In a huge day for the Eels as they dropped the new 2026 jerseys, the big news from the training track was not about any star performances, but rather the return of more players, including Ryan Matterson.
Though the former Origin forward and premiership winner was rumoured to be an unlikely pre-season participant, he was back in action at Kellyville along with a collection of NSW Cup players who had been involved in the 2025 finals series.
Those players included Jake Tago and Toni Mataele, with Ronald Volkman expected later in the week.
So where to with Ryan Matterson?
He’s under contract, and from what I observed, as far as training is concerned he’ll be treated the same as every other player. Beyond that, I guess it’s up to Matto and the club to sort out the path forward.
Matto (image from last season)
As for Jake Tago, he’s not listed in the top 30 or on a development contract, so I assume he’s on a train and trial deal. If I get any updates on that I’ll detail it in a future report. Given the lack of NRL experience on the wings, he does offer a back up option.
The other noteworthy news was the awarding of the Tour De Parra shirts.
Based on their efforts last week, the recipients were:
Teancum Brown – Gold (Leader)
Sam Tuivaiti – Dots (Grind/effort, team first)
Araz Nanva – Green (Speed and power)
Dylan Walker – White (Strength)
Not that they were the only players wearing special shirts. The rest of the squad were in four groups named after former players, with each in training shirts identifying their group.
I’ll leave those names, well, unnamed for now just in case the Eels media wish to provide dedicated content on this topic. However, I will say that it continues the importance that Jason Ryles places on culture, identity and the history of the club.
As for today’s training, it came on the back of a day of labouring – a work day in various environments that may have even included time on jackhammers.
Hi Viz mates
I didn’t catch the early part of the training session, but from what I saw, the coaches might have backed the intensity off by a smidge.which is no surprise considering the squad had already been in the Kellyville gym at around 5am, before heading off to “work”.
There was plenty of fun to finish the session, with games of power walking touch football in their four teams. The celebrations for tries or big plays were full on!
At the end, a representative of each team stepped up for a field goal kicking competition. (Taken from in front of the posts)
In an extremely ordinary field, Joash Papalii potted the winning goal. I reckon one of the shots might have landed closer to the corner post than the sticks.
More to come tomorrow.
Eels forever!
Sixties
Araz Nanva – speed and power. Would it be possible to expand your comments on his training efforts and whether he shows promise as a back up for injuries?
Hey Zero. It might be easier this week with him wearing the green shirt, or when they get into full team opposed. Otherwise, there are often three to four different drills happening at the same time and I’m sometimes a hundred metres away, depending on which field they are on. I’ll do my best, but I reckon I won’t see enough till the serious opposed work starts.
What I can tell you is that he is a very strong runner and is a reasonably big outside back – in the Samrani mould. That said he has surprising pace. For mine, the biggest question for emerging outside backs is whether their defence will measure up to NRL level.
Thank you
Matterson – is it form.or attitude. Either can be fixed but it starts with him
I was somewhat right about Tago lol.
Hope either nanva or Richie maybe make a move to the wing this year, as far as I’ve heard they’re probably our 2 best young guns in the backs right now in a spot we desperately need depth. Feels a waste to keep them both in the centres when there is a more then likely chance there will be opportunities on the wing for them.
2 different skill sets that I think could both work in the centres or the wing great so not sure who’d I prefer to move right now.
Richie has played some wing coming through and is taller than Will. Araz is probably the taller of the two.
Yeah, it also only dawned on me last week that some of the missing players who were seemingly on a longer break than some NRL stars had played finals footy, so their leave started late.
How has this club not got rid of Matto? the lack of ruthlessness in the front office bleeds everywhere. If we were bulldogs or roosters we would have punted him within the same year of us paying overs to resign him for lack of form and not taking the fine. Instead we are years down the track and stuck with an asset worth little and a roster spot being occupied by someone who surely won’t even be considered for first grade.
I can’t answer that, but there has to be a new home found otherwise he gets full pay.
We can still cut him and give him full pay to free up a roster spot. Dogs did that with Ryan Sutton recently and it’s clearly a statement to the players that such a fall off isn’t acceptable – you find another club or you’ll be cut but get your money.
Why pay him full freight ($650k) to have a years holiday? Get him to work his butt off to earn it and just maybe you’ll find a decent footballer in there for this year.
Agree Glenn. He needs to be in the shopfront to find a new home.its in his best interests.
Better teams do it but we hold onto the delusion that matto will somehow come good. He’s never been a grinding worker sort of player and he has become less and less mobile the last few years (hence move into the middle). Clearly rylesy had no time for him last year and it would be silly to play him this year instead of one of the younger guys who are part of the future. Anyway, I guess this is another example of how far off we are to being a legitimate contender both on and off the field.
The annoying thing with matterson is he has more ability than any other player we have in the back row , unfortunately he just won’t deliver on it and I’m guessing he rubs people up the wrong way
So who are the eels going to sign to replace Zachery Lomax?
I dont get the Matto angst, or why we are moving him on. His form line from my memory of things has always been fine. If people are still salty about him not paying the fine I think they need to move on. I dont remember the incident clearly, but I remember it was a ridiculous penalty that didn’t warrant the fine or suspension, and it felt like he was taking a stance against the decision more than anything. I might be telling the story I want to remember, but I feel like Matto has been unfairly chastised. He may have attitude or training issues, but thats not really something we as fans see or experience, so anything like that feels highly speculatory.
It’s not speculatory that ryles didn’t want a bar of him last year. It’s not speculatory that the super league clubs didn’t want him either. It’s also not speculatory that no other nrl club wanted him last year nor at the moment. The facts suggest that a big number of rugby league officials see someone who isn’t the right fit for their team – whether that’s play style or personality I don’t know (probably bit of both). But sure, we have parra fans who think maybe just maybe this is the year. That’s very speculative in the face of all the above and his form over last few years. Perhaps the push to keep rather than cut him is all a symptom of how bad the recruitment and retention is compared to other clubs. We lost our nsw and Aussie rep winger and have no nrl experienced reserve backs plus need a middle to two but have signed de belin (who I think is helpful for a year) and rented Pezet (which was the right call but needs to be supplemented by rather additions). We are so starved of blue chip quality additions we think Bailey Simonsson is somehow going to fill the Lomax void (a bloke rules had in Reggie’s last year, sooked, and can’t keep fit in any event). You talk to fans at other teams and they laugh at the state of the backline. I sure hope the club is going to announce signings sooner or later (esp Koloamatangi)
Mick B..I watched Matterson closely in that period before we hit some form, we were going like we thought the game was 60 minutes. In the first 60 we showed some competitive signs but invariably found a way to heap pressure on ourselves which added up to a poor final 20. Matterson seemed to me to be playing safely and soundly, just hit it up and make his tackles. Like he had decided not to be a part of the 60/20 scene, but after 80 minutes everyone was in the same boat…well meaning losers. So I’m sort of with you there, I don’t think Matterson played badly, and maybe with the right management from Ryles & Co and the right response from the player, we can get a decent input happening.
Agree BDon. And take some of your points Ron, and while generally “where there is smoke there is fire”, the reality is that the Matto stuff is speculation, and we don’t know all the answers. It could be / likely was Lomax that was told not to come to training (if anyone), and there could be good reasons why Matto hasn’t found a home outside the eels (eg cant/wont live overseas, or even outside Sydney, wants a longer contract, doesn’t need to rush his decision etc).
One point I can’t disagree with is he was overlooked for first grade. I didn’t get it myself, but there’s some reason for Ryles reluctance to select Matto. I always thought he was a good player, if a bit lazy in defence some times. I’d be trying to get maximum output from Matto over 2026, and see if he can crack the first grade squad. At his best, he’s a rep player.