The Eels didn’t do it the easy way, but they got the job done last weekend and put a slither of distance between themselves and the spoon race with a victory over North Queensland. The “easy way” doesn’t compute for the 2025 Parramatta Eels, but wins are wins regardless of how many years of life expectancy they take off the fan base as a collective.

This week the Blue and Gold get the chance to both permanently remove themselves from 2025 spoon calculations, as well as extract a modicum of revenge against an opponent that has long had their number; the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Parramatta are two from the last ten against Souths, and even that feels generous considering the standard result of an Eels v Bunnies clash through the Brad Arthur era was three Alex Johnston tries and a 36-12 scoreline. I wish I’d cherished those wins more.

This is a different Rabbitohs altogether, suffering through a horrid injury run themselves while also trying to avoid the spoon. Still, they’ll have the confidence of a near decade of dominance behind them here, plus they’ll be celebrating Indigenous Round which always means a little bit extra for the boys from Redfern. Drawing the Rabbitohs for Indigenous Round three years in a row is a level of “luck” on par with somehow always playing Queensland-based teams in our Darwin games, but on the scale of V’landys-era NRL atrocities it ranks well below six agains, short drop outs, the bunker and that Maccas ad. Let’s dig in to the preview!

Game Info

Date: Saturday, August 16, 2025
Venue: Stadium Australia, Homebush
Kick-off: 7:35PM AEST
Referee: Gerard Sutton
Bunker: Matt Noyen
Weather: Dry, heavy
Broadcast: 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.

An even bigger stay away from me than usual here, given our spotty recent history against Souths, but since we need a tip, Eels 1-12 at $3.20 seems fairly good value for a side that hasn’t been able to put away a team since it was shorts weather.

But as always, keep it fun.

Happy, responsible punting everyone.

Gol

Teams

Parramatta Eels

1. Joash Papalii 2. Zac Lomax 3. Will Penisini 4. Dylan Brown 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. Luca Moretti. 14. Tallyn Da Silva 15. Dylan Walker 16. Matt Doorey 17. Kelma Tuilagi. 18. Jordan Samrani 21. Isaiah Iongi.

All of the team discourse this week revolves around the extended benches of both sides, with Isaiah Iongi and Cody Walker poised to make long awaited comebacks. For the Eels, I doubt Iongi is still in the reserves 24 hours before kickoff unless he is very likely to play, this isn’t so “must win” a clash that you’d be putting your young fullback through a late fitness test to rush him back. I expect he’ll move to the back and Joash Papalii either drops out or moves into the halves for Dean Hawkins or maybe utility for the recently maligned Tallyn Da Silva.

Otherwise the only changes are codifying the late adjustments of last week; Dylan Brown in the centres, Luca Moretti at lock. Shout outs to Charlie Guymer and J’maine Hopgood, who are doing well and making the most of new roles at back row and prop respectively, which I am only doing here because a paragraph needs more than one sentence.

South Sydney Rabbitohs

1. Jye Gray 2. Alex Johnston 3. Isaiah Tass 5. Bayleigh Bentley-Hape 18. Tyrone Munro 6. Ashton Ward 7. Jamie Humphreys 8. Siliva Havili 9. Peter Mamouzelos 10. Sean Keppie 11. Jacob Host 12. Tallis Duncan 13. Jai Arrow. 15. Liam Le Blanc 16. Brandon Smith 17. Thomas Fletcher 22. Cody Walker. 14. Shaq Mitchell 20. Salesi Ataata.

The aforementioned Cody Walker will come off the bench for the Rabbitohs here, a curious decision for a five eighth. He’s either right or he isn’t, but questioning the wisdom of Wayne Bennett is a fast pass to getting eyebrows raised at you so let’s trust the supercoach here. The footy gods giveth, then taketh away, as Latrell Mitchell is a late withdrawal from the centres, with Tyrone Munro coming into the side on the wing and Bayleigh Bentley-Hape covering one in.

Otherwise this South Sydney side is so piecemeal I couldn’t even tell you which changes are new. Mitchell, Wighton, Koloamatangi, Tatola and Graham is a lot of firepower on the sidelines, while Cam Murray hasn’t played all year and a few other depth players are out too. Brandon Smith does continue his comeback from the bench this week and will require the Eels tight defence to be vigilant.

Turning Tables

A likely return for the young fullback is on the cards

While the Bunnies bounced back last week with a tight win over the Titans, that was more a case of “well somebody had to win” rather than a reversal of fortunes for the struggling South Sydney side. The win cracked a nine match losing streak, and turned around one of the least impressive 60 point wins you’ll see after the Broncos toweled them 60-14 the week before.

The story is fairly simple in the end; the Rabbitohs spine this week is Jye Gray, Ashton Ward, Jamie Humphreys and Peter Mamouzelos. Combined they are well short of a century of NRL experience, and even further away if you exclude starts off the bench. It’s not dissimilar to the Eels at many points this year except for the crucial difference of one of Mitchell Moses or Dylan Brown was usually available to guide the team. Cody Walker might make a late switch into the starting side and provide that stability, but his movement from reserves onto the bench suggests he’ll be eased back.

Despite the spine shuffles, this is still an old fashioned, left dominant South Sydney attack. The left edge has scored double the tries of the middle and right sides combined, a whopping 68% of all Souths scores. No other team comes close to that level of reliance on one side. Hopefully the combination of an improved Eels edge defence (or at least, a new approach to defending out wide that is hopefully less susceptible to the Rabbitohs particular blend of shift play) and the inexperienced Rabbitohs playmakers will make this one more competitive than in recent years, but the pressure is going to be on that Lomax/Penisini edge combination.

The Rabbitohs defence has also been abysmal in 2025. While they’ve only been blown out twice (by the Dolphins and Broncos) they’ve given up 30+ eight times this year and the one time they managed to hold an opponent under 20 in the last three months (before last week), they lost anyway (to the Sharks 14-12). Both edges are equal opportunity conceders, though the same attacking left edge is also bleeding more tries than all sides bar the Titans, Tigers and Cowboys. Not exactly elite company.

It might be time for Lomax to be the decoy on those kicks

Playing Perfect

One area the Eels continue to struggle is in forcing mistakes from their opposition. The Storm completed at 84% in slippery conditions two weeks ago, the Cowboys on a heavy track completed at 95%. Gone are the days where you can just throw a heavy shoulder into a player and force a ball free; you rarely see mistakes “forced” so easily, but you do need to pressure an opponent into forced passes and offloads, to be grubby enough in the ruck that you encourage some ball plants or sloppy play the balls. Parramatta just doesn’t get those easy leg-ups from opposition mistakes and thus has to do everything the hard way in yardage.

Luckily South Sydney are an abysmal yardage team. They are the worst in the league for metres made, offloads, line breaks and tackle breaks, while conceding the most metres and line breaks and missing the second most tackles. Their discipline is generally fairly good, so this is just an old fashioned case of a pack that can’t match it with their opposition most weeks, and isn’t bailed out by “Panther-ball” from the outside backs on early tackles.

South Sydney do have good discipline in restarts and penalties, so given recent history suggests a sighting of Halley’s Comet is more likely than Parramatta winning a set restart, we’ll need to do this one through yardage. If Iongi does return, plus the presence of Moses and Lomax, it may be as simple as earning some pressure close to the line and running through the right edge attack a few times until that weak Bunnies defence cracks. There’ll probably be some chances through the air too, though we’ve clearly reached the “nobody can actually obstruct Zac Lomax” stage of the NRL season, so maybe it is time to use Zac as a decoy for an inside runner to get a clear path to attacking kicks.

The Game

Big Charlie has been strong since moving to the back row

This one isn’t “must win” for avoiding the spoon, but it is “must win” for my peace of mind, for a slight taste of revenge against a side I have dreaded coming up against for the last eight years. An absolute pantsing of Souths would be a dream, but another one point heart attack win would be enough for me.

The side can clearly do it. The composure wasn’t there last week to put the Cowboys away, and their perfect completion rates meant the Eels needed to make every opportunity count and, well, they didn’t, yet still won. I don’t imagine Tallyn Da Silva will be overcalling Mitch Moses again any time soon, though I’d also expect Ryley Smith to be on the field for those money moments from now on.

I expect a solid effort from Souths, but Parramatta should have too much for them in the middle and in yardage, and that will eventually turn into points. If the Eels start making mistakes and their discipline isn’t up to scratch, this could get uncomfortable quickly, especially if the first chance they get Alex Johnston strolls over untouched, again, in the left corner. If he gets an early try, or worse, two, the feeding frenzy will begin for his chase on the all time record. The fact people are even talking it up as a chance this week when he needs four tries to get it says a lot about the Eels recent defence against him.

I expect we rain on the parade, poop the party and emerge victorious. You’d have been a fool in recent years to tip the Eels against Souths in any circumstances, but this is a different Eels this year, a new era if you will. Let’s prove that with a big one here.

Go you Eels!

Prediction: Eels 22 d Rabbitohs 16

Man of the Match: Isaiah Iongi

Gol

If you liked this article, you might consider supporting The Cumberland Throw.