NRL Team List
Round 4 vs Penrith Panthers, Saturday 5:30PM, CommBank Stadium
The rare home away from home game! A prized scheduling quirk generally brought about cross-code logistical clashes, natural disasters or stadia infrastructure updates. Parramatta’s Round 4 away game at CommBank Stadium is thankfully the third option with the Penrith Panthers still in the middle of construction for their new stadium. Of course that means the Eels must play the Panthers this week and after three rounds of competition the Panthers have pretty clearly emerged as the team to beat in 2026.
One way or another we will find a good deal out about our Eels on Saturday. Just how big of a gap between the two teams is there? Can they hang with the best? Dare we dream of an upset?
Strap your selves in for a massive Western Sydney derby.
Parramatta’s Round 3 victory over the Dragons left Jason Ryles with something of an early season injury crisis. J’maine Hopgood is now out for the entirety of the season while Jordan Samrani is looking at at least 6 weeks on the sideline and potentially double that depending on which treatment option he elects to take regarding his meniscus.
It is a bitter pill to swallow for the Blue & Gold but they must trudge on into Round 4. For his part, Ryles has elected to bring in Brian Kelly to replace Samrani at right centre while one of Luca Moretti or Charlie Guymer seems set to take over for Hopgood depending on how the coach wants to react to the flow of the game on Saturday.
Dylan Walker will start at look with Jack Williams pushing into the front-row as Ryles looks to find the right formula in his starting ruck setup.
Straight forward stuff but notably Jack De Belin is set to miss a second straight game. It was a consistent talking point in Team List Tuesdays last year but Ryles has shown himself to be nothing if not pragmatic when it comes to team selections and that is holding true early in 2026. Teancum Brown and Araz Nanva also feature on the extended bench and while it is unlikely the either figures in the NRL this week it does look like they are hovering on the periphery of first grade action.
| Parramatta Eels | Penrith Panthers | |
| Isaiah Iongi | 1 | Dylan Edwards |
| Bailey Simonsson | 2 | Thomas Jenkins |
| Brian Kelly | 3 | Paul Alamoti |
| Sean Russell | 4 | Casey McLean |
| Josh Addo-Carr | 5 | Brian To’o |
| Jonah Pezet | 6 | Blaize Talagi |
| Mitchell Moses | 7 | Nathan Cleary |
| Jack Williams | 8 | Moses Leota |
| Ryley Smith | 9 | Mitch Kenny |
| Junior Paulo | 10 | Lindsay Smith |
| Kelma Tuilagi | 11 | Isaiah Papali’i |
| Kitione Kautoga | 12 | Liam Martin |
| Dylan Walker | 13 | Isaah Yeo |
| Interchange | ||
| Tallyn Da Silva | 14 | Jack Cogger |
| Sam Tuivaiti | 15 | Billy Phillips |
| Matt Doorey | 16 | Scott Sorenson |
| Luca Moretti | 17 | Luke Garner |
| Charlie Guymer | 18 | Izack Tago |
| Joash Papalii | 19 | Freddy Lussick |
| Reserves | ||
| Jack De Belin | 20 | Kalani Going |
| Teancum Brown | 21 | Jack Cole |
| Araz Nanva | 22 | Jaxen Edgar |
Injury Report
| Player | Injury | Return Date |
| William Penisini
Jordan Samrani J’maine Hopgood |
Groin Strain
Meniscus Tear ACL Tear |
Rd 7
TBA (6+ weeks) Season |
NSW Cup Team List
Round 4 vs Penrith Panthers, Saturday 8:00PM, CommBank Stadium
The NSW Cup occupy a curious time slot this week as they play directly AFTER the NRL on Saturday – a genuine rarity in scheduling. The Eels get a significant boost this week with Ronald Volkman finally returning from a quadriceps strain to give the team its first recognised halfback for the young season. Joash Papalii has dropped out of the squad to accommodate the move but could figure as a late addition on Saturday given the Cup play after the NRL.
Samuel Loizou will start in the centre to cover for the loss of Brian Kelly while Uitoni Mataele is promoted to starting front row – although one of Luca Moretti or Charlie Guymer could still play in this game so keep that in mind. The dummy halves switch places this week with Kruz Niutili-Schmidt starting and Meni Luke playing from the bench while Tyrese Lokeni and Max Tupou have been added to the interchange.
| 1 | Apa Twidle |
| 2 | Jake Tago |
| 3 | Samuel Loizou |
| 4 | Araz Nanva |
| 5 | Mohammed Alameddine |
| 6 | Lorenzo Talataina |
| 7 | Ronald Volkman |
| 8 | Uitoni Mataele |
| 9 | Kruz Niutili-Schmidt |
| 10 | Teancum Brown |
| 11 | Will Latu |
| 12 | Jezaiah Funa-Iuta |
| 13 | Jack De Belin |
| Interchange | |
| 14 | Meni Luke |
| 15 | Saxon Pryke |
| 16 | Tyrese Lokeni |
| 17 | Max Tupou |
Jersey Flegg Cup Team List
Round 4 vs Penrith Panthers, Saturday 4:45PM, St Marys League Stadium
Updated for Round 4.
| 1 | Corey Leigh |
| 2 | Jeshua Maa-Nelson |
| 3 | Siamani Leulaui |
| 4 | Devonte Vaivela |
| 5 | Druzel Taula |
| 6 | Ioane Lui |
| 7 | Kade Moujalli |
| 10 | Beau Lucien |
| 9 | Lachlan Coinakis |
| 19 | Jordan Miller |
| 11 | Trace Beattie |
| 12 | Noah Parker |
| 13 | Callum McMenemy |
| Interchange | |
| 14 | Jack Hudson |
| 15 | Markkuz Ofanoa |
| 16 | Zack Visconti |
| 17 | Javahn Stevenson-Hala |
| 18 | Harley Walker |
It was always going to be a tall ask and the two injuries really hurt us and highlight our depth issues.
But Brian Kelly (Mr 33% win rate) has played two games this year for a combined 26-94 score line. Not filling me with confidence against a pretty good Panthers.
I don’t really care about the win-loss, a win would just be a bonus. This one will be about seeing growth and resilience with a view to making sure we blow the Tigers out of the park the following week.
Isn’t this the SAME ref who flogged us in Melbourne in round 1? The most disgusting officiating I’ve witnessed all season was from him killing us in round 1 at Melbourne … then overlooking every ruck infringement storm did.
I have personally got no confidence / hope in this game after seeing him as the referee for this match. I hope I’m wrong, but if he has a bias towards a “top team” like he did down at Melbourne there’s a chance we get absolutely flogged.
Defensively around our edges (Kelma, Kelly, Pezet) WAY too many defensive liabilities to be comfortable. But the eels HAVE turned up and beat panthers when all hope is lost! If ONE TEAM can pull off a massive upset, against a top team, when NONODY expects it… yep, that is parramatta.
Our only hope is we can pull off one of those freak games where we play incredibly well and tople a top team out of nowhere, like we usually do 1-3 times per season.
Unless there’s an injury (where I pray there won’t be) to one of the backs I doubt we’ll see joash play NRL which means id assume he’d play fullback for the cup side. There is also a chance they just don’t play him but with him probably being the 19 for the entire season when they have the opportunity to play him in cup without it affecting the NRL I reckon theyd take it.
That being said I hope that means we see APA go to the centres for Loizou rather then dropping him to the bench or pushing talataina to flegg. I know he hasn’t trained there but he proved in round 1 he can defend in the front and if they wanted to I could see him developing into a nick meaney esque player where he’ll do a job anywhere from 1-6 for you.
The key to the upset is high completions, low restarts and penalties. We beat Penrith with this formula a few times when our wide red zone defence was laughable. Cleary just didn’t get enough ball and field position to go to work on us. Poor defence usually shows up when opponents do repeat targeting but it can hold if not constantly pressured.
This is a big game for our EELS especially with injuries to key players. They will need to tighten up mid field defence and ensure the Panthers don’t get that familiar sniff of any weakness in the defensive line. The panthers are good , very damm good but the EELS have shown a great deal of grit and committment in the last two games and the ability scramble on our line. Disclipne and ball security are essentail and If the forwards can dent the line and provide the backs with some space we can give the panthers a serious run for thier money at what is a “home game” for us. GO EELS
As much as I’d love a win to be honest I’d love the guys to hold there gloves up with Penrith. Make them work for everything A close game will make this team believe they belong with the big guys.
Put yourself in the game and your always a chance but you will absolutely have to go the distance they are just so clinical at not beating themselves.