NRL
Parramatta Eels 30 defeat the Sydney Roosters 10
Just a week after producing close to if not their most disappointing effort of the year, the Eels lodged a banger candidate for best win of the season with their 30-10 demolition job of the Roosters. Demolition job is probably as apt a term to describe the win as possible too given the unbridled physicality that Parramatta unleashed on the Roosters in Round 25.
Whatever Jason Ryles did in the lead up to Saturday night’s marquee match-up it worked beyond a treat as his charges delivered their most focused effort of 2025 with a level of controlled and sustained violence that quite visibly forced the Roosters onto the back foot.
JR’s special blend of herbs and spices saw the red-hot Roosters brined, battered and fried with the likes of Jack Williams, Kelma Tuilagi, J’maine Hopgood, Ryley Smith, Junior Paulo and Charlie Guymer relishing in the roles as lead terrorisers – I mean tenderisers.
Yes the Roosters copped a heavy blow early on when a rampaging Tuilagi tramped over Sam Walker and left the Tri-colour’s halfback strewn in his wake. The subsequent CAT1 concussion clearly hampered the Roosters offensive output…though Mark Nawaqanitawase’s virtuoso performance ensured they were able to trouble the scorer twice.
Even so, the Eels were apex predators at CommBank Stadium on Saturday night. They hunted down a fearsome opposition pack and set a platform for their leader Mitchell Moses to dominate. At his side was Joash Papalii who delivered his most assured performance in the #6 jersey thus far in what could arguably be his most proper step forwards towards claiming the role for 2026.
Ryley Smith, who has been among the code’s best off-the-ball effort players this year, positively tormented Hugo Savala. The young half, suddenly thrust into the primary play-maker role due to Walker’s concussion, seriously struggled with Smith’s relentless pressure. It has been a calling card of Parramatta’s starting rake all year and speaks volumes about his fitness levels and sheer will power that he produces the same kick pressure week in and out. We also saw Ryley used in a wider pivot role in attack on the weekend as the diverse attacking structures of Ryles’ staff showed yet another wrinkle to their playbook.
Sixties and myself enjoyed a rather boisterous instant reaction podcast (which you can check out below) but the other big winner on the night was Dylan Walker as his team-mates rallied to deliver an outstanding overall performance for his 250th NRL cap. Walker had a sparkling touch off his right boot to serve a try up for Josh Addo-Carr in the first half in an otherwise rock solid individual game.
The upset victory means a 10-win season is still within grasp for the Blue & Gold. It means the Eels will need to secure consecutive wins against the Warriors and Knights in the coming weeks though and as we saw in the NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg this week – the trip to NZ isn’t exactly an easy one.
NRLW
Sydney Roosters 56 defeat the Parramatta Eels 12
For a good stretch in Round 8 the Parramatta Eels showed some real grit against their star-studded opposition. However, the recurring issue that is the passive defensive line allowed the Tri-colours to dominate the ruck and as a direct result, the game in the second half.
Jesse Sergis and Isabelle Kelly both churned out over 170m in dominant displays but the real jaw-dropping stat-line comes from halfback Tarryn Aiken who gouged 201m out of Parramatta’s defence with 3 line breaks tacked on. The Roosters’ superstar lock Olivia Kernick was also awesome on the ground with over 200m to her name while the Eels struggled massively with the sheer size of Aaliyah Nasio and Amber Hall on the edges.
The result was predictable but it still hurts nonetheless. Realistically it looks like only the Brisbane Broncos and maybe the Newcastle Knights can challenge the Roosters this year and the Eels are just a mile off their pace as it stands.
NSW Cup
New Zealand Warriors 54 defeat the Parramatta Eels 4
I think it is very fair to say that it was always going to be a tough trip to New Zealand for the Eels in Round 25. As good as Parramatta have been this year, the Warriors are the runaway minor premiers and given the Blue & Gold entered this contest vastly under-strength the end result was unfortunate but somewhat expected.
It certainly didn’t help that Wiremu Greig was sin-binned almost instantly for what I believe was a hip-drop tackle on Taine Tuaupiki while the Eels also lost Richard Penisini after 13-minutes with the young centre sustaining what looked to be a knee injury.
Having 50-points dropped on the squad still stings but you simply toss this result in the trash and move on to be hopefully healthier next week.
Harvey Normans Women’s Premiership
Parramatta Eels 16 defeat the Central Coast Roosters 14
Amidst a brutal stretch across Saturday and Sunday for the lower grades, the HNWP eked out a tight victory over the Central Coast Roosters to stretch their impressive winning streak to a 6th straight victory.
It was an Alysha Bell penalty goal on full time that severed a tied game as the Eels were made to labour for their win this week. In fact, the Roosters posted 3 tries to the Eels’ 2 with Bell’s boot proving the difference with the sharpshooter tacking on 3 total penalty goals as well as a conversion to kick the Blue & Gold ahead.
The Eels nest themselves inside the Top 4 after the result and firmly in a position to make a strong charge into the finals with 3 rounds of the regular season left.
Jersey Flegg Cup
New Zealand Warriors 26 defeat the Parramatta Eels 10
When the NSW Cup are short-handed you can make a pretty safe bet that the Jersey Flegg Cup will also be stretched thin. That was indeed the case on Sunday as the Parramatta Eels fell to the Warriors in New Zealand. It must be said that the Eels were well off their best too and the Warriors did a good job capitalising on the opportunity.
Nathan Howlett marked the latest SG Ball prospect to graduate into the Jersey Flegg and he nabbed a try on debut when he puts the Eels on the board early on. It was close to the lone bright spark for Parramatta Eels but given their tremendous recent form the loss falls very much in the forgivable bracket if they can get back on their feet next week.
The other intriguing note to come out of the loss was the club debut of Jordan Miller. Miller was acquired from the Wests Tigers this year and was a fairly highly touted front-row prospect for them. However, Miller is very much a project for the Eels with the young bookend needing considerable work done on his conditioning.
Can’t one game change your view of things? I was resigned to us having made some progress on last year’s embarrassing thrashing only to fade out over the last few games, with nothing much to look forward to next year; that thrashing of a pack with four internationals in it has lifted my spirits; I view 2026 with excitement, given that injury and recruitment leaves us with four forwards to come into the side next year.
Joash continues to make a contribution in a position to which he is not best suited; I continue to believe that Dylan Walker remains our best number 6, Jack Williams our best 13. Clearly Mark(whose surname, with apologies I won’t attempt) clearly will be the hottest property on the market if The Roosters fail to tie him up by November 1. If we get a shot at him we should go a million plus.
I disagree strongly, Walker helps everything and everyone when he has the freedom at lock. As Moses says he is like an extra halfback who gets Moses and Joash two passes from the ruck and he also is our best ball player to get the forwards moving forward in the middle of the field.
I think Williams is playing very well on an edge and the knock on him has always been his hands and ball skills so definitely not what you want as a lock.
Jack De Belin will be our next best option to give Walker a rest at lock.
I agree with most of that. Walker is far better suited to the middle role. He can dig in deeper into the line and can physically take the hits that come with it. I’m not convinced we look better with him starting at 13 (i prefer him off the bench), and by the time we are ready to compete for Top 4 etc his career will probably be done, so in lieu of the club actually trying to sign someone who won’t be the oldest forward in the NRL, i think it is worth trying to see if Guymer can play that role. If not he at best becomes the last years of Hindmarsh / Ray Stone style plodder who just works hard. Every team needs one, but lets at least see what he can do.
Agree Williams isn’t a lock who can ball play. He’s a no 2 second rower. His hands are ok, and he runs decent lines. Lateral movement isn’t amazing and seems to get a bit lost in the backfield when he does make a break. Serviceable, but we still need a strike weapon on the edge.
Tks Forty. I hope the NRLW line speed thing doesn’t become like the NRL wide shift defence. Ryles has fixed it, but it hung around forever. So we learned that coaching is a big aspect of the fix with attitude and fitness playing roles.
The NRLW hierarchy did the competition a massive disservice when they were pressured by primarily the Roosters to move from providing each new team with up to 4 marquee players each to even the talent pool. The cry that we have nurtured the women’s game when there is no local comp is a strange claim, given their ongoing snaring of elite players, Millie Boyle lived in Newcastle and commuted to Sydney to playi and train in a semi pro sport, amazing.
Now we have a competition where it seems if you want to win, just move to the Roosters or Broncos and it’s all OK. Same situation as the junior leagues have protested about for decades to stop 1 or 2 teams dominating. They may as well pay the gf between the Broncos and Roosters now, and have a secondary comp for the rest of the teams.
Getting run over In the second half when a team full of rep players gets on top is not unexpected. Have to be careful this doesn’t dilute interest in the NRLW.
G’day 4020 any news on Richie Penisini , I’m hearing he’s done a ACL. Is this true? This is terrible for the young bloke. That’s 2 young backs who done the ACL twice in two years. No Baileyalso next year we are a bit skinny. Cheers mate. Right?
Was thinking Isaac Jim had really let himself go and changed his hairstyle until I checked the team list and saw it was Jordan Miller! Definitely needs a big pre season but was a good prospect at the tigers, could be a good project for the coaching staff.
Per the club’s injury report today it is a MCL injury, which while unfortunate for poor Richie has a much better recovery window. Fingers crossed he should be right for the preseason.
Expected Miller to be snapped up by another club.Seeing the highlights he looks overweight and slow. Is he part of the Eels this year? Hes a big bloke and could be a good prospect for the eels if gets his body and discipline right.