pray management realise how painful it has been for us all since 1986. I feel that they have no comprehension of the sustained failure. Sometimes I feel management just think complacency will keep them in a job and the fans will be happy.
It’s clear – We are no longer a powerhouse club like we were in the 1980s. We were recently smashed by salary cap auditors for cheating and since then, we have suffered as fans ever more. When you are pitching for signatures against juggernauts like Melbourne Sydney and Brisbane – wow, good luck to you.
I will never stray from supporting our mighty blue and gold, but just am so disappointed in this club of ours. We have so much potential but can not seem to reach it. We have an enormous fan base and a growing population in Parramatta. We could be a powerhouse, but management at the club cannot seem to get us there. They seem more fascinated with buying second rate players.
The message – Please just win one comp! Do whatever it takes. It will become easier after that.
I agree the touchy in one situation didn’t decide the whole game.
But how he missed every off side and players changing directions into Lomax, even bumping into him, and they missed that every time?
We have a severely weakened team out there tonight due to injuries and suspensions and only just lost to a team who just played their best first half of football all season with their coach and players under severe pressure.
And with the managements inability to sign elite players, the bulldogs have such big 3rd party and potentially borderline illegal back hand deals going.
Until the clubs able to match 3rd party deals like the roosters, bulldogs & co offer no pitch we can offer premium players will match it because it extends past dollars of the initial contract.
Jim hinted in the podcast there’s more businesses and sponsors getting in and around the club and I’m guessing they’ve came to realise it’s essential.
But our clubs had major issues in the past and no doubt we won’t ever push the boundaries like easts and dogs who give free accommodation and jobs to family members, or shares in hotels.
Mate parramatta is sitting on a goldmine if we could jag a premiership we could become one of the biggest clubs no matter what sport in Australia. I can see light at the end of the tunnel but it’s a long tunnel
I agree Josh.
What the Board need to be asking, is why is it our Snr Mgmt can only sign players, nobody else is interested in chasing?
Sometimes a signing works out, which is great. But in the long run, we miss out on/let go too many players who could make a difference, and burn the years of our top players putting up with grossly incomplete rosters.
At some point this year, the coach has to realise that finals are out of the question and a statement has to be made.
That statement is to get Dylan Brown out of that team.
Surely after tonight it’s apparent that we just can’t afford Dylan Brown to show up every 4th game.
The Dragons were exceptional in the first half. We were actually good with high completion rates and threatening sets but to no avail.
In an incredible turn around our team became masterful and but for a couple of unfortunate incidents we could, and should have won.
You know things are good in the Parra world when you go into the second half 26-4 down and believe you can win.
Parra are on the way up. Just start believing.
Beating ourselves a lot with long period switch offs. We’re always in games but we’re finding ways to lose them more than win. We stop beating ourselves results will change and luck will come.
Until we can we do this will linger around the bottom The top teams don’t beat themselves they make you go out and beat them
It’s hard not to groan at some of the calls, that Dylan Brown one was just so petty, if you look at the replay Brown actually realises he’s not square and takes a step to adjust, If he wasn’t square then it happened countless times during the game.
The first half looked like one team going through their plays with energy and intent, and the other team going through their plays. The game was lost right there. Sixties, you mentioned how the ball never seemed to behave kindly for us, I mentioned that to my wife during the game and 15minutes later she agreed, which is rare. Lomax scrapped all night with little luck.
You could really tell how much we missed Ryley Smith in the first half. His kick pressures help so much, and we’ve probably become accustomed to it. Not crapping on Lussick, but the amount of time the Dragons’ halves had to bomb and place their kicks was outrageous. It put us under so much pressure and a lot of their tries ended coming from their kicks if I’m not mistaken.
Anyway, great comeback, but heartbreaking we couldn’t get the job done. At the end of the day, it was our fault for putting ourselves in such a bad position in the first half.
Also, so sick of everyone shitting on our players after a loss. Far out man. Things are coming together, and we’re consistently on the rise. Stick together and we’ll be fine.
Yeah I feel like there are so many people on here who only come out after a loss to comment and shit on players, at the end of the day this isn’t the team or coach that’s been there for 40 years, it’s a new coach and a new team building to something strong with a solid amount of injuries and suspensions rn.
Tuivaiti expected back after the bye which will be a great inclusion onto the bench.
There needs to be a reckoning over that first half, Dylan dancing to the stadium music before the game was a bad look and showed how unfocused we were
It was Darwin 2.0
Please tell the fox to stop singing and dancing as well then. Good luck with that.
Honestly Dylan’s care free attitude I’ll be happy to see the end of it. It hasn’t work for our group and it’s time to get laser focused it’s desperately needed.
With the benefit of infinite repeat reels, you could write a thesis on the JAC foot on the line call. Short version thesis: At the crucial moment the touchie takes his eyes off the foot because Corey Allan’s legs swing across his path but Allan also points and screams about JAC’s foot, the flag goes up. Did he see it or didn’t actually see it but just knew it was very tight and reacted to Allan’s prompting , who had just missed a vital tackle and would be looking to scream any excuse to stop play. I reckon it’s almost 100% that the foot didn’t hit the line when first grounded but settling into the depth of the grass it may have touched a blade or two, he didn’t actually step outside the field of play, if the grass is say 30/40 ml it would have likely folded towards his foot. When he lifts his foot out of the grass you once again get the image of not stepping on the line. You wouldn’t want to lose a GF on that call.
Geez there are some strong, polarised opinions here. I realise that quite a number were made before anyone listened to the podcast, which is perfectly fine. The post itself is also there as a platform for your opinions. However, I reckon there needs to be some balance, as different takes can be true at the same time.
Mine, as per podcast:
We lost primarily because of a poor first half – poor in that our hit and stick and line speed wasn’t what it should be, whilst the Dragons were near faultless running down hill. They did well considering injury/HIA interruptions.
The Eels were steaming home until that sideline call, which was a guess whether it be right or wrong.
A couple of late errors came from chasing a miracle play.
It’s also true that the calls fell to the Dragons, as did the bounce of the ball
It’s also true that having 11 players from the full time squad out of action is taking its toll
There is a light at the end of the tunnel
Sixties, I can’t see that the St George forward has been charged for the challenge on Iongi. It ticked all the boxes for careless, reckless and dangerous. If Riley Smith cops 2 weeks for a spear tackle that was at worst careless (another tackler caused the spearing trajectory, Smith hardly lifted)..this bloke, by comparison, should get 4-6 weeks. Iongi was lucky his body completely cartwheeled otherwise it could have resembled a spear tackle, no tackler force but impact from a great height. I noticed St G have not had one player suspended in 2025, this one should open their account.
Sixties, when your on your Supporters Advisory Group ask our management why they don’t grow a set of nuts and fight some of the suspensions. We’re getting absolutely shafted by the MRC.
Hi MUZ everything you say is exactly how I saw the game I have no doubt if Riley Smith plays he would have been ready for that late offload by Zac and I believe we go on and win the game but saying that we can’t afford to start games so slowly in First Half because that’s where we lost the game also
I know Tuilagi has form with the MRC however I do not think that tackle on DeBelin was worth anything let alone 3-4 weeks suspension – he came in from the side not your normal crusher ‘tackle over the top of a player and to my mind DeBelin'”s head was free ??? May be worth a challenge ?
Damn another suspension for a tackle really late in the game -78th minute
Thanks fellas,
A disappointing night. I’ve said before that as we develop there will be backward steps and the first half was definitely one. It was pleasing to see the second half effort but in reality the game was lost at the forty minute mark.
What to make of Kelma? Some good line running, some ball skills and an ability to hit in tackles against some poor tackling, limited lateral ability in defence and a proclivity to suspensions (justified or not). Ryles must see a first grade footy player there so do I keep my trust there?
What to make of our season? There is so much to like coupled with impatience and disappointment. I’m glad Ryles gave the team a spray at oranges, I was starting to think he was too nice. I was also glad to hear that after the spray was delivered everyone got down to planning how to change things in the second half.
We can complain about officials, and fair enough because we do seem to get the rough end of the pineapple on a regular basis. But it’s up to us to address that, either by altering how we play or by becoming a squeaky wheel and putting pressure on the NRL through regular complaints, officially and through various media formats.
Sixties mail has come good!!
Welcome Da Silva!! 👏🏽
As to the game, we have some real talent in the squad but gee the squad is unbalanced. We went into last night’s game with three locks, five seconds rowers, one centre and one prop. That left us vulnerable up the guts and out on our right edge, which is where they got us. De Belin coming will help but we desperately need one more quality starting prop; we can’t expect Junior to keep coming up with these massive minutes. Another experienced three quarter also would be a big help; obviously Will and Bayley were out for this one, but I took a look at our three quarter line in Cup and only recognised one name. I’d be talking to Tommy Talau.
I think the loss of Moretti and Tuivaiti have been arguably our biggest losses, Luca was developing into a starting front rower with impact and Tuivaiti was carving out a spot on our bench as a damaging impact forward with size through the middle.
Four hookers in our top 30 , chuck in no Madison Joe O Sean Lane and Bryce Cartwright, Hayes Dunster, what an imbalanced roster we are so desperate in need of another centre and edge or a middle and in the meantime we have a $1.2 million player counting his dollars and wanting to play State of Origin. This is fucked.,
You really think we will have 4 hookers in the top 30 next year?
Ryles playing the long game with matto, Cartwright, lane, Joe o all gone in 2026.
Moses is on that money at any club, Jesus dyl is on 1.3 next year.
Our roster when Ryles took over was a bottom 4 roster now it’s looking a lot stronger for 26
I thought Ryles was great in the Press Conference. No excuses. He said something like “We got the result we deserved.” Fair comment after that diabolical first half. The Dragons shifted the ball from one side to the other and then back again with Gutherson being everywhere. They looked like scoring every set. Of their five first half tries, the 4th to their no. 7 hurt me the most. I was more disappointed with that half than with the Melbourne flogging.
That said, the second half said a lot about the spirit in this team and they were maybe a blade of grass from winning. JAC didn’t step on the line but maybe he brushed it. Who can be definitive. It’s one of those calls. JAC was great all game. Lomax worked hard. I thought Brown was good except for the defensive effort for their 4th try. The edge forwards ran well after half time. Doorey put in. And of course, the man wearing Number 1 was great all game.
There’s a lot of “ifs” that could be applied to this game but what use would that be. I’ll go with what Ryles said. We all learnt a lot from this game, players and staff. True, and to that I will add supporters. It is also true that Parramatta teams constantly invent new ways to lose. I’ll put the Lomax off-load into that category.
Go Eels.
Always love your attitude mate always positive thanks.
Thanks, Tanky. We all wear blue and gold here.
Exactly
I don’t want to sound like a one eyed whining supporter but the way the eels are treated by the MRC and the refs is bordering on corruption. It blows my mind that the media haven’t picked up on it. My fear is that there are so many vested interests and hidden agendas conspiring against us, a real fear that a powerful and successful eels will dominate the league for fans, money and attention.
This is so shortsighted. We are in the heartland of the NRL, when the eels do well everyone benefits…
I want us to stop taking the bullshit silently. I want the club to make a public statement after every game where we get wronged by the officials.I want the club to provide the evidence to the media about the bias and I want them to fight every dumb charge that the MRC throw at us. I want us to pay the fines and put the pressure back on the NRL.
I’m over it.
And that means I’m over weak leadership at the club and the hidden agendas of the NRL
That said, I’m loving what Ryle’s is doing, insane that with all of the suspensions, injuries and senior players losing their mojo that we are developing such a strong identity, spirit and playing style.
Can’t wait for the next game
Retribution is coming
If jr was going to throw Charlie on it had to be when the dragons were really dominating.
Otherwise he’s not the player to put on to chase points
Yes a ganme of two halves, literally. To me we were somewhat the better team. In years gone by we could have capitulated badly in the 2nd half, let alone not scored points.
I ask this, that JAC call, if this was Penrith / Easts / Melb i dare say the result was different.
I also want the club to be questioning these calls as per Denis Fitz era / Brian Smith time.
We have taken the inconsistency of the MRC joke for far too long; I daresay since about 2014.
Yes we made errors but the refs / MRC have been poor for years…..and bottom teams often get the wrong calls.
While on it, I feel the club needs someone in HOF role with some Parra nous and Parra first mantra; and it is Monday and I have Monday-itis
From what we can see, the touchie reacted to CoreyAllen waving his arms and shouting he’s out. The touchies eyes never looked down until JAC was past that close call. That official would be in Cup soon enough if it was a call agst the Roosters or Dogs.
Whilst the club doesn’t feel it serves a purpose, it actually seems to given what we see after Gus and Sticky make comments on decisions that impact their team.