Parramatta Eels 22
Brisbane Broncos 20
The Eels matched it with a determined Broncos side and were largely regarded as the better team in the first half, then in the battle of which side could drop their lollies after the break, the Eels held firm and Brisbane beat themselves. Even then it was a contest to the end, a fair indicator of where both sides are at this year, but this was a must win game for Brisbane, they threw plenty at it, and the Eels beat them with composure and with strategy. Poor Reece Walsh was so sick of running back at a line of Eels defenders that at one point he just didn’t bother and fell to the ground.
Getting to watch a performance like that with the TCT faithful at the leagues club was hands down my favourite Eels moment of 2025. It was like being there, and it knocked clear the deepening layer of cynicism I’d been growing about the Eels this year. Even games that don’t matter, do, because every now and then magic can happen.
The term “emotional rollercoaster” never met a better definition than the last minute of this contest, delivering hope, despair and finally relief in the space of one mistake and video referee review. There has to be easier ways to win a game than that.
Other than the final moments taking years off my life, there wasn’t any bad coming out of this win. A big upset victory, away from home, facing a tough injury toll? If you find anything bad coming out of that one, just give the game away.
I was very tempted to take the easy option in a strong performance where nobody truly stood out and give my man of the match award to the halfback, but if Jason Ryles has taught me anything it is that playing it safe ain’t the Blue and Gold style anymore. With that, I’m giving what is surely his first Grades MVP to Sean Russell, primarily because that try was a thing of beauty. The rest of his game was great too; he put Josh Addo-Carr into space and defended well, but that kick and regather, that’s a top highlight for 2025. You da MVP, Rusty.
Joash Papalii
1 – Fullback
If his entire match played out like his first run I’d have been learning Latin to find a letter higher than A, but thankfully for the laws of language Joash didn’t quite keep that pace up all match. He was excellent chiming into the line and offering an additional playmaking option, and let’s just say he’ll learn from almost choking the game away by fumbling a routine grubber kick under pressure. For 79 minutes, he was excellent. For that last one (and what it did to the poor hearts of Eels fans worldwide) I can’t give him higher than a B.
Josh Addo-Carr
5 – Left Wing
Good on the Foxx for crossing for his 150th, and given the way he is playing I’d love him getting a chance to crack whatever record Alex Johnston ends up setting. He continues to make big defensive plays and finds a way to get under the skin of the opposition every week, but I’d have expected him to get over given the space he had when Kotoni Staggs cleaned him up into touch.
Will Penisini
3 – Right Centre
A really nice return from suspension for Willy P, who continued the strong form he was showing in his last game before getting sat by the judiciary for the best part of a month. He showed slick hands to put Lomax away for his second, and that defensive edge looked a lot stronger than in recent weeks thanks to his presence.
Sean Russell
4 – Left Centre
How about the footy skills Rusty pulled out for that solo try? He had plenty to do after the Broncos committed the cardinal sin of football and let the ball bounce, but he summed things up nicely, got a perfect little kick away and was on the spot to clean it up and score. Given Russell’s form this week, Bailey Simonsson is going to be spending a bit more time playing in Cup I’d say, and even more surprisingly, I won’t be upset about it.
Zac Lomax
2 – Left Wing
We finally got to see Momax in action, though it wasn’t from a high ball contest but rather a pinpoint short kick into open space. He remains an excellent workhorse in yardage, but it’d be nice if he could knock a few of those mistakes out of his game too. Still, a confidence boosting effort after a tough month.
Dean Hawkins
6 – Five Eighth
It didn’t look like Footy Dean found his happy place in playing with Mitch Moses, with his most visible moment being the very unfortunate intercept that he really should have been able to hold on to. He missed a few tackles and was outshined by Joash when it came to playmaking, a bit of a concern given the numbers both were wearing here. I don’t like to be too critical in such a great win, but it was far from Dean’s best game in Blue and Gold.
Mitchell Moses
7 – Halfback
The Moses kicking game was on full show at Suncorp, from the perfectly weighted chip to Lomax for his try to towering bombs and relieving clearing kicks. The latter were backed up by some of the most impressive kick chases I’ve seen from an Eels side in some time. His tackling efficiency doesn’t look great, but for the controlling hand and calming influence Moses had on this side, he waltzes in with an A grade here.
J’maine Hopgood
8 – Front Row
It was tough sledding for all Parramatta middles in this one, but J’maine Man looked better than he has all year in running hard at the line, earning his occasional ballplaying opportunities. His 41 tackles without a miss is a beautiful stat for a guy that hasn’t always had the cleanest efficiency when working that hard. Lock and prop may barely be differentiated in the modern game, but the minutiae between the two roles is the difference between Hopgood looking great and looking lost.
Ryley Smith
9 – Hooker
Until kick pressures become a stat, poor old Ryley Smith is destined to never look too impressive on paper. Lucky that isn’t where the game is played, and those one percenters are increasingly being noticed and appreciated by the Blue and Gold army. His one kick was a beauty, he took a couple of probing runs and generally did what was asked.
Junior Paulo
10 – Front Row
Bloody tough work for Junior out there, taking 14 runs to crack 85 metres shows just how much the Broncos defence was keying in on the middles. Still, Junior continues to take on an immense workload and lead this side from the front, and those soft hands of his are a model for all other Eels middles to follow, just like George Costanza.
Charlie Guymer
11 – Second Row
Just like Hopgood is coming into his own with a jersey change, so too is Charlie Guymer showing new strings to his bow in being the last edge forward standing. He’s running with some real intent, working hard and showing crucial versatility that could place him in hot contention for a 2026 bench spot.
Jack Williams
12 – Second Row
I’ve always been hot for Jack Williams on the edge, and his efforts here did not disappoint. The Broncos defence did well a few times to shut him down; I see clean breaks and meat pies in his future if he keeps this up.
Dylan Walker
13 – Lock
Dylan Walker is another player that the stat sheet will never fully appreciate, but his skillset is the perfect encapsulation of the football Jason Ryles wants his team to play. The threat of his playmaking constantly gives him extra room to run, and he knows exactly when to just take those metres and when to push the action.
Tallyn Da Silva
14 – Interchange
Tallyn Da “De” Silva is still finding his Blue and Gold sea legs, missing more tackles than I’d like and occasionally taking the wrong option with his otherwise crisp service. Hard to be too critical of a guy so fresh that NRL.com still hasn’t got a shot of him in an Eels jersey, and the talent and potential are clearly there. Good things will come.
Matt Doorey
16 – Interchange
It has been a slow burn in 2025 for Matt Doorey, but he’s making every opportunity count. His first run was exactly what you want from an impact player; it looked like he’d been fired out of a rocket straight into tired defenders. If I’d just been tackling for 30 minutes then that came running at me, I’d be putting my hand up for a breather.
Luca Moretti
15 – Interchange
He didn’t get long out there, but gee is it good to have “Mongrel” Moretti back in the side. I’ll always have a spot in my heart for guys who look like they’re trying to hurt defenders while running the ball.
Sam Tuivaiti
18 – Interchange
A much better second up performance from big Sam, who got through plenty of work and held his own against a pack that was intent on making life difficult for the Parramatta middles. He was caught out on the unfortunate Hetherington try, but he’d been targeted all set by the Broncos runners and needed a bit more help from the inside than what he was given. The elite defensive sides will recognise when their teammates have gone multiple back to back efforts and cover accordingly, and we just aren’t quite there yet.
What a great game of footy. The gameplan was strong but more importantly the side was composed for the full 80, capitalising when Brisbane started to crumble in the second half. To have that game stolen from us at the death would have been a crime punishable by watching a full year of NRL 360, with Buzz and Crawley as the guests every episode. Thank goodness it didn’t come to that.
A few more bright efforts like that and I might just start getting very excited about season 2026. Heck, if we can back it up this week and give Melbourne a solid run I’ll probably go rummaging through injury reports to call our 2025 campaign “cruelled” (the Eels have used 32 players this year, two more than any other side so far). It hasn’t always been the most fun season for the Blue and Gold army, but that win made up for an awful lot of the year so far.
Until then, stay slippery, Eels fans.
Gol
Stats and images provided by NRL / Eels media
We deserved that win (players and fans alike!). I was distraught when Brisbane crossed in the dying seconds and turned the TV off before I could see the Brisbane players gloat – maybe I should just learn to put up with that, as that was clearly a mistake my end!
It’s interesting that we seem to have turned a corner this year when Walker came into the side. He is a calming influence on the team, and his experience shows every game, which rubs off onto the younger players. Add Moses kicking game and playmaking abilities, and you can see that we are much better now than the ladder position would tell you. The best part is that the rookies we have unearthed this season are learning very fast. I don’t know if many people would have expected them to play as well as they have this year. Good things are certainly possible next year, and I hope injuries will be kind to us for once. Looking forward to being a thorn in the side of a few top ranked teams that we will meet over the next month.
Tks Gol. I’m hoping Moretti can string together consistent game time to properly show his worth to the team. He has had a real stop/start time at the Eels. I had to chuckle when Todd Smith penalised him for offside when he pounced on a loose ball with intent, the replay showed our line a good 10mtrs and Moretti not leaving early…I thought ‘well Moretti’s luck is well overdue to change’.. hang in there man!
If you did t like that, wait until this Thursday. The Sutton bros again, I repeat, again, have an Eels game🤔
If you did NOT like that…..
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Easily the Eels best 80 minutes of the season, so i guess some embellishment on some grades is allowed.
It’s all personal preference but I thought Guymer was the best of the forwards, so i would have had his grading alongside Hopgood’s. If Hopgood develops into a Pat Carrigan style player, that will be great, and he has as good a mentor as possible in Ryles for that sort of role.
I didn’t see an A performance in Williams. Maybe i was giving credit to the other blondie in Guymer for some of his work.
Well documented that i am no fan of Russell. He had a great moment on the night which was nice. Doesn’t wash away all of his short comings and i don’t see the Eels as a top side if he remains our first choice centre.
Moses was brilliant. Must have been a hare’s breath off an A+ performance.
TDS still has a lot of work to do to live up to his own hype.
I look forward to seeing what everyone else see’s in Tuivaiti. I feel like he doesn’t realise how big and powerful he can be. I’d love for him to become NAS (without the discipline issues).
We really need to find a lock forward in the off season. Walker was decent playing 13 for the second week in a row, but he is so much more effective off the bench.
Joash.. Obviously lots of natural talent and a project for Ryles to work on with his coaching team. His miss on Hetherington was pretty ordinary and the Eels frontline defence protected him most of the night from Reynolds kicking game (which is out of sorts at the moment). With Iongi’s injury i’m more than happy to carry on the experiment and see what the kid has. A couple of tough games against the Storm and Roosters where he will have to play smart and learn, but a couple of games against the horror show defence of the Cows and Bunnies will give him a chance to maybe show his attacking skills.
I don’t get the denegrating of Russell including that by TCT, at least by innuendo. He has been very solid all year. He has been largely devoid of errors. You can’t say that for most of the team. He takes the hard runs and does so with intent. All aspects of his game are on the improve and he could well become a team mainstay.
That is the most joy I have had watching Parra for some time. There have been a large numbers of Ryles sceptics. I am not one of them and look forward to what’s in store with great optimism.
Sec 50, agree regarding Russell. He is whole hearted player on the improve. I thought Gol got it pretty right in his grades.
Ba sports for the first time in probably over ten years
We’ve loaded our roster & team with young players and prioritised youth
Brad never dared to bet for long periods of time on project young players who were green
It went like this: if you came in green / inexperienced and made a few errors or had one shocker
You got banished to NSW cup and then overlooked for sometimes multiple seasons, or were over looked for Snr players and rejects from other clubs who had low upside potential but were lesser risk starting 17 NRL players due to their experience
When people comment on “TDS hype” etc
Or Sam Tuivaiti not knowing his strength yet, or Ryley smith and Iongi or Joash making silly mistakes or bad decisions
These are players that are so inexperienced and green Brad (and most coaches) would hesitate to bet on these guys and leave them because of the short term roller coaster 🎢 while they learn first grade
We should actually be happy players are nowhere near the finished product, because for years we bet on other clubs rejects and prioritised seniors who often had a guaranteed downtrend shortly ahead of them (which is why we ended up playing in a spoon bowl).
If we cannot and will not win the comp trying to play and build teams the old way we did it…
Then we must look at this parramatta side like having a few juvenile great white sharks 🦈 BUT will reach full maturity in the next 4 seasons
We do not have the club power or recent success to buy or attract elite talent that’s already elite without paying overs (or buying rejects)
The way Jason’s doing it is the only way we will potentially have an elite team in the coming years
If guys like TDS, Iongi, Papalii or Ryley smith and Tuivaiti were at their peak or fully ready now for NRL to dominate
We either would not even have them come to our club to start with, or would of left for better opportunities and more money & 3rd party deals
We haven’t won the comp in almost 40 years – so the only chance Jason’s got to crack a comp is to bet on these young Jnrs like nobody else can or would
And hope that he can install loyalty and good coaching into some of them, in the hopes we can retain most of them by the time they become elite in the next 3-5 seasons (NRL prime years / age range)
Guys like TDS and Joash or even Sam Tuivaiti might be still 5 seasons away from being in talks of being fully polished top tier NRL players
It might be a slow burn at parramatta because our players are SO young & green, but I would much rather this so that we likely actually see our club become elite again by taking this long term approach, and a “youth first / future is now” approach
We’ve failed as a club for far too long, our coaches often chased immediate wins and immediate success
We definitely didn’t prioritise Jnrs or excel at transitioning them into first grade
What Jason’s already shown so far is he can take young elite (and even just average / decent) players and make them play in first grade following the systems
The other factor is our coaches will likely have a lot of upside / learning & growth potential, being new coaches in their roles
There’s a lot of different moving parts here and unlike in the past, most of the people involved in the club now have their best days AHEAD of them, not behind, both from a coaching perspective and in regards to our roster and jnr development (lower grades thriving too)
I think guys like Sean Russel have a future at this club too – we needed a solid defensive centre and he has become it
I’m with you though I’ve been critical of him at times… but once again, betting on your youth (long term) always leads to the best outcomes
Gus believes parramatta hasn’t won a comp in nearly 40 years because we often chase immediate success and have a short term solution to most problems
Jason’s completely tuned this on its head, I totally support this new direction they are taking us
When if half of our roster is only at 50% of their potential in 2025 👍 next 2-3 seasons we will end up in a very strong position
Muz – I have no problem with Ryles playing Joash and Tuivati and TDS, Guymer etc. In part, because he has no choice, but i am all for seeing what we have in these young players and i don’t expect them to be elite today, or this year or even next.
I think it is a little unfair to say BA didn’t persist with youngsters – I have 123 games of Peni Terepo that would suggest otherwise. If there is a criticism he was trying to win now, which may be fair, it also has to be factored in that for large parts of his tenure he was dealing with Executive and Board that were dysfunctional, disbanded, and lets face it, not always above board. BA had no reason to trust they would have patience in him. He has also spent most of his time at Parra with a Football Ops Mgr who had almost no experience – lasting only a short time at the Tigers before coming to Parra in less than honourable circumstance. That inexperience has shown its head over and over again as we lose players/fail to sign players/sign inexplicable contracts.
2025 is also quite different to 2020. We now have 17 teams and 2 more on the horizon. We have concussion protocols and perplexing judiciary sentences. You can’t bank elite kids away in your lower grades, they will get opportunities elsewhere. The reduced talent depth means you need to roll the dice with youngsters.
I was onboard with signing Ryles. I am impressed with what he has achieved.
It’s hard to say he has a different philosophy around other clubs rejects when we just signed JDB. I don’t know how that signing matches up with bringing up young talent and looking long term. There is nothing about JDB that says he is a mentor or that he has much left in the tank (he had two defensive lapses just last weekend in the opening minutes that led to tries).
Sean Russell. Look. Is he wholehearted, sure. Has he improved through the year. Yeah a little. Is he still a poor mans Brad Parker – Yes. I saw someone comment that he has been devoid of errors. No he hasn’t. He runs hard. Sure, he does. But he has no speed, no power off the mark, so every tackle is like a brick wall. We have watched passes bounce in front of him – routinely. We have seen him try to switch JAC on the inside only for the ball to hit the ground – repeatedly. We have seen him unable to draw and pass to put JAC away down the sideline – constantly. Are we blaming JAC, an elite winger for that or Russell? JAC has 10 tries this year. How many times would Russell have passed the ball to him on those tries? Maybe 1 at most?
If Russell turns out to be an elite centre, great, i just don’t see it happening. In Ryles, i think outside Ciraldo we have the best coach in the game under 60 (i’d take him over Cleary any day) and maybe one day he will over take Ciraldo. If he can turn Russell into something, he is even better than i give him credit for.
BA, I don’t think Russell will be an elite centre but he has the makings of a handy one, something that the Storm system did with certain players. I suggest that Ryles likely would be developing a similar system and it is now starting to show. If the system works for Russell good for him and the Eels. Not saying if a gun centre comes onto the market Parra should not have a crack but I’m ok with Russell at the moment.
Interesting thoughts BA. Just a little harsh on Shaun Russell. Mind you what you said is not far off the mark. I think the camparison to Brad Parker was unnecessary. Russell is learning his trade and it’s not that he makes a lot of mistakes he just hasn’t mastered the art of setting up his outside man. That game against the Raiders was a prime example. And he runs to far before passing rather then drawing the defender or passes whenever he does it’s too early. Once he learns this then he will be more productive. Concerning his defense – it’s a lot better and the reason for is JAC. If he wasn’t helping Russell we go back to the Ferguson era. As a matter of fact given another season as a centre he could develop into a Ferguson type. Russell has speed but necessarily acceleration – he has run down Savage from the Raiders. I tell you he is not my favorite player but he is slowly improving. Anyway things are on the improve with the team – it’s unfortunate Mitch hasn’t been available most of the season. Great captains game on the weekend – can he back again this week? We find out soon enough.
Good grades Gol. Couple of observations –
1. The grades including a Seinfeld reference – i like that!! – and can only get better with a Springsteen reference ( will watch out for it next week )
2. Sean Russell – a much maligned player but he is solid, not many mistakes, takes a lot of hard carries out of own end…and has been injury free. And has worked on his game and been improving. He could continue to develop into a Tom Opacic style player – a solid centre who we mainly noticed when he was no longer there ( thats a compliment to Tom and his no fuss style)
3. Junior – not as many metres in attack – but in the last 5 min he really put some big shots on in defence and really lifted that intensity and drove the energy
4. Mitch – all class. Game management. Knows when to just complete the sets and get to the kick. And when to push the button and go for the play.
5. The Kick chase – best it has been for a long time. Cameron Smith once said he could tell the attitude of any team he played in by the kick chase – and you could see we were committed to it. – and our attitude was right on for 80 mins – we came to play
6. And I could not remember the last time we defended a 2 point lead against a top team for the last 17mins – real test of our resolve and committment to defence and the game plan
7. And all the young players – its a bright looking future – all that youth with the experience of Junior / Mitch / Dylan Walker / and the Fox – iots a great combination
Go Parra !!!
Great game and a rare win, even better a big scalp
This week against the Storms (probably 2025 premiers) will be the metric we need to measure ourselves against, Hughes and big Nelson are out so getting the win here is entirely possible
Also
Moses needs to retire from rep footy!