Happy New Year and welcome to the first issue of Bumpers Up for 2026.

Now that we’ve moved into January the countdown truly begins for the upcoming season.

At this time last year, we were realistically optimistic. It was a highly positive preseason but there was still the great unknown about how the Eels would perform under a new coaching team.

This time round we know a bit more about some of the young players and we certainly know that the side finished the 2025 season on a high.

No matter what lies ahead, we are all united in looking forward to the season opener.

Is No KK Ok?

So the Eels missed out on recruiting Keaon Kaloamatangi for the 2027 season.

Are you concerned and why or why not?

Based on the messages sent to me from Parra supporters thus far, there is an overall disappointment that the Eels have not managed to land the last two big fish that they angled for. They are of course referencing Lachie Galvin as the first failure.

The backlash is understandable, but how much have we been influenced by expectations?

Personally, my hopes were high about landing Galvin. I had received strong mail, close to impeccable. And to be fair, the same source had informed me that both Galvin and Da Silva intended moving to the Eels.

Galvin’s call to head to the Dogs was a 12th hour decision, one that left a stench for many about the media influence of Phil Gould. One could suggest that the latest NRL anti-tampering rules were partially rooted in this situation. The wisdom of Galvin’s call has also been the subject of debate, in addition to whether it may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the Eels.

As for Kaloamatangi, without question he was going to be a valuable addition from 2027 onwards. He’d been targeted by the Eels as a future leader of the forwards. Ultimately, the Dragons massive deal has trumped both Keaon’s beloved Souths as well as what we suspected was a very attractive offer from the Eels.

More money, more years, helicopter rides, potentially a ratchet clause. How deep did I want the Eels to venture down the bidding war rabbit hole?

To be honest, any disappointment about a possible 2027 recruit has quickly given way to my focus on more immediate priorities. Namely outside backs, and even a depth dummy half.

All mail has been pointing to the addition of Brian Kelly to the roster. News on that front should be sorted very soon, one way or the other. I never expected any player to join the roster just before the Christmas break. Suitors don’t pay players to sit around on holidays, they let their incumbent clubs do that.

Adding a second experienced outside back has become more of a priority since the announcement of the 2027 departure of Sean Russell.

In theory, the Eels have the best part of a season to sort that out, and the vacancy might be filled by a pathways product. However, the coaches needs to have options, and if a local product gets the nod, then it needs to be because they’ve earned it, not because nobody else was available. I’d hope that can be sorted much sooner than later.

Finally, though I’ve previously written on the topic, very few others have raised the subject of dummy half depth. This is probably because the Eels have two high quality rakes in Ryley Smith and Tallyn Da Silva.

The reality is that there is no other specialist dummy half in the full time squad, and that’s means across all lists – top 30, supplementary and train and trial. Lachlan Coinakis was involved in preseason training up to Christmas but he is now part time and likely to play Flegg.

In the past, the Eels have lost up to three dummy halves in the season – remember Ray Stone having to play at 9 in the infamous final against the Panthers?

At this stage, the back up plan is probably manufacturing a hooker by shifting J’maine Hopgood or Charlie Guymer. Personally, I’m not a fan of such moves.

My Early Call

We are only at the mid point of the pre-season, and the serious opposed work and battle for places lies ahead. However, I’m going to declare that Jonah Pezet will have a major influence on the Eels 2026 campaign.

The temporary Eels resident hasn’t even done a month of work, but he’s an impressive addition.

His work down the Eels left in training drills has been eye-catching. And when Jason Ryles rests Mitch Moses from any opposed work, Joash Papalii joins the left whilst the former Storm half just slides over to the right edge and looks just as comfortable there.

As I see it, the Eels will have a genuine halfback on both sides of the field, and though the combinations are still raw, they appear to be quickly consolidating.

All this might trigger negative takes on why the Eels could only secure Pezet for one season. I’d simply reply that I want the Eels to approach every season with ambition, and I believe Jonah provides cause for ambition in 2026.

And along the way, young talent like Joash Papalii, Lorenzo Talataina and Lincoln Fletcher will have the opportunity to learn and develop as playmakers.

At the end of the day, based on his exposed form at the Storm, and his early pre-season form at Parra, I’d rather have Pezet in the Blue and Gold for one season than not at all.

Back From Holidays

The NRL squad return from their Christmas and New Year break on Monday, and I expect that there will be little if no time wasted.

Apart from a recruit or two joining before round one, I don’t expect changes to the squad. As far as I was aware, the only player on a limited pre-season was Lachlan Coinakis, as his training period wrapped up in the second week before Christmas.

This is the period of the preseason that I particularly enjoy. With less than six weeks until the first trial, the footy component and competition for places really heats up. Though most of the top 17 (now 19?) have probably been determined, one or two players usually put pressure on the coaches for round one selection.

Just on that, most punters would agree that the greatest battle is for a bench spot. The potential increase to six players sitting on the interchange could elevate the claims of players such as Jordan Samrani and Joash Papalii. More on that shortly.

As an observer, I’m expecting to see combinations flourish. I’m also hoping that some of the players in rehab before Christmas start to join the main group for training. Rushing them won’t be on the cards, but based on what I saw before Christmas, the likes of Bailey Simonsson and Junior Paulo will be close to a return.

Potential NRL Rule Changes

Forty and I discussed the proposed NRL rule changes in our most recent podcast, and for us it was a mixed bag.

We gave a big tick to the interchange bench increase. Though only four players will be able to be used (concussion protocols aside), the proposed change will alleviate some of the impact of injuries to specific players.

Coaches will now be able to have cover for positions that might have been given low priority in the past, but when injury has struck, turned the tide of games. For example, injuries to one or two outside backs or to a halfback might be unexpected, but losing them during a game when the bench was mostly forwards could often determine a result.

We also expect that it will increase the tactical applications and decision making of the coaches. From how they construct their benches to when they commit to using the fourth player during the game, it adds greater intrigue to match days.

For punters, will we read the team lists and write off players 18 and 19 as unlikely to play outside of specific injuries? Will coaches use that uncertainty to their advantage against specific opponents?

Further to that, will the players themselves be expecting to be used or will they know that it will only be injury will see them involved? For a player on the bench on debut, being listed might mean not even taking the field.

I like the increase in the number of players that will be exposed to NRL match day preparations. For mine, it’s a way of introducing young players on the cusp of selection to such processes, much like being named on an extended bench but with a little more pressure.

We also liked the removal of the seven tackle re-starts which punished teams who dropped the ball over the line in the act of scoring a try. They’ve already been punished in missing out on the points. Such mistakes were also not part of the reason for the introduction of seven tackle re-starts.

Hopefully there is clarity around lost possession in the act of scoring. For example, what happens if the ball isn’t grounded properly in a kick chase to the in-goal?

Our good mate AJ from “The League Scene” made a terrific suggestion to go along with this change. He wants the NRL to extend the rule to include missed field goal attempts.

It’s a good point! Why punish teams for trying to score points. That seven tackle re-start was only intended as a deterrent to long kicks over the dead ball line that took fullbacks out of play and allowed for set defence lines rather than staggered kick chases.

I’m a bit “meh” about the team scored against determining whether they kick off or receive. As far as I’m concerned the current rule wasn’t broken, and is part of the fabric of the game.

Finally, the set-restart change that sees infringements only penalised inside the red zone instead of the forty metre yardage area could be a huge mistake.

I have never liked set re-starts. They are the modern day scrum penalty as they can be awarded at any time without players or fans having a genuine clue about why. We don’t need more of them.

Junior Rep Trials

The conditions were far from ideal for playing or even watching football, but the first of three rounds of elite pathways trial games were completed just before Christmas.

Staged across consecutive Saturday evenings, Parra emerged comfortable winners in all four trials against the Sharks. In the first two trials, the Lisa Fiaola and Tarsha Gale teams battled wet conditions, whilst the following week it was the heat which made footy highly uncomfortable for the Harold Matts and SG Ball sides.

These are genuine trials for spots in the squads, with each group facing cuts after the next set of matches against the Dogs. Some Eels players were rested against the Sharks – those that had niggles or those that the club have probably already pencilled in. The Shire sides likely adopted the same policy.

Nonetheless, my impression was that all of the Eels teams looked a level above their opponents. More skilful, stronger and cohesive.

I look forward to the next set of trials in the coming weeks.

Zero Tackle, Zero Credit

If you don’t want to read my criticism of another site you can probably finish this column here. If you follow TCT social media, you already know what this is about.

Over the years, there have been numerous instances of mainstream media and other content creators using information found on TCT and failing to give any credit to the source. Thankfully, things have improved with fellow amateur or part time creators, but not so much with some of the bigger accounts or some paid journos.

None of this would come as a surprise to many punters. They’ve seen examples of journos or NRL-wide content creators getting their information from various fan sites, not just The Cumberland Throw. How many times do rumours get a life of their own when major media sites pick up their mail from fan accounts!

The fact remains that TCT produces original content. Outside of opinion pieces, previews and reviews, there is content not found anywhere else. Be it live blogs of lower grades and pathways, or training reports, we are actually there, reporting on what we see.

We create content that others do not. On most days over the last decade, there have been just one or two of us watching the Eels train. There were no other eyes. And yet some specific details from TCT reports, or generalisations made from them, would appear in the media.

Which leads me to my grievance with an article from Zero Tackle on Boxing Day that reported on the Eels retaining four players in their NSW Cup/Part Time system.

Their article landed a month after my training report and listed the same four players, in the same order. Significantly, those listed aren’t the only part time players retained by the Eels, and they weren’t the only ones training that night. But they were the only ones I could confirm at that time. Yes, I confirmed before reporting.

Zero Tackle have denied that they used the information stated in the TCT report in any way, and stated that they had someone watching training and that they then followed that up with “due diligence”.

Readers can make up their own mind on what went down. The thing is, for me this is only about acknowledging the source. It’s not about a huge scoop. From my perspective I was merely updating readers who follow Eels pathways with a bit of an update about part-time players, and it was just a small part of an NRL training report.

I don’t expect Zero Tackle to change their stance. I won’t be changing mine.

Eels forever!

Sixties