Phew. It sure is nice for football to exist again after it mysteriously disappeared last Thursday night about 9pm. Taking out a 40-32 shootout wasn’t on my bingo card for this one, but given the deep anguish felt during the first half and the heart attack of coming back and holding on, I’ll need something stronger than what is on offer in the bingo hamper anyway.

There’ll be more than one Eels fan that missed this win entirely, having turned off the television in disgust after ten minutes and the Broncos were beating the clock. It looked bleak: the defence was brittle, the six agains were flowing and Brisbane was making it look all too easy. Then suddenly Kelma Tuilagi barged through like a prime Gorden Tallis and it was clear that the Broncos line was just as shaky as ours.

From there, the Eels controlled play by completing better, kicking better and showing better discipline. Parramatta rode a 12-5 error count advantage and an 8-3 penalty count to enough possession that even the brilliance of Reece Walsh and the complete inability of the Eels to defend an attacking kick couldn’t overcome it. The six again crackdown was quietly shelved after about 20 minutes of footy and it is no coincidence that as soon as that momentum was halted, the Eels fought their way back into the game.

The contest was won and lost on the boot, with the mess the Eels made of every attacking kick keeping the Broncos in the match while the Moses long kicking game (with an assist from Reece Walsh’s unsteady hands) wrestled momentum from Brisbane time and again. Isaiah Iongi needs to spend some classroom time studying kick positioning, I don’t know where he was on the Walsh chip and chase try while Adam Reynolds and Ezra Mam both found gaping space behind the line for grubbers and cross kicks. The team wide contests for high kicks haven’t been up to standard all year long either.

Given the quality of opposing kicking games, this weakness is a massive concern going forward. The good news is that the defensive line itself was much improved, with the two main breaches coming down to back rowers either making poor decisions or falling over in the line. Both looked bad for how easily the Broncos scored, but it was from singular decision points rather than systemic failures. For all of their bluster the Broncos didn’t find much joy running at Jonah Pezet all day, and considering the freshness of the edge combinations I’m not discouraged, even if I’m hardly somersaulting in the stands.

Bounceback week went the Eels way, and while it could have been more convincing in the end it was two points. Offer me 1-1 after playing last year’s grand finalists away from home and I’d take it in a heartbeat, and I feel a lot better about round one being an aberration not a bellwether. Let’s get into the grades!

 

 

 

How highly you rate the performance of Double I here is a fair pointer to how much you value defence. His attack was electric; creating tries with hard running and valuable contributions to edge shapes, but his positioning defence, particularly on kicks, was a massive problem. Attacking kicks are having a moment in rugby league and until Iongi can improve his positional play the Eels are ill-prepared to deal with them. Iongi’s anticipation will improve with experience, as will his judgment on when to chip in to the defensive line, but right now both are a massive target for opposing playmakers.

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Bailey is taking to his role as the master of hard yardage and while he never quite looks like he’s running with power or dragging defenders forward he is undeniably effective in the metres game. He takes a lot of ugly runs without complaint and while it sometimes feels like asking, well, maybe not a Ferrari, but at least a hotted up MX3, to do some heavy towing, in the modern game you need your outside backs to put your hand up for the grind.

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There were a few trademark hard charges from Samrani, including a couple that reversed momentum on some Broncos “effort sets” trying to bury us deep in our own half. Otherwise it seemed like he struggled for involvement, but considering he was a makeshift centre who came in late, has trained at wing for most of the off season and ultimately most people think he’ll be a second rower long term, that was a good effort.

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His lead taking try was sloppy, opportunistic, a little bit athletic and very much on brand for Sean Russell, who is unfashionable but undoubtedly talented. Rusty was another that seemed to struggle for attacking involvements, but his defensive efforts were important and his off-ball combination with Josh Addo-Carr goes a long way to locking down that right side defence. He won’t be dislodged from this spot anytime soon.

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It wasn’t a game that suited Josh Addo-Carr, requiring either grinding yardage work or steamrolling the Broncos middle in good ball, rarely seeing the ball find the edges to get the Fox into space. His contributions off the ball with chatter and defensive organisation are crucial, but we’ll see more flash from the Fox in days to come.

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You could justify a whole range of grades for Pezet, who posted gaudy numbers with three try assists and his own kick and recover match sealing score, but he struggled somewhat defensively, dropped a ball cold and truthfully, the three tries off his kicks were as sloppy as both a 3am kebab and the man ordering it. Given the chance he took up a leading role in the attack which was pleasing, and if this is what he can produce in an unpolished performance then I can’t wait to see him really shining. 

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Try assists and solid defence are nice, but this was one of those games where the golden boot of Mitchell Moses was his most important contribution to the victory. Time after time he turned average sets into strong ones with beautiful clearing kicks, and while he won’t have Andrew Voss gasping in amazement with torpedoes that bring down snow with them, he targeted Reece Walsh with a variety of kicks and got results from the inconsistent Broncos talisman which led to good field position and points. 

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Quietly effective game from Williams in the front row, who put his head down and made hard yards and few defensive mistakes. Putting his head down nearly got him into some concussion trouble, but luckily the bruising looks like it’ll just be his cheekbone, not his brain.

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Huge improvement from Ryley, whose service was crisp, defence was sound and his hustle was rewarded when Payne Haas delivered a grubber kick on a platter for him in the in-goal. He has a habit of pushing at the tackled player as they stand up that I just know is going to get him pinged by over-zealous referees time and again, at least for the first 20 minutes of games when they care about waving six agains. I’d rather see him just stop it entirely.

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One of the top items on trend watch for the 2026 Eels is the massive jump in performance we’re seeing once the bench is injected into the game. Sure, some of that will be Doorey, Walker and Tuivaiti running at Willison, Talty and Tawha instead of Carrigan and Haas, but there is a definite jump in the pace of Parramatta’s play when Paulo and De Belin take a breather. It isn’t just the running, a props passing game is far more effective when he commits to the line then shifts, not just getting the ball flat footed and shuffling it on like Paulo was often doing. He appears to be going into contact looking for the offload too, rather than letting it happen with sheer force. Let’s hope it is just rust and not age catching up with him.

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Like a partner who has had enough and decides to make a stand, I was waiting at the door ready to end it with Kelma Tuilagi when he gave away a cheap, lazy penalty then fell over in the defensive line to concede a try within five minutes of kickoff. Then I hear the key go into the lock, I stand up ready to explode and he walks in with a bollocking, aggressive try scoring run in each arm and dammit, he deserves one more chance. Maybe it really was the headgear making him bad, and hopefully one day he can score a try without his shorts getting half pulled down, too.

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After being the shining light in a pit of despair last week, the Big Kitty was fairly quiet here. The hard running was well contained, the offload shelved and defensively he was a mixed bag. Belting Adam Reynolds out of the game (legally) was a nice shot, but his decision to commit on Carrigan and leave Payne Haas to stroll through untouched was clearly out of step with his fellow defenders. 

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Like Junior, it felt like things were just moving slower when Jack de Belin was out on the field. He’s solid defensively (and we need that) but the danger of the Eels attack is night and day between when JDB and Dylan Walker are at lock. He’s still finding his way as an Eel and being an unfashionable defensive player isn’t exactly en vogue right now, I have faith he’ll be a strong contributor this year.

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I’ve redesigned the grades format for the year of our Eel 2026 and the MVP section is an unfortunate casualty, but man of the match in a canter for me was Dylan Walker. The attack transformed when he got on the field and Broncos defenders tied themselves in knots to slow him down on every run. Get him on the bike, in the hyperbaric chamber, whatever it takes to get more minutes out of him at this level. The Eels are winners with Dylan Walker, and losers without him.

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Matt Doorey’s numbers don’t tell the story here. He was everywhere in defence for a key period of the game, making several important covering tackles and closing gaps on broken plays with real hustle. I loved what I saw, and he more than justified his winning that last bench spot to start the year.

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Jason Ryles changed things up and handed the reins to Da Silva to close out the last 20 minutes instead of running him through the middle of the game, and clearly the D in TDS stands for Deliver because Tallyn was on point out there. He ran well, defended well and his service was almost flawless. That square peg sure rounded out some edges this week.

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Big Sam had some pent up frustration from riding the pine last week and he took it out on the poor Brisbane bench forwards. He matched Kelma, Kautoga and Junior for most runs in the pack with 12, but did so in just 26 minutes on the park. It was the textbook definition of an impact middle, and a great sign for the leap I expect we’ll see from Tuivaiti in 2026.

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While the Eels left us plenty to be concerned about moving forward, I’d much rather be a concerned winner than staring down 0-2. It shows a lot of resolve and heart for the side to come back from such a devastating first week, then getting behind 12 and then 14 points in the first half here. The Broncos helped their recovery along, sure, but Parramatta didn’t throw in the towel. That was nice to see.

Now we proceed to our first home game of the year, a beautiful Sunday afternoon clash with the Dragons. It is imperative the Eels build on this, there is much work to be done and in a season that still promises to be close (despite what week one delivered) this shapes as a must-win contest. I can’t wait for my first taste of live Eels action for 2026.

Until then, stay slippery, Eels fans.

Gol

Stats and images provided by NRL / Eels media