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It’s that time of year! No, it isn’t Christmas – well it almost is – but it is that time of year when Mark O’Neill joins The Tip Sheet to debrief on the season just put into the books as well as look into what the future holds for the Parramatta Eels.
Sixties and Forty20 quiz the General Manager of Football for the Eels on a wide range of topics from how the Blue & Gold fared on the field this year, what the outstanding Centre of Excellence brings to the table for the club and what lies on the horizon for fans through recruitment and development.
As always, TCT extends a massive and sincere thanks to Mark O’Neill and the club for providing not only the time but the access for both ourselves and fans as we look to keep connecting the greatest fan base in the code to our club.
It has been reported that Sean Russell has been signed by the Perth Bears. Given that outside backs has already been revealed as a weakness in the Eels top 30. Where do we go from here?
This area is not a strong point for our junior talent which may help with our depth issues. I believe that we need to go to market to sign a high quality player.
Whether that is a high priced current outside back or an up and coming junior from another club.
What I do know is that there is no substitute for speed in outside backs and that needs to be a priority
John, unfortunately this interview was recorded on Tuesday before this news came out. The importance of signing a quality outside back is more paramount than ever
I have little confidence that the Parra recruitment team will sign “quality”. Will probably sign more off cuts from other teams to patch together a sub par (or at best mediocre) backline. Has been like that for years and we don’t replenish well or fast enough (eg roosters lose manu and sign marky mark. They lose mark and sign Garrick, they have gun talent id that means juniors like tioa are origin quality very quickly. They lose Jwh and bring up nafahu Whyte). We also have little loyalty from our players (eg brown leaves for 200k more a year pre tax even though Jayden Campbell, jahrome Hughes and Munster all knocked back 200-300k more from clubs to resign at their current clubs). Anyway, I suppose we wait to see which reject from another club turns up at Kellyville
Also Toloau kola from manly is off contract (has an option yet to take up) so that should be the signing – 700k and go get real quality for once
He would be ideal Ron
I’d be pleased with Kola.
Koala is a good player I doubt he leaves Manly though we need to start in unearthing our own outside backs in the juniors.
Richie who has been bugged by injury could be an option.. so he and Nanva may be fighting it out at the moment.
Btw I like how O’Neil gets out and chats to you guys
Koala’s are protected species, so no tackling, but slow whereas Koula is not and quick. About time Eels really went out to sign a big name! Good spine, one of the better ones, good mobile skillful forwards and quick backs is the recipe for premiership success.
The issue for Dyl wasn’t the coin. He signed because he got a ten year deal. No club, including Parra, would match that.
So we have 27 under contract which encompasses a undermanned backline ( which includes Tago for goodness sake ) , and no sign that the usual slow and cumbersome recruitment will change. Since losing those players in 2022, there has been little to get excited about and it isn’t changing, we have a list manager and a lopsided roster.
Hopefully they get off their backsides and get busy, for a club our size and financial strength, there seems to be a missing link between fstatus and recruitment. Not looking to the futures with great confidence that we will get a rep level backline player, question remains how is that consistently happening that we can’t recruit at a rep level.
Totally agree mate
I actually don’t expect any signing till at least mid January. Clubs won’t pay for a new player to sit around doing nothing for the next couple of weeks. When training resumes for all clubs, we should expect movement.
Penrith, many years ago, decided to concentrate on their juniors as, like us, couldn’t attract the quality player they wanted. Think our location (outer west) also plays into prospective player’s consideration when deciding on various club’s offers. This means we must identify young talent before signing them up and suggest that speed must be one of the criteria for selection.
Jake Averillo is available for next season (although under contract) wants to return to Sydney for personal reasons and would like to be disappointed if we weren’t chasing him , it got back to me via a se qld player manager we are very difficult to deal with with contract negotiations, also from north of the border I believe Kelly will be an eel , lastly I believe we have bought a stake in the billambel jets and young talent will be pushed to the eels instead of the titans
That’s interesting mail Ivan, especially around the Billambil club. I am expecting Kelly and maybe a second outside back.
The early responses to this pod are all about wanting that 28th player signed and wanting it done asap. If the Eels part ways with Matto, maybe a second player will be added before round one. But don’t expect the Eels to discuss anything publicly. Getting Iongi done without anything playing out in the media is how they prefer to do business. The recruitment in 2025 all added value. And plenty of it. As for 26, Pezet will be a huge positive and De Belin is the ultimate professional. Let’s see who lands in PARRAdise in the next month or so.
Are you saying you are happy with recruitment and retention for 2026? Surely you can’t be serious?
We have lost footy Dean, Lomax and Brown and replaced them with old man Debelin and pit stop Perez. Talk about building for the future. Laughable recruitment.
Our depth in the outside backs was already thin and is now abysmal. Rubbing salt into the wound is we have finally seen Sean Russell have a solid season and he is out the door too.
We finished outside the top 8 and have a weaker squad so expectations are low for this year.
The only plus we have is Ryles bringing a new level of professionalism.
If winning starts in the front office then we need a new front office our recruitment and retention rates a solid D- for me. KPIs must have an extremely low bar.
Can confirm we have signed Jasmin Morrissey from billambal jets who played 1 game for titans nrlw side this year, very quick centre ,pretty promising player
The TCT guys mean well and provide a perfectly acceptable service, but that was a complete yawn-fest. You’re far too nice to put Mark O’Neill under any real pressure, despite him leaving us stranded out wide for several seasons And the continued inability to secure a genuine long-term marquee signing is yet another failure.
Agreed – O’Neil talks without saying much that is substantive. It’s replete with cliche and vague comments about identity, player driven culture, continuous learning etc
We are so behind in the recruitment department of footy clubs
Agree Ron
And now we have apparently signed… Brian Kelly. Only winning season in his 9 year career was year one. Every year since he has been in losing teams and has a career win record of under 34%. But partnering him in the centres with Sean Russell will translate into a Premiership for the Eels apparently…
Oneill is lucky to have a job. We should be a powerhouse club.
Very insightful podcast. Thanks Mark, and well done all 👍🏻