NRL Team List
Round 21, Friday 8:00PM, Suncorp Stadium
Oh you dared to have a glimmer of hope? You selfish fool that dreamed of a Mitchell Moses return with out the grim reaper taking his due? Take his due he has with Isaiah Iongi fracturing his hand/wrist against the Canberra Raiders and undergoing corrective surgery that will essentially end his season. It is a particularly spiteful blow from the footy gods with the injury likely to cost Iongi a bid at Rookie Of The Year honours at the Dally Ms later this year given how hotly contested the field is in 2025.
So yeah, Moses returns this week but any hopes of pairing him with Joash Papalii have been dashed with Jason Ryles flexing his young talent to fullback and sliding Dean Hawkins into five-eighth for the mean time. Will Penisini returns from suspension straight back into right centre with Bailey Simonsson making way. Ryles rewarding the consistent form of Sean Russell shouldn’t really come as a surprise and either way he went with his decision it was going to be a rough call on the player that lost out.
The final major change to the team comes in the return of Luca Moretti. It is a big addition to the bench rotation and I look forward to his work with Sam Tuivaiti. Jordan Samrani drops out of the team to facilitate Moretti’s return.
The big question this week is clearly whether Ryles made the right call to shift Papalii to fullback. Joash is without a doubt the second best fullback inside Parramatta’s Top 30 and conceivably you could work towards an argument that he still gets meaningful play-maker opportunities in this capacity. Certainly, I would argue it is better for the team balance in the present but should the coach have slotted Zac Lomax, Josh Addo-Carr or Bailey Simonsson into the #1 and kept Papalii at five-eighth? I can see this eliciting polarising responses and I am keen to see everyone’s thoughts on the matter.
There was some big roster news that also emerged today that I will cover later tonight in the News podcast.
Don’t forget that Sixties and myself are hosting a watch party for this game at Sterlos in Parramatta Leagues Club. Get there from 7:00PM for the pre-game show and the chance to nab some giveaways and meet some of TCT’s community!
| Parramatta Eels | Brisbane Broncos | |
| Joash Papalii | 1 | Reece Walsh |
| Zac Lomax | 2 | Josiah Karapani |
| Will Penisini | 3 | Kotoni Staggs |
| Sean Russell | 4 | Gehamat Shibsaki |
| Josh Addo-Carr | 5 | Jesse Arthars |
| Dean Hawkins | 6 | Ezra Mam |
| Mitchell Moses | 7 | Adam Reynolds |
| J’maine Hopgood | 8 | Xavier Willison |
| Ryley Smith | 9 | Ben Hunt |
| Junior Paulo | 10 | Payne Haas |
| Charlie Guymer | 11 | Brendan Piakura |
| Jack Williams | 12 | Jordan Riki |
| Dylan Walker | 13 | Patrick Carrigan |
| Interchange | ||
| Tallyn Da Silva | 14 | Billy Walters |
| Luca Moretti | 15 | Kobe Hetherington |
| Matt Doorey | 16 | Corey Jensen |
| Sam Tuivaiti | 17 | Jack Gosiewski |
| Reserves | ||
| Dan Keir | 18 | Tyson Smoothy |
| Jordan Samrani | 19 | Deine Mariner |
| Bailey Simonsson | 20 | Selwyn Cobbo |
| Toni Mataele | 21 | Ben Talty |
| Dylan Brown | 22 | Jaiyden Hunt |
NRL Injury Report
| Isaiah Iongi | Wrist | 4-6 weeks |
| Kitione Kautoga | Ankle syndesmosis injury | 8 weeks |
NRLW Team List
Round 4, Sunday 12:00PM, Eric Tweedale Stadium
It is good news for the NRLW at least with Steve Georgallis given the incredibly rare luxury as a Parramatta coach to select an unchanged winning roster. The Eels were sensational against the Canberra Raiders on Saturday and it was always going to be a shock to see an unenforced change.
Their extended roster has taken hit with Rysh’e Fa’amausili landing on the injury report with a neck issue. Parramatta’s depth in the forwards remains perilously low as a result but Boss Kapua, Kennedy Cherrington and Tyla Amiatu are due back in the coming weeks. It could have been a disaster for the Blue & Gold in a parallel time line but rookies and new recruits have really picked up the slack and for that I salute the likes of Ryvvr-Lee Alo, Tess McWilliams and Paige Travis.
| Parramatta Eels | Newcastle Knights | |
| Abbi Church | 1 | Botille Vette-Welsh |
| Zali Fay | 2 | Sheridan Gallagher |
| Rory Owen | 3 | Shanice Parker |
| Lindsay Tui | 4 | Tenika willison |
| Martha Mataele | 5 | Tess Staines |
| Cassey Tohi-Hiku | 6 | Georgia Roche |
| Rachael Pearson | 7 | Jesse Southwell |
| Elsie Albert | 8 | Tayla Prebedon |
| Rueben Cherrington | 9 | Olivia Higgins |
| Breanna Eales | 10 | Tiana Davison |
| Chloe Jackson | 11 | Evah McEwen |
| Mahalia Murphy | 12 | Yasmin Clydesdale |
| Ryvvr-Lee Alo | 13 | Kayla Romaniuk |
| Interchange | ||
| Taneka Todhunter | 14 | Jules Kirkpatrick |
| Paige Travis | 15 | Simone Karpani |
| Tess McWilliams | 16 | Sienna Yeo |
| Fleur Ginn | 17 | Grace Kukutai |
| Reserves | ||
| Rosemarie Beckett | 18 | Evie Jones |
| Ruby-Jean Kennard-Ellis | 19 | Lilly-Ann White |
| Jessica Kennedy | 20 | Joeli Morris |
| Yasmine Baker | 21 | Viena Tinao |
| Chelsea Makira | 22 | Keighley Simpson |
NRLW Injury Report
| Kennedy Cherrington | PCL tear | Round 6 |
| Tyla Amiatu | Hamstring strain | Round 7 |
| Boss Kapua | Fibula fracture | Round 4 |
| Mia Middleton | Facial injury | TBA |
| Rysh’e Fa’amausili | Neck injury | TBA |
NSW Cup Team List
BYE
Harvey Normans Women’s Premiership Team List
Round 4, Sunday 2:30PM, Eric Tweedale Stadium
| 1 | Ella Carlisle |
| 2 | Paige Knapp |
| 3 | Josephine Lenaz |
| 4 | Kiana Takairangi |
| 5 | Caitlin Peadon |
| 6 | Matisse Bettridge |
| 7 | Aaliyah Soufan |
| 8 | Taylah Falaniko |
| 9 | Chelsea Makira |
| 10 | Armani-Lea Auvae |
| 11 | Jessica Kennedy |
| 12 | Fontayne Tufuga |
| 13 | Ashlee Pottinger |
| Interchange | |
| 14 | Ava Jones |
| 15 | Kyliah Gray |
| 16 | Alana O’Loughlin |
| 17 | Matoisha Kalepo |
Jersey Flegg Cup Team List
BYE
Sorry to see another injury.
It’s been virtually impossible to get our best 17 this year.
Matto off to superleague for remainder of 2025. Hopefully picks up something for 2026. It’s emblematic of how poorly our squad was arranged. The types of players signed to long deals is just farcical and it’s cost the club not just financially.
Joash to fullback seems a natural selection. Hopefully Dean can tackle this week.
Looking forward to Moretti and Tuivaiti and an improved Hopgood.
Best bench rotation I think I’ve seen for the boys all year, especially with dooreys punch in his runs being more noticeable lately.
The Joash move to 1 makes sense to me and I think if Iongi was injured next year you’d probably see the same thing with Hawkins/Volkman going to 6 rather then Twidle going to fullback.
Terrible luck for Iongi and a shame from a rookie of the year perspective. He certainly blew my expectations out of the water. The silver lining (which is limited) is that he’s played what 17 full NRL games. That’s a pretty big toll on a rookies body, so rest up kid.
To the rest of the selections – I am totally baffled.
Russell can’t keep his spot. He just can’t. He can’t time a simple inside pass. We’ve seen him stuff it up time after time. He can’t out run anyone. He can’t position JAC at all. Ryles has seen it. We all have. I am not a huge Simonson fan, but surely you have to see what you have because if you intend on competing for finals football next year, Sean Russell can not be your starting centre.
And if you want to see what you have in your outside backs, you can’t play Hawkins at 6! Ok Brown has been pretty average this year but his best footy is with Mitch and for as little as he has offered he can at least give your outside backs something. Unless he has completely quit on training and has a terrible attitude, I am completely befuddled.
They said. Joash isn’t the next best option at fullback. He just isn’t. And he isn’t going to be your fullback next year. You picked him at 6 the last 2 weeks, why are you abandoning that plan already?! Iongi is done for 25.. Stick Lomax back there because you know what you have in him, leave Joash at 6 and get on with working this roster out for 2026 and beyond.
BA, last para, had that same thought. And with Brown we get his defence in the face of a strong Broncos pack.
The eels are pretty cool and Mitchell Moses is my goat❤️