Ever have something go catastrophically wrong with a computer and you just get spammed with Windows error messages as a program or process goes haywire? That was the Parramatta Eels this weekend as error piled onto error onto error across the NRL, NRLW and Jersey Flegg. The NSW Cup were apparently safely running in a virtual machine on the same system because they avoided the the same issue thankfully.

Yep, a fun edition of The Weekend Wrap this is not as the Eels bagged just the solitary victory across five grades but we are Parramatta fans and we persevere. Let’s see if we can do some debugging and maybe keep an eye out for a hotfix or two down the path.

NRL

Penrith Panthers 32 defeat the Parramatta Eels 10

As always, Sixties and myself broke down our thoughts on the game immediately in the wake of the loss. I do encourage everyone to have a listen or watch this week because the approach and philosophy of Jason Ryles in this game drew hugely polarised responses from myself and Sixties. Equally, I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on the theory of prioritising development for 2026 over immediate results for the remainder of this season.

Errors was the big theme of this game though. Errors from the Eels and errors from the officials but mostly error from the Eels. Parramatta jumped out of the gates looking to be fast and physical, probing the Penrith defensive line with rapid shifts of the ball looking to constantly change the point of attack. It had the Panthers on the cusp of breaking throughout the first half but every time the Eels had their Western Sydney rivals teetering they came up with an error or an errant pass.

Of course, Penrith are too much of a class outfit to be turning the ball over with such reckless abandon and they got to task making the Eels pay as they, in albeit controversial circumstances, snatched a 12-10 lead ahead of half time. Penrith were on top from that point – although there was significant swing midway through the second stanza when Zac Lomax grassed a pass from Isaiah Iongi with the try line wide open. That sequence led to Paul Alamoti scoring two plays later and the reigning premiers taking a stranglehold on the contest.

Lomax looked a fatigued figure and that tracks given his monstrous workload for the Eels and Blues across the season thus far. A number of uncharacteristic defensive errors punctuated his night against Penrith with Thomas Jenkins getting the better of him through the game. Even still, Zac pumped out 202m with relentless work off-the-ball with his kick chases and also nabbed a try care of some unbelievable work from Bailey Simonsson.

Speaking of Bailey, welcome back to first grade Mr Simonsson. His otherworldly backhand flick try assist was undoubtedly the highlight reel moment of his game but he asked plenty of questions with his willing ruck work and offloads. He spearheaded a trio of new and/or returning faces with Sam Tuivaiti and Tallyn Da Silva also making noted contributions from the bench.

Beyond the result, the two major story lines to monitor out of Sunday focus of Joash Papalii and Kitione Kautoga. 

Ryles has officially dubbed Joash his five-eighth moving forwards with Dylan Brown accommodating the call by flexing his playing role to dummy-half this week and who knows beyond. Much like his bold, assertive preseason calls on the roster – this is a move driven by pragmatic football thought from Ryles. Brown’s future lies with Newcastle while Papalii has recommitted to the Eels long term.

The coach is clearly willing to take lumps for the player and the team now if it means improving our prospects for next year. If the Eels were vying seriously for the Top 8, I could lend credence to favouring Dylan over Joash but I commend the coach for biting the bullet and not chasing a fever dream chance of making the finals.

Will Joash have his struggles learning on the job in the remaining eight games this year? Absolutely. Realistically, will it only provide a modest boost to his development heading into the preseason? Quite possibly. Conversely, how many games have the Eels lost this year where they could have flipped the result if they were 5% better? Even 3%? Small margins add up quickly in rugby league which is why I am okay with aiming to make us even a smidgen better for 2026 in the present.

Ideally, Joash will partner Mitchell Moses as early as Round 21 against the Brisbane Broncos and that would be our first proper evaluation of the young talent as a front-line play maker.

Unfortunately for Kautoga it is now a wait for scans on his ankle after he was the victim of a hip drop tackle (that only drew a 1 game suspension by the by). Kitione has been on a tear through the midseason and has emerged as a legitimate weapon for the Eels on the left edge. In an ideal world he only misses a game or two but given our luck I am preparing for a much longer stint on the sidelines.

NRLW

New Zealand Warriors 14 defeat the Parramatta Eels 0

What a miserable, wretched away trip for the NRLW. Their follow-up effort to a stunning victory over the Sharks was alas some of their worst footy in a long time with the entire team seemingly leaving their game preparation in customs. Dropped ball, terrible passing and lax defence were on display throughout the game against the Warriors as the Eels also struggled with the slippery surface. At times it looked like Parramatta were playing on ice and it is purely speculative but perhaps a poor choice of boots contributed to the lack of traction with players potentially needed longer blades or studs to bite into the greasy Mt Smart turf.

This is a result that needs to be torched in napalm, have its ashes dissolved in fluoroantimonic acid and then have the leftovers get jettisoned into a black hole.

Hyperbolic? No doubt but the girls do need to purge their Round 2 struggles from the mind and quickly lock in on their Round 3 opponents in the Canberra Raiders.

NSW Cup

Parramatta Eels 26 defeat the Penrith Panthers 20

The lone victors of the weekend. For that we salute the NSW Cup after they fought off the Panthers to secure a 6-point win to keep themselves entrenched in 3rd place on the ladder. Penrith through plenty at the Eels in the final moments but Parramatta held on grimly for the win.

Matthew Hunter opened the scoring in the 5th minute as he continues to play a hot-hand in reserve grade. He would go on to lace a lovely grubber kick for Jordan Samrani to score later in the first half as well and while there is still work to be done for the young half in defence – his time in Cup this year has been nothing but highly encouraging.

It was a good day for returning players to the grade actually. On top of Samrani scoring, Richard Penisini and Jake Tago also featured on the scorer’s sheet with key tries with both backs returning from injury layoffs.

There are more reinforcements on the horizon for the NSW Cup and it will really interesting to see how Nathan Cayless juggles his roster in the run to the finals.

Harvey Normans Women’s Premiership

Illawarra Steelers 22 defeat the Parramatta Eels 12

The one game I wasn’t able to watch this week but the tale of the tape reads a tragic finale. Two late tries to the Steelers in the final 5-minutes of the contest broke a 12-all deadlock. It consigns the Eels to a 0-2 start for a very young squad that doesn’t tell the full story given that has these girls have shown hey can hang with both Cronulla and Illawarra.

Jersey Flegg Cup

Penrith Panthers 40 defeat the Parramatta Eels 16

42% possession and 62% completion rate tell you everything you need to know about this one. The Eels struggled to hold onto the ball and the Panthers were more than happy to take the freebies sent their way as they routed Parramatta at Kellyville.

I was hopeful that the victory against the Roosters was the tonic that cleared out Parramatta’s recent struggles but that does not seem to be the case. Jordan Rankin and his young troops need to find a way to hit the reset switch – and soon. The good news is that the Eels still have a tight grip on 5th place with a reasonable buffer to the chasing teams. With that said, making up numbers in the finals is no where near what this squad is capable of and they need to find a way back to their best footy.

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