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The Tip Sheet is ready to close the books on the 2025 NRL & NRLW seasons after the Brisbane Broncos secured the premiership in both competitions. Sixties and Forty20 farewell another crazy year of domestic footy but there is still a veritable smorgasbord of representative footy ahead with an Ashes Tour and a monster Pacific Championships to come.
Which Eels are set to feature in international footy? The boys run through the Blue & Gold honour roll including a twist for the Kangaroos as one Eel bows out for another. The club announced a massive signing for the NRLW as multi-premiership winner and incumbent Jillaroo Keilee Joseph joins the Eels on a 2-year deal. How much closer does Joseph push Parramatta towards the Roosters and Broncos?
Speaking of the Broncos, they prevailed in both the NRL and NRLW grand finals and the show rates how both games stacked up. Did the Roosters and Broncos live up to the obvious grand final match-up from day one of the 2025 NRLW premiership? Was Melbourne and Brisbane a worthy capstone clash to an electric final series in the NRL?
Catch the show from 7:30PM live on YouTube!
Our big discussion. Who did it better?
In grand finals – Cleary 23 or Walsh 25?
In late season run – Hayne 09 or Walsh 25?
Thanks for the show gents.
There would be a statue of Hayne at Comm bank if we went all the way in 09. And to lose to a cheating team.
With respect to the 09 team, on paper it looked more like a wooden spoon team yet on the back of one man came within a whisker of achieving the impossible. Walsh had the help of an Origin studded team.
Walsh would be winning the spoon if he was our fullback in 09. Walsh will go down in history while Hayne will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Hayne is the best footballer I’ve ever seen and by a long margin. Hayne should’ve went down in history as an immortal but due to his poor management and his own poor choices he’ll be only remembered by the Parra fans that loved him and many still do. I’m one of those fans.
Walsh’s game against the Raiders was more freakish than what Clearly did in the GF. As for grand finals, I still think what Clearly did wins. The Panthers were gone for all money, to be having an average game to flipping the script in 20 mins was mind blowing to watch, as much as I wanted Penrith to lose.
And we can’t forget from where Hayne got us to a grand final, I remember Burt being interviewed after our loss to the Tigers, he conceded live on TV that our finals chances were gone. That was almost mid season.
We virtually played sudden death football from mid season. Hayne was instrumental in winning all those games, Hayne was the talk of the town, the media were dropping loads everywhere including our greatest hater and the undisputed king of the tossers, Ray Hadley.
It’s easy to forget but Walsh never created the media and fan frenzy that Hayne did.
Ditto. There’s some similarities with Hayne and Hadley. In his earlier years I didn’t mind Hadley’s style and opinions, but as time went on…he should have stuck to what he was good at.
More noise out today about lomax going but apparently eels are now red hot favourites for pezets signature. If it’s true I hope the club can go get Tommy talau from manly, unsigned next year I believe but he’s a quality nrl level centre/winger that can apply pressure to the backline and has the ability to take a centre or wing spot.
Welcome pezet
Don’t do it to yourself Chiefly, remember Galvin to the Eels all but done.
I won’t be doing backflips until the club confirms. Actually I won’t be, I can’t do backflips but I’d be very, very happy.
I was bearish on Pezet (if he’s a loan deal type signing)..
But on further though even if it’s on a loan deal / worse case…
We had young players in our system and depth to the likes in the halves positions we have not seen in a very long time maybe even a decade plus.
Young Lorenzo T is in our ranks who was the best player out of his whole grade not just in the eels team , Joash Papalii, Volkman, Hawkins, and a few other eels in the lower grades who have shown potential.
The main difference is that Pezet actually has a pretty big kick, none of our other young options really have a boot / kicking game like Pezet.
With that being said, the point being is we ideally (if lucky) got Pezet on a proper deal and not a loan type contract.
But what I’m saying here is that it’s not the end of the world if we didn’t get him on a perfectly ideal contract, even though I would prefer a 3 year deal / not a loan deal.
Because unlike for many many years before we actually have numerous halves in our ranks who have shown they can hold their own at NRL level and fit into our system.
We are no longer just a Mitch Moses & Dylan brown show where there’s no other halves at the eels who can do a job.
We have amongst the best halves depth in the comp now if you take into consideration our jnrs are not only Elite but (some) are only 1-3 seasons away from potentially being NRL regulars or fill ins (and would cost us significantly less $).
I still think Jason Ryles having a strong finish to the season and a lot of young rising quality players at the eels could do more for our case than just throwing money around.
We now will have an easier time retaining our younger elite players (who see a brighter future at our club on the horizon)
And guys like Pezet and potentially other young stars at other clubs consider signing now because we didn’t get the wooden spoon and probably were the most improved team in the back 1/4 of the year.
I know people say cliches like “MON can’t get us signings” and all that jazz ..
But do you think Pezet would even consider us if we finished dead last? Still had an old team? Still hadn’t innovated our playing style?
It’s my opinion that in 2025 gave young players possibly more opportunities than any other club in the NRL, AND, we possibly improves during the year more than any other club.
We obviously can’t match 3rd party deals like some other clubs can – but in confident than is now in a better position than before especially in regards to poaching young elite (like Pezet)
BUT, I’m also optimistic an happy we are not totally desperate and thin any more in the halves, we are NOT coming into the deals as totally desperate.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we signed Pezet but I would not be too concerned if we do not (due to it being a bad deal $)…
Jason Ryles has shown very strong decision making as a head coach of our club. I’ll back any of his decisions until he shows otherwise. And the Eels now have systems in place where YOUNG eels can come in and it still works.
System is everything and look at guys like Hynes outside the storm system, Cleary when he is outside of Penrith and in origin. There’s a chance Pezet is not “great” but just “ good” … playing IN that elite system at the Storm.
For this reason we must look at the storms GF team for inspiration, many of their NRL players would be 2-3rd choice players if they were at the broncos of the roosters… yet that made a GF 2 years running.
At parramatta it looks like our systems have improved out of sight. I’m probably the most bullish since Brian smith days that our young / baby eels can get us deep into the finals.
Better days are coming for us at parramatta and we must trust whatever decisions Jason makes regarding the Pezet situation – because if he doesn’t want to pay overs, it’s because Jason is backing our Eels youth from within.
Great post Mu.
Did others watch the Samoa v New Zealand to-day? What. a game!
At the end of next season we have The World Cup including us, Tonga, Samoa, New Zealand, Fiji, New Guinea plus exotic places like Italy and Malta.
Truly, I can’t wait.