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While they now wait pensively to see if the $100,000 preseason bounty will be theirs to claim pending the result between the Storm and Gold Coast, more importantly the Parramatta Eels got the final hit out they would have been aiming for. The Sydney Roosters gave them a terrific battle throughout leaving Jason Ryles with plenty of tape – both positive and negative – to work with ahead of Round 1.
Sixties and Forty20 debrief on the Gosford trial. What did they like? Where do the Eels need to sharpen up? Was there any late movement in the positional charts? The boys also go around the grounds for the Harold Matthews and SG Ball where the Eels prevailed against the Tigers in both grades.
Still some things to work on, but confidence building
Not perfect but didn’t expect it in a trial. Good finish to the preseason
The main takeaways is that the eels did not throw everything at them yet tore them to bits with line breaks all throughout the game, with both NRL and NSW cup level players on the field. And much like hopgood, De Belin is likely going to struggle to play the ball playing lock close to what Walker can, due to the wider pass playing style out the back which de Belin isn’t used to playing like. De Belin is better than tonight’s game. He needs time adjusting.
I also think the eels would have won if it was a full strength NRL game. Why? Because the roosters large body forward pack leaks tries and line breaks as they gas. Moses also had a shocker. He would not have been taking that high risk 40/20 attempt kicks in a NRL match.
The eels are taking off where they left off last season, line breaks galore, short passes up middle, young players are thriving, and trust me the roosters would be in shit from Trent Robinson for allowing that many line breaks. Our depth is very good. Lorenzo & Papalii are gun young players. Top 1% in their respective ages in lower grades. T brown & tuivati very good. Samrani very good. Russel VERY good…
P.S see the roosters bias from BOTH commentators AND NRL refs? It’s as clear as day. This game & its governing bodies, journalists, all need to up the professionalism.
In Jason Ryles we trust 🫡
Cheers Muz. Yes plenty of positives as well as aspects to work on. Don’t start me on the coverage. What about the halftime highlights only showing every Roosters try and highlight!
Are we surprised of this? It seems Melb / Brisbane / Easts / C’bury are the comp.
V good second half for me – we were v enthusiastic i have to say in second half. Some good signs for me.
Main squad – some looked a little rusty. Maybe I’m being too harsh
Looking sharp Sixties
I have to say if R Smith gets hurt….defence and footy awareness is great.
Big Sam And Brown – sign up think they will be future leaders.
How did Flegg and Reserves go?
Cheers Milo. Cup lost 20 to 16. Flegg won 28 nil
I thought at half time that the Roosters had cashed in on opportunities better than us without really looking a 10 point better team, the sort of game that momentum could change with a bit of luck, a penalty or two. Overall, a good test for us, the Chooks were not a soft touch. The Leniu/DaSilva moment, if Leniu had done the extras in normal run of play, he would have been penalised, but he did it after the whistle as a pump up…should still be penalised.
I thought it was a bad missed call. Will he be cited. Prob not
It was also a high tackle BDon, but it’s let go because as dross put it “he’s a character”. He’ll get away with a lot in his career as like JWH he plays for the roosters
Even so, I was stunned it wasn’t picked up Ham.
The missed catch by Iongi, was he tackled in the air? I think it was Tedesco
Nah, Tedesco had eyes for the ball. I was surprised there wasn’t a LOT more scrutiny on whether he touched it though.
There was very little scrutiny of contact, I was waiting for KAYO to run another replay, it was very unclear from the single replay, Tedesco suddenly reached out with his arm but I couldn’t see if contact occurred…early, late, touched the ball or not. Ionghi didn’t seem to object when the try was scored.
John, I felt the same but the replays were not overly 100% either way and I gather trials do this. I felt some of our main team needed another 20 mins out there tbh but time will tell.
The result. Always good to win. We ran over them late with a mix of Cup players and first graders coming back on when the Roosters top players had pulled up stumps. Still. Win is a win and good to see them finish the game strong.
The positives.
Defence was generally pretty good. A couple of lapses by Doorey in the space of 5 minutes wasn’t great (he wasn’t helped by Kautonga’s numbering up on the first one), but all in all pretty good.
Every time Samrani plays, he does something good.
Ryley Smith’s second stint was A LOT better than his first stint.
I am not Russell’s biggest fan, and I didn’t think we would see growth, but we seem to be.
Walker. The game seems so slow to him. He just seems to have time.
Lorenzo looks very exciting and interesting. I’m loath to get excited until he is signed up long term and playing first grade regularly (maybe as early as next year). as that requires me to trust O’Neil to do his job.
We scored 6 tries despite Pezet and Moses not being great. They’ll only get better
Our depth is a little better than last year.
The concerns/negatives
They are kind of the same ones they always are.
How many NRL teams would Kautonga and Simmonson make the first 13 in, at in their respective positions? I feel like the number is below 3.
Da Silva. Backed up well. His service is still not up to scratch and decision making not amazing.
There were periods of play where it looked like the team had never trained together.
Jack de Belin. Giving off some strong Josh Hodgson vibes. Yardage was nothing impressive and his ball play was atrocious. I am not going to tell you Charlie Guymer is the difference between winning a comp and not, but neither is JDB. And I am not going to tell you Hopgood is the best ball playing middle, but neither is JDB. So are we writing off last year as a waste of time with developing those two? Both were much better players by years end. I fear for Guymer’s development and confidence if he has to watch JDB getting picked over him, and JDB keeps playing like that.
Side note: We haven’t played an official game since the NRL’s lack of professionalism was on show with the pre game incident that may have ended Elise Katoa’s career, and we have the NRL starting a game for 4 minutes, before having to take a 45 minute lighting break, then giving the players just 5 minutes to warm up. I was out on the highway just west of the stadium when the storm hit and it was lighting galore. The magnitude of the storm in the area, did not sneak up on them and how they didn’t delay the kick off when the storm was going to pass through with in moments of kick off, beggers belief.
Walker is in a different class to JDB. I would start Walker and give him short rests with Guymer replacing him.
JDB is a bench forward imo.
Doorey and Kelma unfortunately do not move sideways well in defence and make poor reads way too often for nrl players.
It’s a shame as their attack can be great.
It goes to show the difference between great training form and playing in a game against an nrl side.
It’s why coaches like the preseason trials rather than just track work, but you’re also going off a sample size of this game. Both players were terrific in the back half of the season last year. Doorey, especially, runs lines like no other in the squad. He has been my standout of the preseason. He got caught out for speed by Walker last night, which was as much about the halfback’s skill in isolating a defender, and the Eels coaches working on the spacing. I thought Doorey got it all wrong in trying to charge out of the line with the next try. That’s one for the video review. Kelma can make an error or two in defence which is why he was dropped last season. But he addressed it and earned his recall.
Neither of them were terrific in the back end last season imo.
Doorey was solid in some games and Kelma was definitely good in some games.
The issue with Doorey last night is he looked gassed very quickly, which has been an issue since he joined the club.
and although he has clearly impressed in training with his fitness he was exposed on the edges when he looked tired by a very good half.
I have no doubt they will both fight it out for a spot on a four man bench but I think Moriati, big Sam, Guyma are going to have more trust from Ryles from a defensive point of view.
I wouldn’t be writing off Doorey or JDB this early.
BAS, I can see the balance you have aimed for but I think you’ve erred more to the negative. Anyway, to answer a couple of things.
Firstly, I think Lorenzo is signed till the end of 28.
I agree about Samrani. His versatility is terrific and he has had a very strong finish to the preseason.
They rate Guymer. He’s continued to mature over the preseason. His battle might be against Samrani for a spot.
Highly disagree about Gideon. He is a weapon. Will get better and better.
The lightning situation? Couldn’t agree more. Amateur hour stuff to start the game, then stop. Just worrying about tv schedules and hoping for the best. Disgraceful.
Well said 60’s, saves me answering some of those assesments, the critics maybe observant but not correct, Kautoga has exponetional potential and De Bellin was not purchased for his distribution ability, but his defence in tightning up the middle.
I have faith in Doorey and Kelma but I would not start either of them against Melb.
Storm going into this game are going to be totally reliant on Hughes, Grant and Munster….they will be going through the middle…. I believe Guymer can play a big part off the bench.
Samrani needs to be on the bench, there’s nothing ordinary or extraordinary about this kid but things always seem to happen around him.
The Ibis has a knack of finding the right bin.
Very good Joseph!
Where do the Eels need to sharpen up? GOAL KICKING
It’s the difference between winning and losing games every season
And Kaotoga needs to run it hard
I replied to your take on this on Twitter Bob. I agree that it’s a concern, but they have been working all preseason on it – with Matt Burke. To be fair, the kickers that missed last night all had sideline shots in wet conditions then gave another kicker a go after that. They have all been nailing them at practise, so they need to keep up those reps and it will improve. Also note that Lincoln Fletcher is one of the group doing the extra training and he’s kicked 17 in a row in Ball, many from out wide. I’ve also now put my jinx on him by referencing that.
I’ve just read about Moses running laps at half time with the trainers, was he limping? Is that why he was kicking them out on the full? He’s still nursing an injury probably. Great.
Tbh I’ve got ptsd over Moses and missing games due to injury
If he gets injured during origin again I’m going to be seriously pissed
Why would he be running laps if he was injured?
He was running laps presumably? because he was not happy with his conditioning relative to the time he spent on the field.
The defence of doorey and tualagi continues to leave a lot to be desired. I think both are expendable by end of year (tuivati, teancum, will latu etc should jump them). Their defensive deficiencies are mental and training form can’t really improve it (especially tualagi)
The backline is weak as well. We need to sign a speedy centre like marine on left to replace Russel next year. Will is just so slow. A young right winger to replace Bailey (see raiders) would also be ideal – Bailey is backup quality not first grade.
Trials done. Melbourne are beatable so let’s see what we are made of this year
A bit more negative than I expected Ron, especially given it was a trial and the line break stats were so lopsided. I’m not going to debate that there is still work to be done, and that’s why coaches like the preseason hit outs against other teams. Walker was very good last night and the Roosters will play finals. I was more concerned about our kicking/catching outcomes from the game. We’ve worked on it in preseason, but the Roosters got the better of us there. I think we outplayed them in our basic structures even when we were behind on the scoreboard. But again, it’s a trial so I won’t get too bold about either how good we were or what went wrong.
I’m nitpicking I definitely accept that. But I just don’t see how a premiership contender has players like tualagi and doorey etc. to me, they are bridging players until the youngsters with more upside develop (with tualagis poor defensive work a problem since his debut)
I’m keen to see what we are like round 1. We didn’t really start games well last year so I’m hoping for a fast start.
Lorenzo looks so promising. He’s good that natural ball playing that Cody walker etc have
Result aside you can tell we are very well coached team and we are a pleasure to watch with our ball movement.
Mitch a bit rusty with the boot. Hopefully he’s got it all out of his system in a trial. Pezet to me looks a genuine 7 as well, not sure the combo is going to work… when Lorenzo and Joash came on you could feel they gave much more of a run threat.
Doorey and Kelma can both be assets to the team but I think their minutes need to be limited. Both can make poor decisions under fatigue.
OB depth all of a sudden looks okay, Kelly and Samrani assuming will be the back ups.
Biggest concern (and it was just one game) but JDB didn’t look comfortable at all in that ball playing role. 3-4 errors directly from him. I think he probably needs to swap with Hopgood and go back to prop with a simpler game plan. Just run hard, offload and belt blokes in the middle.
Fair takes Zest. Referring to JDB, as that was his first hit out, I think we can give him a bit more leeway in fitting in to the systems. Pezet has looked awesome in his role in training scrimmages, and also to be fair to him, he has had to swap sides throughout the preseason as they worked through scenarios without Moses and with Pezet taking on the main playmaker role.
I think I must have been watching a different game or are some fans to hard to please. Two negative points come to mind. The goal kicking was disappointing but Mr Sixties covered that. The first half Parra’s completions rate was 58 percent. The second half turned it around with 94 percent. And that was the difference. With all the ball in the first the Roosters got what four tries and two were lucky. My take on Sam Walker – he is a dead set origin half. He is that good. His try was due to hie quick thinking because DCE was looming up on his right and that’s where the defense was focused. A great game – a very good win and I thought the boys went well. It was a trial and I cannot recall the last time Parra won consecutive trial games.
Melbourne up next and they will be a lot better than their last two games. I think we are in with a good chance.
You gotta feel for Doorey, Sam Walker will make a few players look silly this season.
Just wondering if anyone caught the NSW cup game against the Roosters and if so did anyone stand out?
It’s so annoying how the narrative in media is about how good the rooster Sam Walker is 😓
Not how good the eels did full of cup players and won pre season challenge
The bias towards roosters from Fox and the refs has really annoyed me
Anyone who’s thinks this game is ran professionally and there’s no biased or borderline corrupt things going on needs to watch other codes & sports here and over seas
Our game from the top brass down to refs and media pundits all have clear biases or agendas favouring certain clubs
It’s so obvious even when I try to lie to myself that our game doesn’t have those issues, but it’s unfortunately shoved in your face if you pay close attention
The eels if remain fit are a top 8 side
Roosters are not if they lose Teddy & Sam Walker, I don’t have roosters making GF either – over hyped easts
Hearing a Lomax deal is imminent.
No player swap but improved financial offering.
It’s been said all along that Parramatta harboured no ill will to Zac but needed a fair deal to give their blessing.
Thing could still fall over but I was told all parties would prefer it didn’t go through the courts, especially the NRL
Lomax deal in limbo…..article about matterson concussions being potentially career ending….i see what youre doing PVL.
Certainly smells like reciprocal back scratching doesn’t it
Thought we matched the physicality with the roosters, they were able to convert their chances a bit better than us, although I believe that Simonsson opportunity was a try and Penisini was a bit unlucky to get ankle tapped otherwise he scores. Moses made some uncharacteristic mistakes which I don’t believe he makes in a regular season game. The 2 trials panned out how I had hoped, 2 Eels wins and 0 injuries.
3. Ryley Smith
2. Will Penisini
1. Nixon O’Connor
The legend of Nixon O’Connor never dies!
Thanks fellas,
Overall I’m happy with the two results. We played ok. Rusty in parts and improvement required all over, but it is the beginning of the season so that is expected. If we can continue the improvement trajectory like 2025 we should be in a good position come finals. However, this season seems to me as being one of the closest in some time so a few things need to go our way.
Goalkicking is one thing we can control. I note Big Bobs comments and concur. Moses seems to average a mid to high 70s success rate over the last few years. That is not going to be good enough in close competition of 2026. I take Sixties point that Matt Burke is helping out – he was a good goal kicker for the Wallabies back when I did watch rugby union. Hopefully his contribution leads to improvement throughout the year.
Sean Russell just keeps on developing and you can see his confidence continue to grow. Two years ago or so not many of us would have said we will miss him when he goes. Congratulations to him on all the hard work coming back from that horrific injury caused by the “hands first” “knees next” nothing to see here Titans tackle.
W. Penisini seems to have added muscle this year – is that a fair comment or am I just imagining things? I liked the aggression he bought to the game.
So to Rd1 against the Storm. I will be nervous and as jittery as a cat on the proverbial roof. Hopefully we end the Storms first round victory list.
Cheers
I thought Doorey was pretty good some good line running, set Moses up and another big forwards try, with a brilliant short pass, ,great hole running
I’m surprised by so many negative comments. We weren’t perfect, but pretty bloody good for a trial match. Sam Walker has very good vision and a lethal step near the line. he also plays behind a very good Roosters pack.
– Mitch will never kick that bad again and the Pezet combo has a very high ceiling
– Mitch missing games is less scary than it used to be with Joash & co building
– JDB, Hoppy & Jr work well together in D – getting players on backs etc
– The young bench forwards get a lot of benefit from the old boys work early
– Some loose D in the middle but plenty of options and training adjustments to come
Early days, but good signs.