No time for a long preamble. I was only part way through this post when the proverbial about a certain winger hit the fan.

My devices are blowing up right now.

Time to jump in – bumpers up!

Lomax Gone

The Eels’ media release confirming the departure of Zac Lomax has just landed, and much like Zac’s playing time, it’s short and sweet.

i don’t really have too much to say on this topic, (the post was near complete when the news hit) outside of where this leaves our roster. (See the section further down)

Yes, this means we have more cash. Yes, the retention of Bailey Simonsson was critical. But we have to hope that beyond Bailey, some recruitment planning has gone into this agreement of a release.

Where to as far as we are concerned?

Our live reaction to the news hits at 7:35pm on our Youtube channel.

 

 

Early Pre-Season Notes

The eye test tells me that the young Eels players are ahead of where they were in last year’s preseason.

A dive into the memory bank for comparison tells me drills and games look a bit sharper. Their athleticism is perhaps a step up, and without question the players look to be thriving. Just quietly, the coaches might back up that observation.

Of course, outside of what the individual players bring to the table there are other factors at play.

The lower grade and pathways coaches were heavily involved in the last preseason and would have taken the practices, systems and structures to the teams.

Any familiarity with Parra systems from 2025 would be standing the group in good stead, especially as the last preseason introduced so many different ways of doing things.

Furthermore, the coaches themselves would have been more familiar with these players, with a number getting a taste of NRL training during the season when called upon for NSW Cup duty or to simply help with numbers in opposed work.

And with last year’s base established, the coaches can build upon last year’s foundations, so they themselves would have higher expectations. And my feedback thus far is that they are quite happy.

Ready For The Next Level

After diving into the standard of the young players, what about the more experienced incumbents?

An incredibly encouraging sign was seeing both Sean Russell and Luca Moretti set PBs in their Broncos tests this week.

To put this in context, they have set new standards for themselves on their return to training, not after a solid summer of conditioning.

To me, that’s a measure of the attitude of players who want to take their game to the next level, let alone fend off internal competition.

Sean has just come off what has been a breakout year at centre. In the opinion of many, his form took him from fringe first grade to one of the first selected each week.

As for Luca, the injury stick clobbered him a bit during 2025, he has established a reputation with supporters for the pace and fearlessness of his footy. He is the prototype mobile middle forward that teams look to field in the NRL.

If these boys are any indication of the attitude of the incumbent players, then the stage is set for a continuation of the Eels climb up the ladder.

Eels Institute

In late October the Eels launched an exciting new Initiative for their western Sydney community, with the announcement of the Eels Institute.

In essence, in conjunction with TAFE Queensland, it is a program to develop Sports Industry Professionals. The club has long provided football pathways for talented players, and the Eels Institute will now offer off-field pathways in Sports Administration.

There are more details on the Eels Institute available through Eels media, but briefly there are two dual qualifications available for study through the program:

Diploma of Sport and Diploma of Leadership and Management

Diploma of Sport and Diploma of Project Management

The excitement about the new initiative was evident on Friday when a full house of young people and parents attended an information session at Kellyville.

Starting with their arrival at the Centre of Excellence, the attendees watched on as the Eels went through their preseason training out on the fields, before moving to the community centre for more details on the program, followed by a quick tour of the Eels facilities.

This is what will make the Eels Institute unique. The training will be delivered on-site and accompanied by real-world experience in the various departments of the Eels operation.

The potential for at least two graduates to be offered employment at the conclusion of the course is an obvious incentive, but the opportunity to receive a quality foundation to a sports industry career transcends this from just being about the Eels, and exemplifies the club’s commitment to the wider community.

As someone with a background in education and training and also in the employment sector, I applaud the Eels for this initiative. The next information session will be online on Wednesday, December 10.

Roster, Recruitment, and Rumours (Quickly amended after Lomax news)

With the departure of Lomax, the Eels top 30 sits at 26. If a new home is found for Ryan Matterson, that becomes 25  So what I find interesting is where the recruitment rumours sit, and it’s all about forwards.

But before getting into that, I’m now entirely comfortable with the addition of Jonah Pezet for 2026. As a genuine half, he is the ready made replacement should Mitch Moses be unavailable, something that has been an unfortunate statistic from the past two seasons.

Furthermore, he provides a quality interim five-eighth as the Eels continue the internal development of the likes of Joash Papalii and Lorenzo Talataina.

Given that Dean Hawkins had already decided to take up a contract elsewhere for the 2026, without recruiting Pezet, any long term injury to Moses would have likely resulted in a very inexperienced halves pairing of Ronald Volkman and Joash Papalii. And though Pezet himself has relatively limited NRL games, he carries a wealth of knowledge and experience of the Melbourne Storm system.

The first hole that I see in the roster is one that few are discussing – dummy half. The reason that it’s not coming up for discussion is that the Eels have two quality rakes in Ryley Smith and Tallyn Da Silva. Based on Riles selections late last season, both are top 17 selections.

But what about below the top grade? As it stands there are no other specialist hookers in the full time roster.

Talented pathways prospect Lachie Coinakis is getting time in this NRL preseason, but he has just graduated from SG Ball. I think he’s more likely to start in Flegg, though I could be wrong. Who will the Eels play in that role in NSW Cup, and potentially as a back up should injury strike Smith or TDS?

At this stage, without any recruitment for the full time roster, including train and trial (I’ve seen no train and trial dummy half at preseason so far), we’d be looking at using a NSWRL contract level player – ie someone typically placed in Ron Massey Cup (see Meni Luke).

Failing that, maybe Joash Papalii would be used in that role in Cup, thereby further developing his utility value. It’s also likely that Hoppy would be the NRL selection option for Riles during a dummy half injury crisis.

Regardless, I hope that the dummy half situation becomes a little clearer.

As far as recruitment rumours go, most of the recent ones have focussed on forwards – Beau Fermor, Nelson Asofa Solomona and more recently Keaon Kaloamatangi.

Without question, any of these players would add value to the Eels roster. Their roles might be different, as too the type of value they would each bring, but I totally understand any interest the Eels would have.

A spot must be filled before Round one. Clubs then have up until June 30 to sign their final two players. Though the Matto situation remains unresolved, I think it would be wise to add two players to the roster before round one.

I don’t think it would be two of those rumoured players, especially with cap space also to be sorted alongside Matto’s contract. It might not even be one of them because a glance at the roster says that NRL experience in the outside backs depth chart is a major issue.

I started writing this part with “Should Zac Lomax depart there would actually be no outside back with NRL experience at NSW Cup level.” That dire lack of depth has now been confirmed.

Whilst such situations provide opportunity, it’s far better to have rookies get their shot under controlled, planned circumstances rather than “no one else was available.”

NRL recruitment for all clubs has become a matter of seeing what shakes loose from the market tree each season. Players on contract unexpectedly become free to negotiate, and every club needs to have cash on hand to snap up who’s suddenly available.

From my perspective I hope that Parra adds that experienced outside back ASAP and a train and trial dummy half.

And then if big Keaon wants to head out west, happy days.

 

NRL Draw

Forty has covered this superbly so I’ll just add that apart from the horror start, and taking a home game at Magic Round against the Storm, this is probably the kindest draw in memory.

Only playing three top eight teams from 2025 twice during next season is unheard of for Parra.

Extraordinary!

 

Radley Reality

It hasn’t taken too long for the reality of Victor Radley’s suspension to be revealed.

Although he made the headlines for a supposed record club suspension of ten games for bringing the Roosters into disrepute, the fact remains that early November that suspension was already halved.

Don’t be naive. At the time of the decision regarding his suspension, Radley’s desire to play in the Ashes would have been known. And preseason trials happen every year – mind you most senior players usually play just one trial.

So if you think that this wasn’t the plan in the first place, then I’ve got a large arch-shaped bridge that I’d like to sell to you.

Declaring the ten game suspension when the brown stuff was hitting the fan took the heat off Roosters management. Instead, they should have made it clear that the club was only going to be without his services for five games, a number that is far from what was a record suspension.

No more needs to be said.

 

Eels forever!

Sixties