It was a breezy weekend for the Lisa Fiaola and Tarsha Gale Cups with both squads enjoying a bye in Round 3 of their competitions. That made it a weekend for the fellas with the Parramatta Eels hitting the road across the Harold Matthews, SG Ball and of course – the NRL on Saturday.

At the conclusion of Saturday – and after a sizeable delay for a lightning storm – it proved to be a banner day for the Eels…well as far as banner days go for early season Junior Representative fixtures and NRL trials. Not only did Parramatta forge ahead in their undefeated campaigns in the Matts and Ball but Jason Ryles and his cohort of first graders secured fleeting glory and a sweet $100,000 bonus for the club in their victory over the Sydney Roosters in Gosford.

Thus it marks a Victory Monday! So let’s celebrate, within reason of course, a good slate of results for the Blue & Gold as we now make the turn towards the NRL season proper.

NRL Witzer Preseason Challenge Week 3

Parramatta Eels 28 defeat the Sydney Roosters 22

As far as trial results go, for both process and outcome, this was a smashing success for the Eels. That isn’t to say they were perfect – or even close. Therein lies the rub though. Their 6-point victory over the Roosters yielded a great mix of tape. Plenty of positives can be extracted from the comeback victory but so too were there some clear areas of improvement for Parramatta. Crucially, there were no serious injuries sustained by either side. It all amounts to an ideal review process for Ryles and his staff and excellent fodder for their preparations against the Melbourne Storm in Round 1.

Where did the Eels struggle? Well for one, they pretty clearly lost contain on Sam Walker prior to half time. A rough passage of defensive play for Matt Doorey (although not on his own here either) allowed Walker to propel the Tri-colours to a 10-point lead at the break following a virtuoso scoring effort and then feeding a sharp try assist to Angus Crichton.

It serves as a stark reminder of the importance for the defence in not handing the play option for the play-maker. In both instances the Eels presented lapses in defence that heavily incentivised the running option for Walker and he duly obliged. Great players are going to get you. It is a fact of our game. In both of these scoring scenarios on Saturday though the Eels folded too easily and in that I have no doubt the coaching staff will be fired up to rectify the exposed faults.

Beyond that flurry of offence for the Roosters there were foibles here and there. Mitchell Moses sailed clearing kicks out on the full not once but twice in what may very well be a once in a life time occurrence. Isaiah Iongi and Bailey Simonsson both ceded points under the high ball while it took the Eels, sans Sean Russell’s explosive opening riposte, a good quarter of the game to settle in to their rhythm in offence. Jack De Belin looked like it was his first hit-out of the year and had a couple of miscues to his name trying to distribute the ball to exterior attackers. Cause for concern? Not just yet for mine but definitely something to monitor.

As for the positives? Take your pick. Will Penisini looked in terrific nick and seems set to match the rising form of his running mate in Sean Russell. Kitione Kautoga was at his offloading, line-breaking best while Parramatta’s interchange rotation of Dylan Walker, Sam Tuivaiti and Matt Doorey look set to be a handful for any number of teams this year. I wouldn’t call it confirmation but I do think there is some clarity now that if the Eels have reasonable bill of clean health they can throw down with anyone in this burgeoning era of parity in the NRL.

That bill of health is largely predicated on the availability of Moses naturally but if the Eels are required to call upon depth options in other positions then there is plenty of cause for optimism. Charlie Guymer, Joash Papalii, Brian Kelly and Jordan Samrani all slipped into the line-up on Saturday seamlessly while Kelma Tuilagi is the casualty of a loaded backrow.

Teancum Brown has emerged from the trials as perhaps the biggest individual winner. Brown thrust himself whole-heartedly into the preseason and his efforts have been validated after these two trial matches. While he was afforded less minutes on the weekend compared to the match against the Sharks, ‘Big T’ has catapulted himself into consideration at a legitimate debut option for Ryles in 2026.

While Brown looms as the more likely debutante this year, how could fans not be excited in the glimpse they got of Lorenzo Talataina? The reigning SG Ball Player Of the Year put on a show as he laid on two try assists/involvements for Samrani and nearly put Kelly over for a second try with his electric boot. In this game Talataina donned the #26 but it might very well prove to be the first major steps towards striking the ‘2’ from that number long term.

The 6-point victory saw the Eels emerge as preseason champions ahead of the Gold Coast Titans. Parramatta secured a maximum six bonus points courtesy of their bold attacking structures that proliferated offloads, line breaks and ultimately tries.

Now preseason champions isn’t exactly a lofty title, hence why I jokingly badged it as fleeting glory earlier. With that said, the Brisbane Broncos have worn the same paper crown in both 2024 and 2025 in their charge to a premiership. While it should not be held up as a bone fide barometer for regular season success, nor should it simply be dismissed out of hand as meaningless.

Jason Ryles has installed quality systems at Parramatta. This is a well rounded roster with no glaring holes at full strength and a true field-tilting presence at halfback. They have completed an excellent preseason and now get the chance to unseat one of the code’s legendary streaks in Round 1. There are reasonable concerns around backline depth – perhaps somewhat assuaged by positive showings from young players like Apa Twidle, Araz Nanva, Richard Penisini and Mohamed Alameddine but every team faces some kind of balance issue in their roster.

I implore fans, the rusted on and the thrice burned. The skeptics and the unicorns alike. This is the time to buy in. The Parramatta Eels are building. The NRL is there to be taken. Brisbane and Penrith are the benchmarks and both are beatable. In the immortal words of Michael Scott – no question about it, I am ready to get hurt again!

** UPDATE **

It appears that Josh Addo-Carr has broken his thumb. It is the most Parramatta thing possible that the one positional group we didn’t want to see get hit by injuries early on does indeed get hit by an injury. Enter Brian Kelly for the first few rounds.

SG Ball Round 3

Parramatta Eels 54 defeat the Balmain Tigers 12

This was an experience. The Parramatta Eels practically slept walk through the opening 20-minutes of this contest and save for a heady intercept play from Lorima Rokosuka could have found themselves down 16 or 18-0. Instead, Rokosuka’s counter attacking brilliance meant the scores were set at 12-6 in favour of the Tigers and in spite of the home team’s name sake it was the Eels who roared from there.

In the blink of an eye it was 30-12. I mean that as literally as possible in a rugby league sense. Tries to Michael Nauer, Lincoln Fletcher and Riley Davis (2) inside the space of 8-minutes tore the soul of their opposition and then feasted on it for good measure.

The return of Chris Petrus was central to this game. With the Eels missing Ryda Talagi, Steven Nunn and Maison Ong, Petrus immediately picked up where he left off in 2025 as a force of nature on the field. He eviscerated the Tigers by run and offload and the boys from Balmain could only sit back and marvel at the show Petrus put on.

Of course, you don’t pile on a half century without featured performances across the park. Davis continues to dazzle at fullback while the rest of the back line are rounding into good form across the board. Jackson Koina shouldered an enormous responsibility this week with the outs the Eels had in the middle and didn’t falter – due in part to a stellar game from Billy Fanene off the bench. Viliami Fifita also made a splash on debut as a rotation forward with the powerful prop forward showcasing great leg speed in the second half.

Lincoln Fletcher and Cameron Bamblett continued to forge their partnership in the halves and while neither was tasked with taking over the game his week, both played their parts well. Fletcher bagged a good solo try when he punished overzealous goal line defence with his running game but it is his flawless boot that is catching the eye. The young halfback drilled 9/9 conversions with more than a few sideline attempts to tack onto his 8/8 effort in Round 1.

It is hard to give justice to just how dominant the Eels were on Saturday after their initial period of slumber. This team is must-watch footy and every fan that has the means can and should be tuning in.

Harold Matthews Round 3

Parramatta Eels 22 defeat the Balmain Tigers 6

Parramatta made it three on the trot in the Harold Matthews Cup with a comprehensive 22-6 victory over the Tigers in which goal-kicking was the primary concern. The Eels piled on give tries to two at Leichardt Oval following a significant reshuffle to the team ahead of kickoff. Newly installed five-eighth Danny Abuhamed shone brightly on the left edge with some slick pass selection prying open the Tigers and paving the way for William Memea Epe (2) and Tyler Lama to score.

Hayden Bell continued his brilliant start to the season with a cracking solo try in the first half and practically robbed himself of a second when he failed to ground the ball after fighting through the ruck defence of the Tigers. Spencer Sorenson was crafty out of dummy half through out and made the most of his first start in the role with Flynn Manu’a out.

Another notable change was the shift that Lorima Seuseu made moving from left centre to fullback. Seuseu has been a potent presence for the Eels in the first two rounds in the three-quarter line but there is pretty clearly a lot more potential to tap into here. With better integration into the attacking structures, Seuseu could feasibly unlock another level of play for the Eels but in his opening appearance in the custodial role he settled for toiling hard and made some selfless plays including a brilliant effort to get back into the field of play on a dangerous grubber kick.

Commenters in the live blog pointedly mentioned that goal kicking is a real concern for the Matts and I agree. They have done very well to see of the Magpies, Sharks and Tigers through the first three rounds of play but they are going to need to convert their 4-pointers into 6-pointers as they approach the pointy end of the season. Still, I tip my hat to them. They are playing some quality footy and more than deserve their current ladder berth.

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