NRL Team List
Round 3 vs St George Illawarra Dragons, Sunday 4:00PM, CommBank Stadium
It has been an interesting fortnight on the road with the Parramatta Eels emerging from consecutive tilts with last year’s grand finalists sporting a 1-1 record. There is obviously far more nuance to apply to the two results but the critical factor is that Jason Ryles has a platform to build on coming into the club’s home opener.
When these two teams met last year, the Eels were spiraling through a four game losing streak and desperately chasing a breakthrough victory. In 2026 the pre-game narrative has shifted. Parramatta have the chance to secure an early season winning record and perhaps even stake a claim inside the Top 8 with hopefully a packed CommBank Stadium cheering them on.
Ryles gets the services of J’maine Hopgood back for Round 3 following the completion of a frankly tripe suspension. Hopgood’s return contrasted with the excellent last start from Kelma Tuilagi had many fans curious about the team composition against the Dragons. ‘JR’ has made a call to shake things up – at least to an extent – as Hopgood and Tuilagi win starting berths. That pushes Jack De Belin to the interchange in the first major shift in starting hierarchy this season. Jack Williams starts at lock forward as the Eels lock to gain increased traction through the middle in the opening quarter of play.
Will Penisini is still sidelined by a groin injury (and out for the foreseeable future unfortunately) which means Jordan Samrani will reprise his role at right centre against the Dragons. All in all, the Eels are shaping up pretty well heading into Round 3 and have all the necessary pieces on hand to start building some momentum.
Like the Eels, the Dragons have suffered a heavy loss to the Melbourne Storm. Although, to be fair, they did acquit themselves better offensively. St George’s ability to drag their opponents down into a gritty brawl is well known and the Eels will have to be willing to play some tough, uncompromising footy on Sunday. This stands as an excellent opportunity to whip their defence into shape as they also hunt their second win of the season.
| Parramatta Eels | St George Illawarra Dragons | |
| Isaiah Iongi | 1 | Clinton Gutherson |
| Bailey Simonsson | 2 | Christian Tuipulotu |
| Jordan Samrani | 3 | Moses Suli |
| Sean Russell | 4 | Valentine Holmes |
| Josh Addo-Carr | 5 | Setu Tu |
| Jonah Pezet | 6 | Kyle Flanagan |
| Mitchell Moses | 7 | Daniel Atkinson |
| J’maine Hopgood | 8 | Emre Guler |
| Ryley Smith | 9 | Damien Cook |
| Junior Paulo | 10 | Toby Couchman |
| Kelma Tuilagi | 11 | Luciano Leilua |
| Kitione Kautoga | 12 | Jaydn Su’a |
| Jack Williams | 13 | Hamish Stewart |
| Interchange | ||
| Dylan Walker | 14 | Jacob Liddle |
| Sam Tuivaiti | 15 | Josh Kerr |
| Matt Doorey | 16 | Blake Lawrie |
| Tallyn Da Silva | 17 | Ryan Couchman |
| Jack De Belin | 18 | Hame Sele |
| Joash Papalii | 19 | Matthew Feagai |
| Reserves | ||
| Charlie Guymer | 20 | Lykhan King-Togia |
| Brian Kelly | 21 | Loko Pasifiki Tonga |
| Luca Moretti | 22 | Tyrell Sloan |
Injury Report
| Player | Injury | Return Date |
| William Penisini
Ronald Volkman |
Groin Strain
Quadriceps Strain |
Rd 7
Rd 4 |
NSW Cup Team List
Round 3 vs St George Illawarra Dragons, Sunday 1:35PM, CommBank Stadium
Fresh off a Round 2 bye, the Parramatta Eels look to build off their Round 1 win over Melbourne sporting a roster bolstered by multiple NRL players. Brian Kelly and Joash Papalii headline the reinforcements for Cup but a nod should also go to Mohammed Alameddine who has won a starting role on the wing.
Apa Twidle was outstanding as acting halfback two weeks ago but now returns to his preferred role at fullback as Papalii is given the reins to the team at #7 this week. Lorenzo Talataina did plenty of good against the Storm as well and how these three players juggle the play-making responsibilities will be a fascinating watch.
The NSW Cup will play in the curtain raiser on Sunday so be sure to check it out if you are attending the NRL fixture!
| 1 | Apa Twidle |
| 2 | Jake Tago |
| 3 | Brian Kelly |
| 4 | Araz Nanva |
| 5 | Mohammed Alameddine |
| 6 | Lorenzo Talataina |
| 7 | Joash Papalii |
| 8 | Luca Moretti |
| 9 | Meni Luke |
| 10 | Teancum Brown |
| 11 | Will Latu |
| 12 | Jezaiah Funa-Iuta |
| 13 | Saxon Pryke |
| Interchange | |
| 14 | Kruz Niutili-Schmidt |
| 15 | Toni Mataele |
| 16 | Tyrese Lokeni |
| 17 | Samuel Loizou |
Jersey Flegg Cup Team List
Round 3 vs St George Illawarra Dragons, Saturday 2:00PM, James Hardie Centre of Excellence
Updated for Round 3.
| 1 | Corey Leigh |
| 2 | Jeshua Maa-Nelson |
| 3 | Siamani Leulaui |
| 4 | Devonte Vaivela |
| 5 | Druzel Taula |
| 6 | Ioane Lui |
| 7 | Kade Moujalli |
| 8 | Zack Visconti |
| 9 | Lachlan Coinakis |
| 10 | Beau Lucien |
| 11 | Trace Beattue |
| 12 | Callum McMenemy |
| 13 | Max Fuimaono Popo |
| Interchange | |
| 14 | Jack Hudson |
| 15 | Markkuz Oganoa |
| 16 | Noah Parker |
| 17 | Jordan Miller |
| 18 | Javahn Stevenson-Hala |
Jason has given himself a lot of options with very varied talent on the bench, though with Joash named at 7 in Cup it would seem likely that he will only get a run to cover an injury; it would be interesting were he tried at dummy half. One of the most pleasing aspects of the win last week was the vastly improved display by the dummy halves. A feature of Sunday will be watching how JR uses his bench.
What does Ryles have against Charlie Guymer ???
Assume he is injured Brett?
No, he’s on the extended bench.
Brett, I guess Ryles is looking at like for like and to me JDB defence has been good; albeit attack not outstanding and depth wise we are going ok. I like Charlie too and no doubt he will get a shot soon.
For me Parra need to stay in the hunt early on and not let teams get away from them…easier said than done. Saints won’t be easy. We have Penrith soon too
Is Richard P injured again?
Jason Ryles is a ruthless leader & decision maker
Dropping JDB was a tough call but Jason’s rewarded form here
Ba had some very good years but he had emotional connections with some players especially Snrs and gave them a lot of time & opportunity
Jason swings the axe quickly and makes the hard calls, let’s hope he stays like this
This eels like up is a pretty strong starting 17 in my opinion and we should run down dragons as their large side begins to gas at around 60 minute mark
I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next few weeks Guymer could push for a starting 2nd row spot. Doesn’t have the attacking flare of a Kautoga or Tuilagi but the defence around those 2 has been pretty bad to say the least. Tuilagi scored 2 but had some appalling defence which let Brisbane get up to start the game and Pezet and Kautoga haven’t defended well next to each other either.
Personally gives me Liam Martin vibes, not the flashiest but gets through his work and I think can develop into a gun protector for his half which I think is going to be needed with presumably talataina or papalii getting the 6 next year aswell.
When you look again at the Broncos first try (Walsh) you will see Kelma was tripped by Cory Jenson that left a hole for Walsh to run through. Kelma was bad mouthed for that miss and really it should have been close to an obstruction penalty. Sometimes, if not many times, the referee and bunker look in the wrong place. For instance Ilongi try in the corner we observe Walsh charge over the top of Ilongi in with his knees. That should have been a penalty try. Sometimes of our fans might try to be a little more objective with criticism.
Yeah, I’m really onboard with this thinking. Charlie deserves a crack, so he needs to dig in at Cup level. I think the first step is taking JdB’s bench spot in Rd 5. I think JdB’s seniority gives him that long.
For those with a BAR subscription or live locally;
AMS is named on the wing for Wenty in the Ron Massey Cup. 6PM Sat at Ringrose Park.
About as good a team as we can name though i think Doorey’s trial form is all that is keeping him in the first side at the moment.
Obviously very happy with the JDB move to 18th man. 20th would be better.
I’m looking forward to watching Samrani hopefully get 5 games at centre to show us what he has got as he can’t be that far behind Wil.
Will be interesting to see if Hopgood is more of the 13 and Williams the 8 to start the game, or is just going to be a game plan of trying to be tough and physical and power running (our version of it) to start the game with effectively 3 props, before we change tactics when Walker comes on and play with more width?