Jason Ryles has pulled the trigger on his next major roster shaping addition after the Parramatta Eels made a significant investment in talented dummy-half Tallyn Da Silva on Sunday. Parramatta went bold and they went big with a four-and-a-half year deal as they move a significant step forwards in locking in their spine for 2026 and beyond.
Have the Eels taken a risk here with the duration (and potentially the value once concrete figures emerge) of Da Silva’s deal? Absolutely. However, as I constantly ramble about – footy is all about risk management. You make sensible signings and roster moves where you can with minimal risk attached to raise the floor of your squad but at some point if you want to to ascend from good to great you have to have to take a risk or two. Da Silva is obviously in the latter category and is now poised to create a formidable battery at dummy-half with Ryley Smith.
Tallyn also happens to solve an immediate issue for the Blue & God with his timely midseason transfer bolstering our struggling dummy-half stocks ahead of a massive derby game against the Panthers.
With a gaggle of clubs chasing Da Silva’s signature including Manly, Newcastle and North Queensland the Eels were forced to make the big call and they chose to believe in the young dummy-half. Given what Ryles has done with recruitment in just his first year, I too am inclined to believe in both the coach and the player in an exciting moment for the club.
Oh yeah, there was also some footy on this weekend. Let’s wrap it!
NRL
St George Illawarra Dragons 34 defeat the Parramatta Eels 20
Man, oh man. Sixties and I went through some emotions unpacking this monstrosity on Saturday night. The Eels delivered their worst half of footy since the dark chapter that opened this season to put themselves in a 26-4 hole against the St George Illawarra Dragons. Half time delivered an almighty rev-up from their coach and they responded with energy and aggression to roar back into the contest and haul themselves off the canvas en-route to a 26-20 comeback.
Then the pivotal moment of the game happened. Josh Addo-Carr had seemingly delivered the Eels the leveling blow with an interchange of passes between himself and Sean Russell down the left edge. I was roaring in my lounge room, the Eels were jubilant on the field knowing the Dragons were teetering on the brink, St George fans had sunk their heads into their hands in resigned anticipation of what was looming.
Everyone playing, watching or in general participating in Saturday’s roller coaster ride was undergoing some form of motion and emotion. Be it joy, rage, frustration or belief. It is quite possible that there was only one motionless stakeholder involved in the game at that explicit moment but it was the only one that mattered. Indeed, the touch judge had stoically raised their flag back near half way in the belief that Addo-Carr had stepped on the sideline. It completely negated the entire passage of play and replays revealed that there was an impossibly fine margin of error involved in the call. A margin that the touch judge had no means of calling with confidence live.
I am going to posit an odd stance here. Making the call that Josh Addo-Carr was out was not necessarily a bad decision but the mechanism in which the touch judge did it was the worst leveraging on the powers available to the officials in that exact moment. From the split-second the Foxx sprung free it was apparent the Eels were going to score. So why not soft-signal to referee Liam Kennedy that the scoring play should go upstairs as a no-try and task technology with the burden of proving Addo-Carr’s foot was on the line or not? This is exactly what happens near the goal line unless the foot is clearly out – and even then it often goes to the video official.
The grey area here is what happens in the event the Eels are tackled in general play without scoring? I am turning this one over to the comment section, would you be okay with my scenario above if it meant the Eels lose possession on a late call from the touch judge with Addo-Carr or Russell were somehow stopped by Clinton Gutherson?
Speaking of Gutherson, he chimed in post-game with a cheeky comment supporting the notion that Addo-Carr was in the field of play. A sprinkling of salt in the wound certainly and he surely breathed a colossal sigh of relief when play came back for the flag because the Dragons were teetering on the brink. Had the Eels scored there I am fully convinced the Blue & Gold go on to complete the comeback. Hell, they might even have completed the process with interest the way they were pulling the Dragons apart.
That was the obvious flashpoint of the game but there were other key moments including an unfortunate offload from Zac Lomax. I am not too hung up on what transpired from there given Zac’s massive efforts through the contest and more so the fact the Eels handed the Dragons a game-winning platform in the first half.
The opening exchanges were the complete antithesis of what Parramatta have worked so hard to move beyond this year. Obviously the fact that we are still capable of producing such an insipid start (even accounting for our horrific personnel issues) is a fair concern but equally I don’t think it should be taken lightly that the team was able to quarantine that performance to the first half and find a way to battle back into the contest.
Credit to St George as well. They roared out of the bye with the best footy they have produced in a hot minute and also navigated a treacherous run on injuries in the game.
Unfortunately for Parramatta, they are set to lose a player immediately after producing a season best performance for the second game running. Hot off Will Penisini’s 3-game suspension against the Titans, Kelma Tuilagi finds himself in strife for a crusher tackle and is looking at a 3-game suspension of his own. How will Ryles cover this loss out of the bye? It will depend largely on who, if anyone, can make a recovery from the injury ward ahead of schedule but Jack Williams and Jordan Samrani are obvious solutions that spring to mind immediately.
That is a problem for Tuesday week though and in the meantime the Eels get a chance to heal up and load up for a massive game against Penrith after the bye.
NSW Cup
Parramatta Eels 36 defeat the St George Illawarra Dragons 22
In a stretch where they have every right to stumble and bumble their way to momentum-halting losses, the NSW Cup instead are elevating themselves. A week after fighting back against the Knights, the Eels have consolidated their position inside the Top 3 with an audacious and dominant victory against the 2nd seeded Dragons.
I have frequently shouted out Nathan Cayless for his efforts this year and arguably no other game deserves it more than this one. Besieged by injuries, suspensions and NRL promotions, Nathan’s playing list barely resembled the one he named a month ago and yet his players responded with a brilliant showing against the red-hot Red V.
A young trio of play-makers led the way with Apa Twidle, Matthew Hunter and Ronald Volkman all striking critical blows through the course of the game. Strong production from the starting forwards including, Wiremu Greig, Toni Mataele and young bucks Tyrese Lokeni and Saxon Pryke helped lay an excellent platform while Will Latu made a sharp difference from the interchange.
The Warriors are still the benchmark of the competition but the Eels have been seriously impressive in light of their situation in recent weeks. With plenty of young talent contributing to the surprise results and a host of key players to come back, Parramatta are well positioned heading into the back leg of the season.
Jersey Flegg Cup
St George Illawarra Dragons 64 defeat the Parramatta Eels 6
I rarely look to twist the knife in a tough loss when it comes to junior grades – including the Flegg. Fans and myself should always be keenly aware to the consideration that these are young men and women pursuing their dreams and need not be burdened by the complaints of the fan base.
As a team though, the Eels were putrid on the weekend as they were routed off the the field by the Dragons. It was the culmination of a 3-game stretch where mounting error tolls and defensive lapses hit a critical threshold and St George gleefully obliged with an unhinged scoring spree against Parramatta.
Are the fresh faces and combinations to blame? Are the Eels just in a midseason slump? I don’t have the answers for my dear readers but Jordan Rankin will need to figure it out and fast lest a growing run of losses derail the brilliant work done by the team earlier this season.
I don’t have enough “Da Silva minutes” clocked to have an informed opinion on the signing. 2 weeks ago I would have been all in, believing in Ryles, but after the (imo) lack of judgement in the JDB signing, and the over reach and failures of MON, I am not immediately jumping for joy. The fourth year sounds like it was the bump needed to get over the line. Will it be worth it, time will tell.
Da Silva is only moving for a starting spot so I don’t know what the message to Smith is.
As for Saturday. If we are looking to one decision made by a touchie, we’re not addressing the issues that found the team down by 22 points.
But to the decision, the touchie saw a foot on the sideline and put his flag up. He did his job. If the roles were reversed, that is what we (eels fans), would be saying, we wouldn’t be making excuses.
And I quote:
“That was the obvious flashpoint of the game but there were other key moments including an unfortunate offload from Zac Lomax. I am not too hung up on what transpired from there given Zac’s massive efforts through the contest and more so the fact the Eels handed the Dragons a game-winning platform in the first half.
The opening exchanges were the complete antithesis of what Parramatta have worked so hard to move beyond this year. Obviously the fact that we are still capable of producing such an insipid start (even accounting for our horrific personnel issues) is a fair concern but equally I don’t think it should be taken lightly that the team was able to quarantine that performance to the first half and find a way to battle back into the contest.”
Not talking about the obvious flash point from this game would equally draw criticism. At no point did I excuse our terrible first half. Careful readers will even note I labeled the effort tantamount to handing the Dragons a game-winning platform.
No one is pretending the first half didn’t cripple our odds of winning. That should be balanced by consideration that the Eels go on to win if the touch judge doesn’t raise that flag. The Dragons were reeling and Parramatta were roaring. You can bet your bottom dollar that fans of the 16 other franchises would be hung up on that call as well.
Sorry. I was probably more leveraging the multiple paragraphs on the one moment, with the general gripes with the officials that were made by your followers in the post game instant reaction.
In fairness, should have acknowledged your other points. (though i think some people are pretending the first half didn’t happen).
Fair. We (both myself and fans in general) can get too hung up on rough calls for sure and I do think that the JAC call was pivotal in the game. But it was only pivotal because of the diabolical first half.
You never like to see the team lapse back the way it did to start this game. Shows there is plenty of room to improve still because even accounting for unavailable players, the lack of resolve in defence just wasn’t acceptable.
Spot on as usual John
BA, have you watched the JAC replays? The touchie’s eyes are not on the foot, he is reacting to Corey Allan’s legs suddenly in his path. That’s the visual evidence, nobody is making that up. But, as you suggest ‘decision made, that’s it’.
BDon – I went to the trouble of rewatching right now since you made that comment. As you watch the slow motion replay, you have never (and i mean ever) seen a touch judges eyes more focused on a players feet and the touch line. Even with the sprawling defender, his eyes do not move. Sorry. Maybe re-watch it (1:52:30 on the Kayo replay).
Yep, the KAYO replay confirms the touchie paying attention. I read an article pointing to the touchie’s gaze when the foot had hit the ground, a still shot supported it but once the touchie decided ‘out’ it didnt matter if he was looking at the clouds.
Who said he’s moving for a starting spot. The story coming out is that he was happy to stay at the Tigers and come off the bench behind Api, but Benji couldn’t give him any kind of vision on how he intended to use him going forward and JR did. He would’ve been perfectly aware that Riley Smith was here and going really well, so at the least he wouldn’t have been guaranteed a starting spot. I suspect he’ll come here and JR will use them the same way Bellamy used Brandon Smith & Harry Grant.
Our game is 80 minutes not the 40 minutes the team decided to participate in. Young Mr Da Silva better have the talent to match the hype and the paycheck. I can only imagine what our young hookers especially Smith are thinking about their future prospects. Some may see it as a kick in the teeth.
The reality of the current NRL metagame is that most teams run two genuine dummy-halves. The ruck is too fast in the six-again era – especially when you are on the end of less than generous officiating interpretations. That is literally in line with the point you are leveraging against the team about playing 40-minutes.
Ryley and the other dummy-half prospects should be thinking the same thing middle forward prospects were thinking when we added Dylan Walker and halves prospects were thinking when we nearly snared Lachlan Galvin…this spot isn’t going to be handed to me. I am going to have to fight my way into first grade.
Competition drives success, iron sharpens iron and you can certainly get the balance wrong but if they take it as a personal affront that Ryles is keen to add talent and competition to the squad then arguably they aren’t built to haul the Eels off the bottom of the ladder.
Now, that said, that is a huge bow to draw for Ryley and to this day he has done nothing but step up in the face of a challenge. I expect him to do more of the same here and forge a dynamic pairing through the ruck.
Nice assembly of cliches. Now let’s see what happens in reality.
I don’t know what to tell you but sporting cliches exist for a reason. If you don’t like them you are on the wrong site and probably following the wrong code.
If you would like to take the time to refute anything I have said then feel free but don’t whinge about the team and signings and then get uppity when I offer you a response.
Well said John!
Forty, thanks for your concern, but I’m quite happy and content.
Spot on John I think us and most fans sometimes forget how other clubs are ran
We’ve only had one truly good player for each position more or less for many years
No teams who consistently fight for the title only have one good dummy half or one good organising half back
We didn’t have a complete roster in years past, it was unbalanced
Ryley smith will not be able to play 80 mins every week and play every game all season
Everyone complains about Lussick but then wondered why TDS was signed
The reality is the eels need two genuinely good dummy halves with good upside not only for depth purposes but as John mentioned Iron sharpens iron
Remember that year Reed got injured in the finals and Ray stone had to play hooker? Nerves got to him and he make stupid mistakes
You need realistically 3 hookers in your top 30 who can fill in at NRL level whilst remaining competitive
Hands is likely on the way out if even Papalii is getting more opportunities at hooker
And Lussick might end up gone after this year as well potentially
API K at tigers is a top 3 hooker who can play 80 mins or close to it and TDS is blocked from even fighting for a starting spot
At parra if TDS ends up better than Smith then he sees it likely as his shot to be a regular starting 9 – and this alone will push our dummy halves to reach new heights
It’s a win all round and we don’t know how smith will pan out long term (injury’s, form, burnout), and TDS has huge upside potential where’s Hands and Lussick evidently do not have much upside in the eyes of the coaching staff
It’s a big W for the eels this signing – you ultimately have to pay extra to go after players with potential, the only time you pay unders is if they have no NRL experience, or other clubs see them as average players
I sincerely hope we haven’t spent 600k on da Silva. Very risky outlay of money and 4 year contract if so. I doubt Owen pattie is demanding that and seems a better prospect. But we will find out price sooner or later
Him and ryley will be an interesting duo. Wonder how the bench shapes up when everyone is fit – da Silva, Walker, tuivati and one spot for players to fight it out but probably moretti?
Let’s wait and see on the contract figures. We have singular report at the moment that has no breakdown of structure or potential incentives.
I am very much aware there is a real chance the Eels have paid overs here. Da Silva had a strong market between interest from Parramatta, Manly, Newcastle and North Queensland and that would given him leverage. He also has excellent junior representative pedigree and is a talent you are willing to gamble on to a pretty fair extent.
Unfortunately, there is also a use-it-or-lose-it element to the NRL salary cap. In the NFL you can roll over huge portions of open cap space on the provision they spend 95% of their maximum cap space over a 5-year window. In the NRL you can roll over 5% of your cap annually. Our war chest has rather awkwardly aligned with a pretty sparse class of free agents. At some point you need to pull the trigger and evidently Da Silva is a talent Ryles deemed worthy of that risk.
I think we already have the best young hooker in the competition but he can’t be expected to sustain the workrate he puts in all year without a suitable backup.
I just watched bits of second the half of the Tigers / Manly game. I didn’t see anything earth shattering from Da Silva. He put in a terrible kick and threw a shocker of a pass to surrender possession. Plenty of tackles though and in a more disciplined side might turn out ok.
Lussick was caught out at least twice that led to tries so it’s inevitable we need speed in the dummy half.
Notwithstanding the absence of Penisini, the backline defence was atrocious in the first half.
Samrani was all at sea multiple times as was Russell once, although the problem seemed to start inside them. Both Lomax and Addo-Carr came off their wings.
We need a Junior clone and a centre with the steel of a Holmes.
Round 17 was a pretty poor indication of Da Silva’s talents. With the benefit of knowledge we now have, it was pretty clear he had checked out of the Tigers. Is that a good look? No but he is far from the first player to do so. His talents are a good foil to those of Ryley. The spark plug attacking threat to Smith’s relentless and industrious work.
Our edge defence was porous against the Dragons, no doubt. Generally our defensive structures have been really good in the last two months and defensive breakdowns have come from individual failures. For whatever reason we were significantly off kilter in the first half. Hopefully an aberration.
Our middle was porous without Ryley there. Hopefully they put plenty of work into TDS defensive attributes.
Ryley does a truckload of clean up work for the big boys. Da Silva is a sharp attacking threat around the ruck but I do agree that the coaching staff will likely work hard with him through this year and beyond on tightening up in defence.
Surely Ryles would have spoken to both Smith and Silva outlining their roles within the team. All reports suggested that Silve was blocked by Api, and he wanted a starting position, I can’t see it happening here, Smith would be your starter with Silva on the bench. Brings back memories of Drew and PJ Marsh. I think in today’s game you need a 2 hooker rotation. Smith has just extended and Silva must be happy with Ryles plans, otherwise he was a near certainty to be a starting 9 at both Manly and NQ.
Under Ryles the juniors have been some of our most consistent performers with obvious improvement throughout the year. Wouldn’t be surprised if this played a key role in getting Da Silva over the line. Great to see.
Honestly, who cares about the $$$ for the new hooker. Just about everyone blew up because we didn’t offer mega $$$ to keep Mahoney. Not one of us sitting in the grandstand knows our salary cap situation, and many other things about our R&R. The Ryles era is something to be excited about. The team is really a joy to watch. Well, they are for me.
Wild to me that so many people are complaining that when other clubs want a player we have no chance and then when we sign a player that was in hot pursuit by at least 4 other teams they then start complaining about the signing.
Well said. I might add Da Silva comes with the added bonus of being a recognised, and good, goal kicker.
Sorry just don’t see anything in TDS. Happy to be proven wrong.
Neither but ryles does so I suppose we have to trust his judgment based on his prior recruitment being pretty good
Finally the press are starting to focus on Mark O’Neill. We get rid of him and the Ryles era is looking very good. Just need a big recruitment manager and I can smell a premiership in the next 3 years.
I don’t understand how people can question if we paid overs for de Silva , if we did it’s a marginal amount as he was wanted by 4 clubs, those that whinge we’ve paid to much will complain when we have a $300k hooker that’s dog average, you do not compete in September with average players
Haven’t really seen Da Silva play so can’t comment too much. However, four clubs were after him, according to reporting, Tigers said they would like him to stay, and numerous rugby league journos say he has talent. – for what their opinions are worth. So I will wait and see how it goes.
The addition of, hopefully, a decent hooker is needed. Young Smith is starting to get banged up a bit, as to be expected in his first year. Hands and Lussick both have some downsides so we’ve got someone who was on the market. I’ve read Richardson say Da Silva was in too much coin to be in reserve grade because Api plays 80 minutes so they reluctantly agreed to let him go.
I hope, and trust, Ryles and other coaches have spoken to Smith before the signing to let him know this is how we are planned on using you two together. Basic player ego management. As others have said, a bit of competition for spots doesn’t go astray either.
Hopefully there is a lot of upside to this over the next few weeks.
I was surprised by the signing of TDS. He is a very talented 20 year old with over 20 NRL games in the bank, most from the bench. He is a one two punch with SMITH. I think they will be a great team together. What they offer is a point of difference and a Threat. TDS has a good running game and is a strong defender. We all know how good SMITH is. I think it is becoming obvious that todays game is about ball movement, dominating tackles 1-2 and completing high. Both SMITH and TDS are terriers from the middle who put pressure on dummy halfs and kickers. If we can start winning tackles 1-2 every set we will go a long way to being competitive making best use of our talented players like Lomas, JAC, Iongi etc.
We are moving forward and we are evolving . Good signs I think.
Will Ryles use both hookers, say 40mins each or 60/40?
I was shocked we brought TDS as Smith has been hands down buy of the year.
Ryles adding quality depth and competition for spots. New era!
But it isn’t a competition for spots. Da Silva made it clear he didn’t want to play behind Api, so he certainly isn’t coming to Parra to play behind a rookie.