The Eels emerged from their stroll down murderer’s row all the wiser with experience and clutching a single upset victory over Brisbane, but now they need to turn the lessons of noble losses into some wins against the fellow dregs of season 2025 in an effort to clear the bottom of the ladder. That starts this week against the flailing Cowboys, who have recently had a similar run of keeping it close against the top sides in the competition, but ultimately only have one victory in the last five games to show for it.

The Cowboys boast the worst defence in the NRL, but in the most crucial statistic of victories, they sit above the Eels with 7 to Parramatta’s 6. Add in a cheeky draw to their record and this won’t be a leapfrog win in the traditional sense, but in what shapes as a five way spoon battle between these two teams plus the Rabbitohs, Titans and Knights, any win over a fellow struggler counts for plenty.

If there wasn’t already a heap to play for, this is Indigenous Round and you know Josh Addo-Carr will be pumped up, hopefully his enthusiasm is infectious. It’s an NRLW/NRL double header, a home game on a dreary weekend, and a very winnable game. Let’s get into the preview!

Game Info

Date: Sunday, August 10, 2025
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Parramatta
Kick-off: 4:05PM AEST
Referee: Liam Kennedy
Bunker: Ashley Klein
Weather: Wet, cold
Broadcast: Nine, Fox League, Kayo

Sixties Gol Speculates (Odds quoted are NSW TAB)

Gol filling in here again, and the usual disclaimer applies: my punting tips are as well thought out as they are successful. You’ve been warned.

Normally wet weather brings the under into play, but I don’t trust either of these teams and neither does the TAB, the line is still 46.5 and only lightly leaning to the under at $1.85. Eels 13+ at $2.90 feels like the go for me: safe, slightly boring, fun to cheer on. Let’s run with it.

But as always, keep it fun.

Happy, responsible punting everyone.

Gol

Teams

Parramatta Eels

1. Joash Papalii 2. Zac Lomax 3. Will Penisini 4. Jordan Samrani 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Dean Hawkins 7. Mitchell Moses 8. J’maine Hopgood 9. Ryley Smith 10. Junior Paulo 11. Charlie Guymer 12. Jack Williams 13. Dylan Walker. 14. Tallyn Da Silva 15. Luca Moretti 16. Matt Doorey 17. Kelma Tuilagi. 22. Dylan Brown 20. Haze Dunster

The big news on the team sheet is what hasn’t happened, as the disgruntlement of Bailey Simonsson has stolen headlines all week and let slip the plan to replace the injured Sean Russell not with the man named in his jersey, Jordan Samrani, but by inviting Dylan Brown back from exile. I like the play; I think any games for Samrani at centre are wasted when his future is far brighter in the back row, and given the interrupted development of Richard Penisini this year due to injury, Dylan is probably our next best option. No point throwing a rookie to the wolves if they aren’t ready.

The only other change is yet another injury enforced layoff for Sam Tuivaiti, incredibly unfortunate timing for another developing player. Kelma Tuilagi takes his place, not exactly a like-for-like replacement but Matt Doorey likely moves to an exclusively middle role to cover.

North Queensland Cowboys

1. Scott Drinkwater 5. Braidon Burns 3. Zac Laybutt 4. Jaxon Purdue 19. Semi Valemei 6. Jake Clifford 7. Tom Dearden 10. Jason Taumalolo 9. Reece Robson 17. Coen Hess 11. John Bateman 12. Jeremiah Nanai 13. Reuben Cotter. 14. Marly Bitungane 16. Kai O’Donnell 20. Nicholas Lenaz 22. Kaiden Lahrs. 18. Jaxson Paulo 21. Jamal Shibasaki.

The Cowboys have themselves been bitten by the injury bug, though they get a couple of players back this week in Taumalolo and Clifford. The latter’s return, which might be form based rather than injury, who even knows with the shuffling Todd Payten has done in the Cowboys halves this year, reunites what is surely their most effective halves pairing. Murray Taulagi was also flagged to return but this has been delayed, giving veteran Semi Valemei his first start of the year.

The North Queensland starting pack actually looks fairly strong on paper, though form hardly matches reputation with this group. The bench is where things start to look fairly grim, featuring debutant Lenaz and one gamer Bitungane, along with six gamer Kaiden Lahrs and hard headed veteran of 20 games, Kai O’Donnell. Experience isn’t everything, but there should be opportunities for the Eels once changes start being made.

Why So Serious?

Indigenous Round is always a big deal for the Foxx

It is in vogue for internet types to describe the North Queensland Cowboys as “unserious”, and whilst I hate to follow the trend it is an apt term for a side that has never found a way to stop tripping over itself. From the lack of defensive commitment, susceptibility to collapses and love of a handling error, unserious really is a great cover-all term for Cowboys football. They play rugby league like somebody plays poker when there are no stakes: throw some chips out there and see what happens, if it all fails spectacularly then who cares, there’s no skin in the game. At least we got to enjoy the pretty pictures on the cards and occasionally enjoy a hundred to one shot come off.

The Cowboys might sit a win and a draw above the Eels on the ladder, but in most statistical categories you’ll find the two at the wrong end of the ranking, North Queensland usually slightly worse than Parramatta. Possession is a self fulfilling prophecy in many aspects, bad teams are getting scored on and kicking off more, so of course have less ball, but the five spoon contenders are also the five worst teams for retaining possession in the game. Completion rates are a whole debate in themselves, but the Cowboys NRL leading error rate coincides with a second worst completion percentage.

Notably the Cowboys are the worst in the NRL for kick metres, which bodes poorly for them against the superboot of Mitchell Moses on a soggy track that will reward control of field position. When they have played together, Clifford has usually taken primary kicking responsibilities over Dearden, but the dual kicking threat might be the only saving grace for North Queensland, being able to negate some of the kick pressure that Ryley Smith can generate.

In what shapes as a wet contest, a team that makes too many mistakes and isn’t great at kicking their way out of field position doesn’t inspire confidence, but if the Eels can’t control the middle of the park then it may not matter what happens at the end of a Cowboys set. Taumalolo, Hess and Cotter should provide a reasonable platform, none are anywhere near their career bests, but given the task to just run north-south and win rucks they could all cause some headaches for a Parramatta defence that doesn’t do great at dominating tackles. Bateman and Nanai are Ferrari’s (or maybe the knockoff Chinese equivalent) that do better as creators and finishers than as yardage monsters, but given the Eels let Eliesa Katoa stroll through and score the only type of try he scores from a short kick last week, Nanai will be hoping for the same result here.

Making Good Points

Luca “Mad Dog” “Mongrel” “Maniac” Moretti

While the Parramatta attack has mostly passed the eye test this year as competent and threatening, the tale of the tape is such that the Eels are the third worst scoring team in the NRL. A willingness to spread the ball early and throw it around looks good, but the Eels aren’t exactly at the point where it is creating an attacking revolution. Some of that is continuity; Moses has barely played all year and has even fewer games in combination with the first choice spine, while edge forwards and outside backs have traded stints in the casualty wards all season long. As a system it looks promising, but based on current results there are struggles to score points reliably.

This run of games against 2025’s fellow travelers of failure will give that Parramatta attack a chance to prove its worth. Not cracking the Panthers, Storm, Bulldogs and Raiders is no cause for a walk of shame back to the sheds, but if things don’t get going against the leaky Cowboys, Rabbitohs and Knights, questions will start to be asked. Players like Papalii, Hawkins, Guymer, Williams, Doorey, Tuilagi and Hopgood are playing to secure a spot in the 2026 starting side, and you would hope each performs like it. Hopgood in particular has plenty to make up for after last weekend, and is another that should have that extra motivation from Indigenous Round.

That’s where a lot of the interest lay in these remaining Eels games. While the 2026 roster is largely set, Jack de Belin’s arrival plus the returns of Kautoga and Tuivaiti are going to push three players out of this forward pack. Joash Papalii will be hoping to at least raise the question in Jason Ryles’ mind “what would Iongi look like in six?” while Da Silva and Smith will be in a shootout for the nine jersey all preseason long. It’s a shame we don’t get to see the continued development of Iongi, Kautoga and Tuivaiti, but the battle for 2026 spots has already started.

The other angle is the continued development of the new attacking style. While the time is likely to be spent simply getting comfortable with the ball movement and integrating Moses properly into the structure, this is also the best chance to try a few things. I wouldn’t say we reconsider the one-marker strategy or anything so dramatic, but if there are experiments in attack that Ryles would like to run, these are the games we will see them. Look for wrinkles and experiments, glimpses of the future, and crucially, any potential ways to integrate a second bench utility, particularly if Dylan Brown does return to the side. The bench minutes used this year suggest Ryles could survive with two forwards on the pine, but a huge risk like that would only be worthwhile if a second utility could provide a distinct advantage. No coach has really figured it out yet, but I’d love for us to be the first.

The Game

Will we see Dylan back in Blue and Gold, perhaps for the last time?

North Queensland can be dangerous, even if they aren’t always serious. If the Eels let Dearden run then trouble will follow, just ask New South Wales. Drinkwater is incredibly dangerous with the ball, but also very exploitable without it. Purdue and Laybutt have talent to burn, and Valemei getting his first opportunity to impress this year is capable of an oversized performance. If they get field position and downhill running, things will get scary.

Much like the Brisbane game, if the Eels can stick in the contest and maintain composure, eventually the errors from the Cowboys will come. Bateman, Nanai and Hess can be exploited on the edges with hard running, and the inexperienced bench will provide opportunities to run shape and exploit fresh combinations. Youthful exuberance might make you run hard, but it won’t help you figure out who to tackle if Mitchell Moses has options short, long and out the back.

My main worry is that the Eels play down to expectations here. The Dragons game was a must win, a pressure relieving beatable opponent after a run of tough matches, and Parramatta collapsed in a heap. Taking this one lightly at all will lead to much the same result. They can and should win comfortably here, but they can’t play like that.

I’m backing them to get the job done. It’ll be wet, cold, miserable and probably muddy, but coming out of that with two valuable points and some distance from the bottom of the ladder would be worth the suffering. Get it done, boys.

Go you Eels!

Prediction: Eels 28 d Cowboys 16

Man of the Match: Mitchell Moses

Gol

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