Full congratulations are in order for the NRL, who has outdone itself in ensuring both Eels v Panthers clashes in 2025 are impacted by State of Origin. Just brilliant planning right there For as long as I can remember the NRL draw has channeled various levels of farce regarding fairness and balance, but taking a shotgun right to its toes by compromising what have been some of the most entertaining rivalry matches in recent seasons, that’s special.
We already know several Panthers stars won’t be backing up, though at time of writing the status of Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo was still unknown. The Eels are already missing Mitchell Moses thanks to an Origin training injury, but Zac Lomax looks likely to play. That should bode well for the Eels’ chances, but Penrith did a number on the Warriors when similarly understrength a couple of weeks ago, and Parramatta like nothing more than taking a team lightly when given the slightest opportunity to, even when they are the four time defending premiers.
It’s not going to be an easy one to preview, but let’s do our best. Here we go!
Game Info
Date: Sunday, July 13, 2025
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Parramatta
Kick-off: 4:05PM AEST
Referee: Peter Gough
Bunker: Grant Atkins
Weather: Mild, dry
Broadcast: Nine, Fox League, Kayo
Sixties Gol Speculates (Odds quoted are NSW TAB)
My run on the punting tip never ends well for anybody but the bookie, but let’s take a shot. Even with a nice day and a couple of recent big scoring matches, this one is feeling like an unders kind of game to me. The 44.5 line seems generous, so getting on that at $1.90 isn’t a terrible option. I also don’t mind the Eels with the +8.5 start, I’d expect we can keep it close. You can get the two combined (Eels +9.5, total under 44.5) for $3.20.
But as always, keep it fun.
Happy, responsible punting everyone.
Sixties
Teams
Parramatta Eels
1. Isaiah Iongi 2. Zac Lomax 3. Jordan Samrani 4. Sean Russell 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Dylan Brown 7. Dean Hawkins 8. Jack Williams 9. Joey Lussick 10. Junior Paulo 11. Charlie Guymer 12. Kitione Kautoga 13. J’maine Hopgood. 14. Tallyn Da Silva 15. Dylan Walker 16. Matt Doorey 17. Sam Tuivaiti. 21. Bailey Simonsson 22. Joash Papalii.
Jordan Samrani is again replacing the suspended Will Penisini, though Bailey Simonsson played Cup last week and looms on the extended bench as a potential late in. Samrani has been solid, but a specialist in Simonsson would be an improvement on both sides of the ball.
In the pack, Charlie Guymer moves to starting back rower for the suspended Kelma Tuilagi, while Joey Lussick retains his starting hooker spot filling in for Ryley Smith. Mid-season recruit Tallyn Da Silva is immediately added to the bench, pushing Joash Papalii to the reserves. Sam Tuivaiti also makes his return from injury on the bench, and will undoubtedly get more minutes than the zero given to the man he replaces, Guymer.
Guymer’s presence in the starting side measured against his usage this year screams to me late changes, maybe Williams shifts to the edge and Tuivaiti starts. Rumours persist that Papalii will find himself into the side as well, but it would require a significant reshuffle for that to happen so I’ll believe it when I see it.
Penrith Panthers
1. Daine Laurie 2. Thomas Jenkins 3. Izack Tago 4. Casey McLean 5. Paul Alamoti 6. Blaize Talagi 7. Brad Schneider 8. Moses Leota 9. Mitch Kenny 10. Lindsay Smith 11. Luke Garner 12. Isaiah Papali’i 13. Matthew Eisenhuth. 14. Jack Cole 15. Liam Henry 16. Luron Patea 17. Mavrik Geyer. 19. Nathan Cleary 23. Isaah Yeo.
The Panthers named all of their Origin stars on the extended bench, with Dylan Edwards, Brian To’o and Liam Martin already dropping off while Cleary and Yeo linger but aren’t promoted to the starting side just yet. The rumour mill suggested a bench start for both, which makes sense for Yeo but the only scenario I can see it working for Cleary is if he is kept as a “break glass in case of emergency” option if the Eels pull ahead.
The Panthers traditionally struggle without Yeo and/or Edwards, though the big win in New Zealand a few weeks ago suggests they’ve learned to overcome those absences. Laurie, Schneider and Eisenhuth are experienced and capable replacements, making this one no guarantee even if Penrith are missing most of their spine.
Fire Up
We’ve missed you big man
That pitiful first half against the Dragons might have been it for me this season. Follow it up with New South Wales delivering the same level of malaise against a fired up Queensland side, and I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve such regularly deficient football sides. I must be missing something, but surely being fired up for important games and not getting run over for forty minutes by a team that simply wants it more isn’t that difficult.
Even an understrength Penrith side will come out all guns blazing and as a unit they’ve shown a remarkable ability to recover if the opposition do blitz them early. Parramatta need to be ruthless for the full eighty to get the job done here. Guys like Alamoti, Tago, Laurie, Eisenhuth and Henry love to lift when the pressure is on in situations like this, and while the Eels defensive grit has improved throughout the year, where gaps have been found it is usually when low effort or low energy play has been exploited. This Penrith team are specialists at capitalising on those opportunities.
The Eels found some success with early shifts and outside-in ball movement against Penrith a month ago, but didn’t sustain that play throughout the game as it degenerated into an arm wrestle the Panthers were always going to win. That same style of ambitious play torched the Titans and gave hopes of a comeback against the Dragons, so hopefully with a month of refinement and fresh off the bye the Eels can stick with it for longer periods this week. Getting dragged into Panther-ball is a sure way to lose this match, even if Jason Ryles has implemented a relatively solid facsimile of their “backs yardage, forwards defence” style.
Penrith are certainly going to employ what worked for the Dragons and occasionally the Titans, and rush the edge decision makers. Both halves will need to play short or behind the defensive line to adjust for the rush, something they have done well but with little reward on the short ball to back rowers, but rare are the occasions they use the speed of Josh Addo-Carr to kick behind defensive lines. The default has become the high ball to Lomax, a valid strategy no doubt, but NRL refereeing trends are allowing defenders to block and hinder those chases without penalty, so other options must be considered.
It’s an age-old officiating problem: nobody wants to be told they’ve ruined the game by red faced clowns on Fox Sports the next day. No matter how valid the penalties are, if every high kick was officiated to the letter of the law, there’d be a penalty on nearly every single contested catch. No ref is going to do that, so eventually you will start to get away with blocking more often than not, just like teams have got away with creeping on the ten metres, holding down in the ruck and throwing flat passes. Nothing gets the talking heads going more than a crackdown, but without consistent enforcement of the rules, behaviours will never change. Personally I’d sacrifice a few rounds of football to get the game officiated properly, but that’s just me. Until then, poor old Zac Lomax is going to be pushed, blocked, grabbed and generally obstructed every time we put a high ball up to his side.
The Game
Footy Dean has been one of our best the last month
This one is going to be tough. The Eels have had moments, and the style of footy they played for most of the last month should beat teams like the Dragons, unless they go and beat themselves. This game has “good effort that still isn’t enough” written all over it against the most professional and consistent side in the league. There’s only so many times I can say “if we played like this last game we’d have won easily” before my eyebrow starts to twitch and my neck throbs.
There’s just too many makeshift parts out there right now. The backline changes have made the improvements to defensive performance out wide all the more impressive, but there are still decisions made out there that betray the lack of experience these players have defending next to each other. The horrific lapses of middle defence constantly make games harder than they need to be and result in the Eels playing catch-up footy far too often.
This one is for the future. Tallyn Da Silva makes his debut and will almost certainly start his one-two combination with Ryley Smith next weekend, an indicator of the future of the rake role at the Eels. Maybe Joash Papalii finds himself in the side with another audition for the six role. Iongi looks better and better every week, and Kautoga has to lead the NRL for “man they only just stopped him” half breaks on the short ball on the edge.
It’s there to be won, but gee it will take an effort. Penrith flicked the switch against us a month ago and have looked their old selves ever since. It’ll be a good, tough test, but the memory of that Dragons game is too fresh in my mind to tip us. Now it is about moments for the future, and wins along the way are a bonus.
Go you Eels!
Prediction: Panthers 22 Eels 12
Man of the Match: Paul Alamoti
Gol
Tks Gol. Our last effort v Penrith wasn’t too bad considering we got off to an error then penalty debacle in the first few minutes, the sort of territory surrendering start that enables the Panthers to get straight into their groove where you’re starting sets in your 10 mtr zone and they from their 40. Not healthy v Panthers. High completions/low errors turbo charged Qld, keep our fingers crossed that the Eels can repeat that formula. All of our surprise wins over Penrith and Storm in recent times were achieved that way.
Interesting the word that Brown is the starting hooker and Papalii at 5/8th.
Ryles has the courage to experiment that I haven’t seen from a Parra coach in a long time.
Build a team this year that can perform well next year is all he has left after losing the last game.
This game will come down to who wants it more.
Congrats junior.
Go the Eels.
Good win coming today. The Eels played the Panthers into form and they are top eight certs. Parra has not played with a lot of luck but they keep trying. Talagi reckons the last time. we played them it was the hardest game he has ever played. He is a kid – what would he really know. There will be plenty in it but today is our turn. Gol’s score will be turned around.
The Eels by 6
Like that mate
After 30 mins…this is simple, stop making errors and very winnable.
I don’t believe it..watch Eisenhuth not play the ball correctly on 18 seconds (exactly same as JAC penalised) then Penrith score.
That was WAY WAY worse than Addo-Carr’s play-the-ball. I’m stunned.
I thought it was just me mate
Just watched a couple of times..it’s worse than JAC..ref looks like he looked away and missed it
Ryles cost us this game. Hawkins offers zero to this team other than kicking. Brown is a much better half. Lomax has been terrible and so has our errors. Terrible performance
Stop making excuses. We play like a schoolboy side trying to score off every play. Serious deficiencies in our roster and Mark O’Neill should be sacked. Geez we are embarrassing at times. Hopgood appears to be very unfit and needs conditioning. Doorey is an embarrassment in terms of his fitness levels. Perhaps he should do a hyrox or two because he can barely run. Pretending to be injured by that slap to the head ruins his credibility and tarnishes the game.
Iongi was simply brilliant. Aside from that, let’s just get to the end of the year and regroup and hopefully buy some standout players.
Mate your continual negative comments annoy me mate as soon as I see your name pop up it’s always negative. Can’t cop so called supperters like you. I thought for very much of the game we were the better side .but I agree with you next year we will be so much better. Very impressed the new hooker very slick. I think him and Smith will be a complete success. In the end we are all parramatta supporters
I don’t mind what you think about me, that’s ok we are all entitled to an opinion, albeit a realistic one.
The reality is that I am just a disgruntled diehard fan who has endured years of failure by the club. What other business would continue to employee a recruitment manager that brought substandard staff to the business year after year?
I must say, I am pleased with the direction Ryles is taking the team roster and can make out a glimmer of hope, but reasonable minds may accept that we played like schoolboys today (and most days this year).