Injuries have understandably severely hampered the Eels in 2026 but even with a pair of HIAs today there was no injury-related excuse for a mortifying lack of effort against the Gold Coast Titans. Parramatta were putrid in all phases as the flamboyant Titans pasted them to the tune of 52-10 in a scoreline that featured a host of scoring opportunities botched by the visitors.
The Tip Sheet attempts to pick up the pieces as the Eels bottom out in Round 6. Awful effort areas and repeated failures from the starting middle rotations marred the Blue & Gold heavily in the early exchanges today and blame is shared between players and coaches. Is there any recourse for the wounded Eels – especially given the likely losses of Sam Tuivaiti and Kelma Tuilagi next week? How does Jason Ryles hit the reset button on a team that is quite literally unraveling with injuries but clearly is also mentally on tilt?
Please note, the live stream will be slightly delayed until 5:30PM due to some IRL responsibilities.
Embarrassesd. Nothing else to say really.
Completely fair JL.
I know there are a heap of excuse/reasons. The injury toll etc. But I come back to some questions that I asked last year. Can Jason Ryles Coach? Let’s now add two more: is Mitch Moses the best person to Captain. Is the combination of Moses and Ryles what we now need?
Adjustments to head space now need to be made. Given the paucity of player availability, the style needs to change. Will our staff be capable of it?
Error rates need to change.
The optimising of our bench needs to change. Starting with Dylan Walker is now a failed policy.
In the midst of this I want to pre-empt the grades and give Joash a B+
Joash needs to learn how to pass, too many times he throws no look passes, two went to ground today and the other lead to an intercept try. Apart from that his game was good.
A worrying question- If Mitch has got as much money as rumoured due to elite contacts in inner Sydney real estate, how long will he want to hang around to participate in events such as to-day? And who would we be without him?
I think Mitch playing injured should be enough to settle whether he wants to be here or not.
I am still very much leaning on the side of believing in Ryles BSB but it is evident that this is a major trial for him to overcome. He did a lot of good and great last year all things considering but needs to make significant adjustments now. He might very well come out of this all a much better coach…he could also struggle badly.
Moses has his flaws as a captain. He obviously runs too hot at times. I think he is presently probably the best option on the roster but there is definitely an alignment with our pursuit of a quality hard head in the middle there. Ryles wants leadership through the ruck at the very minimum.
Completely agree with Walker. Have been banging the drums on that one for weeks.
Damn the coaching is pretty bad.
Williams is an edge forward
Walker is wasted starting.
The coaching staff missed a decent opportunity to start Lorenzo today.
Volkmann is a decent player but we just have to bite the bullet now and play some juniors.
We lose., we.lose but please stop buying old over the hill players !!!!!!!!!
We are putrid but what are the possible solutions to mitigate the problems? In my opinion: Williams to right backrow, Walker to bench, one of jdb or guymer starting at lock. Russell back at centre and winger I’m not sure who is wing – I didn’t watch araz closely to say whether or not he retains it. I don’t know who starts at prop.
Bench: Walker, tds, moretti, t brown, Lorenzo,
We might need to cover for both edge forwards this week Ron. Kautoga (knee) and Tuilagi (concussion) are both with unknown statuses presently.
Russell probably plays wing with Kelly shifting back to centre if I had to guess. The Eels had dispensation to debut Nanva but with Sean returning they have enough healthy backs on the full-time roster to be deployed as first choice options.
I very much enjoyed Kelly’s effort at centre against The Panthers – I thought he was outstanding. He was awfully disappointing in the last twenty minutes yesterday. A return to form against The Dogs would be very welcome. Sean Russell should play right wing now that Simonsen is out (and didn’t we miss the effort of Simonsen yesterday!) Wing is Sean’s best position and he has the potential to represent if he’s left there.
Constructive criticism only.
The left side was always flat, the right too deep.
When Moses tried to put Williams through a huge gap, he had to run 10 metres to get to it.
Plenty of times the depth on the right gave the Titans ample time to shut down the play.
The passing was atrocious.
Moses rarely took a pass he didn’t have to stop and reach over his head for.
Add the hospital passes and it’s no surprise they are getting injured.
Joash has to learn to look where he is passing the ball. He exclusively looks at the defender and throws without looking. It costs tries.
Ryles needs a Clockwork Orange session of watching the Bulldogs tackling against Penrith. One on one coming up hard under the ball instead of grabbing at the shoulders. Even with 3 in the tackle there was rarely a low tackler. I don’t know if this is contributing to the injuries but it needs to change.
I’m not sure if Volkman can be blamed but the gap through the centre was there all day. Easy metres for the Titans.
Kelly and DeBelin aren’t shaping up to be good buys. They both had a bad day. I would probably put DaSilva in the same category.
I feel sorry for Williams, he did a lot of work for the one mistake.
Moses isn’t 100% even though he is still putting in the effort. I don’t see him playing all year without a rest.
Recruitment has to start 5 years ago.
We need 2 centres, a solid 6 and 7 and a ball playing replacement for Junior who although he gives it all has his best days behind him.
Addo-Carr has been the best player all year. He did a lot of work today.
It’s going to be a tough year.
I briefly mentioned the issue of the left side playing too flat in the pod. Glad my flu-addled brain wasn’t off the mark there.
Lots of reasonable criticisms in there. I do charge Williams with more than one defensive error (kick chase, goal line and marker try scoring incidents for mine) but he was the furthest thing from being on his own there.
This recruitment chat is going to be the talk of the town for the remainder of the season because this is now a make or break year.
The amount of sub par efforts we are seeing from players is inexcusable.
Coming into the season we thought this squad looked connected we have never looked further apart. Injuries will definitely take there toll but we’ve looked terrible in large chunks from rd1
We arnt putting our selfs into contests and there so passive in everything individual efforts have kept us in games.
We cannot replace a whole side and I don’t think we have to but there a serious holes in the squad even at full strength that desperately need rejuvenating. Our young talent are just going to be thrown to the wolves if we can’t put some quality around them.
Ryles is not at fault either our game plan is frantic we are just making so many errors strip it back especially with so many injuries get back to basics. Look at the teams who are having success they are prioritising the basics we are fair dinkum trying to play like the Harlem globe trotters.
Have we actually completed above 75% yet this year
The time for recruitment is passed.
We’re now competing with 2 new clubs for players and we’re a club who already strruggled to recruit.
There won’t be a magic fix to our roster. We are most likely going to be in the bottom half of the comp for the next few years.
Sorry. it is how it is.
I respectfully disagree – Sua is a decent backrower. ATA mariota is a good starting or bench option. Xerri is a good left centre option. There a plenty of young wingers at dogs, Canberra, dolphins, broncos etc. Warriors have a surplus of middles. Roosters and dolphins have a surplus of forwards.
Just my opinion but that all sounds reactive Ron.
Is Asia better than Kautonga Dan Kelma? Probably But it is just grabbing whoever pops up. Nothing strategic.
We have Jnr, Walker, JDB, JAC.. How many more former rep players do we need?!
We need actual rep players. The answer to that is there are non on the market. Teams tend not to let them go easily… Well except the Eels (see Lomax and Brown)
Fair points. For what it’s worth: I don’t think Kelma or Kautoga are first graders as both are defensively horrific. I’d persist with kautoga for now (until Petrus or will latu are ready) and not resign Kelma as he has been dropped at storm, tigers and manly for his horrific defensive abilities. There’s no way to coach it out of him – he simply isn’t up to it defensively.
Mariota is a gun in my eyes and wouldn’t be too expensive compared to what else is out there (maybe 550k).
For centre – Herbie is off contract soon and xerri is serviceable at left centre. Young wingers shouldn’t be hard too find at cheap prices. I’d even take Val Holmes on wing (with dragons chipping in some cash)
We need another middle – there must be some out there as Jackson ford has gone to another level he was a nobody 2 years ago. England has some good prospects (Morgan Knowles now signed by dolphins). Warriors have some gun young props and surely one can be tempted with cash given they are stacked in middle
I’d be giving a few other players carrying an injury a rest next week like Moses and Addo-Carr .
Since the NRL didn’t want to come to the party with dispensation for our long term injured due to foul play ,next week against the dogs run out a reserve grade side.
One thing the NRL likes is eyeballs and income ,sending out a severely depleted side for their Sunday main game would ring alarm bells.
Getting a good look at a couple of our juniors as well as hitting the NRL where it hurts would benefit our season and beyond moving forward.
Moses and Addo -Carr are struggling give them two weeks to prepare for Manly.
After 6 weeks and our injury toll it’s time to use the season to make roster moves, finals is an aberration.
Instead of taking little out of our predicament use the opportunity to better assess talent and restructure our cap.
Juniors time as a first grader are over move him into a recruiting mentoring role with Polynesians , finally part ways with Matterson and for gods sake get some aggression in our pack , Sua is a start.
For the life of me I can’t understand how our pathways aren’t producing big athletic outside backs which near ever other club seems to have a production line of .
They’re the part of your first grade squad that are cheaper and help manage your cap which we’ve had none of for years.
Stop playing Joash at fullback and get him in the six jumper, if he’s not who you thinks playing six next year put Lorenzo in there.
2027 is now start preparing immediately.
Bup, I totally get that.
I was there today and thought Moses tried hard but you could see he isn’t 💯 and fell off some tackles.
JAC and Pap both did well.
When the titans scored their 2nd or 3rd from that poor kick chase I knew we were in strife.
How many passes hit the turf today?
We need to count our losses – recruit some bigger backs and our recruitment just surely be looking at some back up forwards in the NRL or players in Reggie’s / Flegg.
This may seem controversial but Moses for me isn’t getting better with injures…surely JR can see this too.
What’s the plan here?
As others have said Jr seems behind the pace too.
It’s been time for a year and more for the R and R to aim up.
It’s depressing to say it but I can see us bottom 4 at this time. Injuries have killed us so far..and trying youth is ok as long as you have some hard heads. We don’t.
On a positive well done to the club for the entertaining before game events etc.
You don’t have to be Jack Gibson to know what the issue is – we have now conceded just under 38 points a match including two against sides that have won one match between them so far this year. Until we can come up with a side that is defensively competent we are wasting our time.
No arguments Noel. They are on a historically bad pace. Some of that is manic swings of PVL-ball but the vast majority of it boils down to the well known combinations of effort, fitness and execution. They are failing on all fronts there.
When you lose so many players and don’t replace them with better alternatives, what you get is a wooden spoon team. Unfortunately that’s exactly what we have, and to make matters worse we have a horrific injury toll on top of this. Seasons don’t get any worse than this. So disappointing. We were hoping for the start of a rebuild, but thos is looking like 1993 all over again.
The Titans ran hard and fast, we struggled to respond,our scramble lacked awareness, energy and speed. They seemed to score long range tries for fun. We had a touch football mentality. Even when we avoid points early, we just look to be struggling, our starts are poor. What happens next???
It feels like we almost always fall into the trap of playing touch footy against the Titans – whether we beat them or not. I can not say I am a fan of it BDon. The team took so many shortcuts on Sunday and deservedly saw it blow up in their faces every time.
Ryles was stridently against rushing in young players in the post-match presser so either the remaining handful of existing graded, healthy players and the coaching staff figure their shit out or we spiral.
It is a results driven business. I think Ryles will be given a reasonable buffer heading into 2027 but there are staff and players that have plenty on the line this year.
Forty, I had another paragraph which I deleted because the game was so poor i felt like I was kicking blokes when they were down. The comment was describing the softest try followed by Kini strolling through our line from the restart for another. You could write a book about that 3 or 4 minutes. My wife is a quilter and she was doing some micro hand stitching but was still able to absorb that 12 point debacle, it was so outstandingly pathetic. The Kini break…we actually had plenty of troops there, but no focus, awareness, organisation or communication.
The brightest spot these last two weeks has been the outstanding debut of Apa Twidle who, beyond question is a footballer.
I read that he is off contract, we’ve only offered him a development deal for next year’s and The Dogs want him…
There we are – we move on people who are on big money and maybe are past their best; we won’t offer very long term contracts; we refuse to pay a player more than we reckon he’s worth; if one of the boys is offered big money somewhere else we let him go.
All sound business principles.
And we’re coming second last.
Half entering or constantly falling off tackles = pusillanimous defence, punishable as we saw
Eels are amongst the worst teams defensively to start the year in history of the game
Who’s to blame? I actually think our sideways playing style, no go forward, and no walker off the bench is poor coaching
I am not a fan of how the coach has us playing currently, and we don’t have any impact up middle from starting props
Coaching absolutely catches some flack for where we are Muz, I think you are plenty fair in your criticism there.
Equally, the players themselves and recruitment misses own their respective significant portions of the pie.
Running Paulo, Williams and Walker as your starting trio for weeks on the trot and expecting different results is certainly a choice. He isn’t an option this week but I think Tuivaiti could have been given a couple of starts in that window to at least shake things up. Ditto for Guymer starting at lock to let Walker play his specialist tempo role off the bench.
Since he got his chance Guymer has been our best defensive forward. His challenger is Williams but into the discussion you have to put Williams’s amazing propensity to miss a tackle a week in the goal mouth and give up a try. I doubt that Charlie will ever be numbered among our all time greats but he’s clearly the best defender of this group with Hopgood out and should start every week.
Injuries aside, They just don’t look like a happy team for whatever reason which shows on the field,
Usually I wait until the Darwin trip for season to be over but it has come early this year,
They don’t look happy
And it’s the worst start to a season I have ever seen from Mitch Moses, Ado car, Paulo
Something is going on – they do not look like the same players as last season
I’d spare Josh Ado- Carr; to me he’s been easily our best so far this season and competes on every play. It’s sad that he’s stuck on the end of some pretty unsophisticated performances.
I’d agree. JAC is the one player who’s effort and (for the most part) execution can’t be questioned.
They had a pretty poor to start to the season last year with two fifty point losses. With one third of the top 27 out injured what else can we expect. They should have done better but competition rates and missed tackles is their biggest problem. Dropping balls cold tells me their head is elsewhere. It’s not the end of the world – not yet. For the first since mid 2009 I stopped watching the game. I knew fifty was coming. Is Moretti on board the bus he comes on and drops the ball, mentally that bloke is not on the park. What a terrible shame Matterson has self imploded. In fact it’s the mistakes that lead to tries. So what is the answer? Stop dropping the ball. We can play our younger blokes but they will be sacrificed on the alter of heavy defeats. That’s not good. At this rate Parra will exceed a thousand points for the season. A record never to be beaten.
There could very well be issues there Adam but on that I can not speak with any authority.
I also wouldn’t be rushing to divorce the present negative mood from the fruits of some shit games. They are getting historically hammered by injuries and as a result are playing some awful footy under pretty heavy duress.
There’s a big disconnect going on.
I reckon Moses has just about had enough with the the quality of the team.
He now knows he will never get a premiership with the Eels and is playing accordingly.
I disagree with Ryles about our juniors. The time is always NOW. Be bold. Stop worrying about burning juniors out.
Apa came on and killed it.. who would have known??
The blokes he has in the team are just not doing the job, why would he expect them to do it next week ?
I for one would rather see the juniors play and be defeated than put up with the bullshit we witnessed today and I’m sure I’m not alone.
You are very much not alone in that Spark. Plenty of fans would be for a most aggressive push for young talent this year. I have advocated in favour of that stance on the podcast. Ryles obviously values prioritising their development at the ‘right’ levels (not a dig, just an emphasis on the subjective value) as per the presser so it leaves us at a bit of an impasse. There are clearly players not performing in the first grade squad but catastrophic injuries have left us unable to replace them save for young prospects. Do the senior players figure their shit out or does the coach blink and make the bold call?
Spark: I will say this – I don’t watch NSW Cup and Flegg religiously (too much sport to watch), so I can’t have an informed position on who is more worthy of playing first grade right now – Volkman or Lorenzo.
But if Pezet is out 5-6 weeks Talataina needs to play and here’s why.
Anyone who saw the Broncos the other night and hadn’t seen Duffy play before, now has. If he gets more games (and he will with Reynolds body failing) the Broncos could well be looking to back out of their Pezet deal. If that is the case, Parra needs to know if they need Pezet beyond 2026 and would be willing to negotiate, or if Talatania is ready.
It’s not ideal for a young half with our forwards in ability to make anything that resembles inroads, but I say, throw the kid in and see if he has the potential to make the jump in the long run.
I thought Ron Volkman went about as well as anyone other than, maybe, The Fox against The Titans. He is at least as good a footballer as Pezet and made all his tackles; as I recall he got carried across the line by a forward; that’s the fate of half backs defending in the line I really think, given his performance in Cup he’s entitled to a long opportunity in NRL, so long as he stays healthy,; apart from anything else we will want to make a decision as to whether we want to keep him around next year.
I was there today. Fortunately I had little kids being terrors and didn’t see much of it. Did we lose? Ha.
This team has had these complete capitulations in them for a decade+. I think it’s a leadership and standards issue. The two common denominators are Junior and Moses. I just don’t think the playing group is buying into what they offer as leaders, or they aren’t fit for purpose as leaders. I’m not saying drop either of them – albeit Junior should come off the bench – but we need to recruit some real leaders the team will get behind. Guys like Yeo or Cam Murray come to mind – not suggesting they are options, but those sorts of players.
If you didn’t think 2026 was a write off before this horror show, surely you do now. There’s plenty of footy left to be played this season, but aside from the Tigers game, our defence has been terrible and it’s surely not turning around quickly. Couple that with our injury ward, and it’s a bleak outlook.
Well said Mick, I too had my kids there today and could tell the team didn’t seem to be on.
Our kick chase for example – was poor.
Can someone also tell me if the team warmed up on the main field? We got to our seats I think just on 1:40 pm and Parra weren’t there.
I assume they did a quick warm up…?
Leadership has popped up a fair bit in the comments and the concerns are very valid Mick. I think Moses can be part of a good leadership group with his fire and passion but we really don’t have the Yin to his Yang. Yeo and Murray would very much fill that role and the Eels desperately need to find their own version.
We had him; his name is Clint Gutherson.
No, Gutherson had a lot of the same issues as Moses to be blunt Noel. Poor relationship with the officials included. Indeed, the team faced its share of ugly losses in his time with the (c) as well. Tremendous player for us and did plenty of leading by example but not the same calibre of leader as Yeo and similar ilk.
I’ve seen wooden spoon eels sides play better than that. They were awful and should be ashamed of themselves, got what they deserved.
Guys Jack Williams is a solid bench player not an international like we are expecting him to be.
We need a new recruitment team.Since spoonbowl vs Tigers who have we signed and who have Tigers signed come on call it how it is boys.
Gianni, it is a results driven league. Direct accountability, positive or negative, comes for everyone in the NRL. It was true for Brad Arthur in 2024 and it will hold true for Mark O’Neill and plenty of others in our code pending the hundreds of results to be played out this year.
We have pointed out the failings of recruitment in recent big misses across dozens of posts and podcasts, obviously not to the extent that all fans are happy with, but we are comfortable with our position on the topic.
Regardless of what 13 are on the field they just can’t defend an error. Two penalties and two tries as a result. If the kick chase is an indicator of attitude then we knew what the day was going to be with the other try that resulted in an 18-0 score line after as many minutes. Plenty piled on Pezet for his second tackle kick vs. Tigers but Moses low % kick for himself (3rd tackle I think) was about just as bad. No patience, no structure, no anything from this squad. Another season gone so early in the season. Of course the injuries are a huge factor but today at the ground they just didn’t look interested. So hard to follow this team.
The cascade of points following an error or indiscretion is a ‘feature’ of the set-restart meta but the Eels are particularly awful at it without a doubt. Incredibly infuriating.
I mentioned on the pod and here in the comments that the Eels kept taking shortcuts yesterday and Moses was a big part of that. The kick you allude to was an awful, irrational call. Perfectly understand your frustrations Trapped, yesterday was a disservice to the loyal fanbase.
I have to add our defence is abysmal. We are conceding 38 points a game. That’s unacceptable at any level of football and cannot be tolerated. Serious questions to be answered around what our off season work has achieved when we are dishing that up.
Roster management has been discussed before but for the avoidance of doubt Mark O’Neill must go, he is incompetent beyond belief.
Having 10 players out doesn’t help
Iongi
Russell
Bailey
Smrani
Penisi
Apa
Pezet
Hogpod
Fletcher
Tuivati
Doorey
Almost full starting 13 from injuries
The injury toll goes beyond belief Dirto and I think the playing and coaching group get a lot of leeway for results in that regard in the big picture. With that said, the effort areas yesterday weren’t acceptable – injuries or not. When presented with multiple opportunities to fight and work and claw their way back into the contest they consistently chose the weak and lazy options.
There is a baseline of performance that should be expected from our Eels separate of any concerns over injuries, recruitment and the price of rice in Madagascar. They went well below that yesterday.
I’ll check out the pod tomorrow on route to work.
The worst team in modern rugby league history, the 1999 Magpies, conceded 39 points per game. Eels are averaging 37 points against in 2026.
Sat at the Southern end and watched that atrocity unfold.
Awful kick chase
No line speed
The ridiculous last play before half time.
The drop out straight after time that rolled 30m for a 70m kick.
The number of times a player went to shift it to the outside and no one was ready to catch it.
The body language from the opening minute.
The Kelly and Penisini side show (seriously who thought they could play side by side)
It was pathetic, and while pointing a finger seems unfair in a team full of fails; Jnr is a leader. He doesn’t lead with his words, he leads through his actions. His body language was diabolical. His efforts were awful. Had we not lost players to injury, I would have been happy with him not being brought back on. 3 runs for 15metres in his first stint! One kick off he barely got back to the half way line in time for the kick!
Said it before, I will say it again – Joash can’t pass. Every pass is a no look, which is stupid because a) – he isn’t good enough to throw no look passes, and b), if every pass is a no look, it defeats the purpose of the element of surprise with a no look pass. Someone is surely explaining this to him!
Jack Williams – Spare me. Can’t make a tackle. Whatever his missed tackle number is, double it for the ones he doesn’t get a hand to
Kautonga – ok on line runs, hit ups – no impact. Ever.
What got dished up today… Its been coming. Infact it wasn’t coming, it has been happening. The defence has been awful all year, the yardage game poor, and general organisation sub par. People want to blame refs and injuries. This was coming. They walked through the front door time and time again. And it was the Titans. THE TITANS! The only saving grace was we weren’t playing someone like Penrith.
There are organisational issues. From the CEO to the 30th (sorry, 28th) man on the first grade roster. If there weren’t alarm bells after giving up over 80 points in the first 2 weeks. 3 times we’ve essentially conceded 50 points in 6 weeks! C’mon! The roster is a joke. The leadership in the club across the board, has to start getting questioned. Has too!
Well said on all points
Absolutely no excuse for a result like that especially against the titans and we absolutely do have an attitude problem around defence but our squad is completely decimated. Until you actually go thru it’s a complete car crash especially this early on the year because most teams you play have very limited players out. We now currently have 12/28 players unavailable not including twiddle
Players looked absolutely so pedestrian today last week really took its toll it really showed
Was it jack Gibson who said winning starts at the front office? Until the clowns that run our club are removed we will continue to be an embarrassment, we have everything going for us but we have nothing, Matthew beech needs to grow a pair today and get rid of these incompetent idiots that run this club
When do our leaders stand up and take some blame. CEO, Football Manager and Recruitment manager have been there longer than Gus at Dogs. He has schooled them all on how to recruit and shift squad members. Made theDogs attractive side now when your a player looking to move into.
All we ever buy are reserve graders and we start them thinking we have a great team.
Yes we may be missing 10 plus players but when you honestly look at the “talent” missing, only 1 would make a starting genuine top 8 team
Let’s be serious, since the game started , basically a good roster will beat a weaker one. As a club our roster has become weaker every year since the 2022 GF. More than average first graders moved on and replaced almost non stop by reserve graders, potentials and older journeymen.
We flogged the Tigers less than 2 years ago in the so called SpoonBowl.
Shane Richardson came in, sorted out the cap, signed a few elite players, promoted young ones and revamped their admin. We seem to move in the opposite direction.
Figuring out what needs to happen is not difficult.
+ when is Mark O’Neill going to be held accountable for this roster
+ when is Mark O’Neill going to be held accountable for the Dylan Brown debate
+ the ryan Matterson debacle
+ why was shaun Russell allowed to get to the November deadline and speak to rivals
+ it seems like the players are getting all.the blame, whilst o’neill and Sarantinos play pass the buck, and they will next blame Ryles for their failures
We.must now be asking questions to o’neill and Sarantinos on.why they aren’t being held accountable for the state of this roster – we have no props besides Sam Tuivaiti. In every match our pack has been beaten off the blocks.
Start holding the hierarchy accountable
I agree with all of that, if the club wants supporters they need to earn it like every other club
It’s way too casual there at the moment from the top down, when was our last decent signing? And now we sign an aging Sua, are you kidding me
I think we are overdue for a few elite marquee signings, look at what the bears are doing, at Penriths roster- they are 5 minutes away and make us look like we are a bunch amateurs who are new to running a club
What was with the push for the center of excellence, what’s the point of it if no one cares about excellence- it should be reported to trading standards for false advertising
Big Bob, it’s worse than just The centre of Excellence. The tax payers of New South Wales have given us CommBank to hire, at a taxpayer cost of $360,000,000 and the community’s use of its swimming complex for several years. The least the club can do is put a competitive football team on the field every week. We got nothing in return for letting Lomax and Brown walk- two of our four current internationals. We are still looking for Brown’s replacement more than a year after his decision to move on – what was the plan there? Maybe the best replacement for Lomax would have been Russell but we’ve been out competed for him. It’s an unpleasant fact to have to confront but the roster now is significantly worse than it was when Brad Arthur was sacked and, after promising signs at the end of last year the side is not playing as well as it did in the half dozen matches before Jason Ryles took over. We are now second last on the table – thank goodness for The Dragons.
These days the Parramatta drawing area includes some very wealthy enclaves. We also have areas like the Toongabbie and Seven Hills Housing Commission settlements where families are under acute financial pressure and a family day at the football is a major investment
All in all, club management is under serious moral obligation to put a team on the field that will at least compete each week.
Maybe in leadership we need some people who know a bit less about business and a bit more about Rugby League.
Noel, I agree, and I’ve had enough
And
It’s the same issues we all were pointing out last year- Forties and sixties might be constrained by their requirement to keep things reasonable on here but that doesn’t apply to the fans who are going to get very shitty very shortly if the club doesn’t get their act together
Ryles is at the top of the list for incoming sprays as are defence coach and recruitment staff
No I choose not to accept mediocrity
A Ryles decision for which he’s been let off criticism – letting Clint Gutherson go. Clint was far from the most talented fullback we’ve ever had – Ken Thornett, Jarryd Hayne, Dowling, maybe Mark Levy had more to offer; no-one had ever brought more drive and will to win to the club. He should be ranked with Bill Rayner, Ron Lynch, Stumpy Stevens, Ray Price, Paul Taylor on the basis of sheer mongrel to win. We let him go with a year on his contract. Playing at lock yesterday he would have whipped up a deal more determination in defence than we saw.
Doing renovations, it is a help if you know the difference between a feature wall and a retaining wall.
We give you guys (and gals) a very long leash to voice your opinions. I moderate a reasonable chunk of troll comments and things that cross lines but we let the vast majority of criticisms against us and the club stand. It is healthy for all to let different opinions stand when things are going great, alright or just plain bad.
You are absolutely right about fan unrest. As there should be. Losses like yesterday should not be tolerated or waved away.
My dad texted me about halfway through the first half saying “they’ve put the cue in the rack”.
That is the most disappointing thing about yesterday. Poor skill sets, poor execution, that can happen. But, effort is something you can always control, even if you are being towelled up.
It wasn’t just the players that were booed, it was Ryles that should cop his share
We cleared out our roster only to replace them with a few elderly rejects and with a huge war chest sitting there that we can’t spend because we are bad negotiators or too slow or the players aren’t there
Bring out the broom again
Maybe a whiteboard might be what we need Bob.
Why do we have that strong sense of dejavu?
Boy, where do we go from here? No green shoots and no light at the end of the tunnel.
I didn’t want this season to be another rebuild year and it just got worse. Now I’d take a rebuilding season over what’s to potentially come our way.
The club is in a crisis and sliding fast into what could be our worst season in decades.
I know it’s just a game but I felt physically sick watching our team unravel. And not just because of yesterday’s game but for what’s to come in the next few weeks. It’ was hard to watch our Eels being toyed with.
Thanks for the show boys, at least we can count on two people wearing blue and gold to show up and give their all.
The HOF & CEO need to be the next one the chopping block..
The recruitment has been diabolical under their watch and now they have hired the S&C coach from the Knights who was also at the Tigers…..
These 2 need to be there first replaced then we need to get better staff under them..
Nothing is going to change with these 2 at the club..
People forget that O’Neill came to us from the Tigers where he lasted 6 months before being dismissed for his behaviour. I imagine they don’t let him go (given his long playing history with the club) if he is doing an amazing job and presuming the reasons he left was not enough to blackball you from an industry (which it apparently wasn’t).
.
That is his entire experience in list management and contract negotiations. How are the Eels, accepting that as a sufficient resume for taking on the role? Maybe the Titans or some other battling club, but not the Eels?! Or is that what we are now? A battling club that will take on and accept years of under performance.
And some will say, ‘but he helped build the side for 2022’. And he did i suppose. But again, look at the guys who got us to the GF – how many were in hot pursuit from other clubs? Papali’i? Lane? Cartwright? Sivo? No. BA just did a good job with them. He can’t land talent. He can’t negotiate when players are in demand. We don’t have to be in the room for the negotiations. It is abundantly clear.
Ok one question remains .. how come Sam Moa our defence coach isn’t feeling the heat ?????
It all comes down to defence.
What was dished up yesterday was nothing short of disgraceful.
I would mark it down lower then any pathetic performance i have seen when winning spoons 2012, 2013, 2018.
It was the lowest i have seen live.
This wasn’t a Top 4 side who were hot.
This was the Gold Coast Titans for crying out loud who are perennial bottom four who have barely won a game on the road in 2 years.
And the club are kidding themselves if they think they can avoid making drastic changes in the front office and football department.
Mark O’Neill & Ben Rogers have built this roster for 7 years and we have now missed the finals 4 years in a row. Heads need to roll and actions need to happen soon otherwise the people in charge ain’t doing there jobs for the members and fans.
Can someone tell me what juniors that have come through the so called elite pathways they have identified that are first grade standard.
And don’t mention Will Penisini as one his now one of the worst centres in the comp who can’t tackle, pass or catch. Makes you wonder the quality of coaching he has got so far in his career he can’t do one basic properly after 100 FG games.
So are you all expecting good things from the NSW CUP…..well hate to disappoint…..a south winger scores 4 tries in the first half like what….the middles…..only St George saved us with a kick off defensive effort i mean going and average of 50mtrs from kick off like our defence was that bad. And most of them are full-timers. If LT was about to make is debut the how can a part timer like Avery make him look average
Our Senior Football department is a joke once you excel in the academy dont expect to improve once you get the NSW cup…
MON and the team are pathetic.
I think the season is over. Felt like the years of hiding our depth and backline deficiencies paid full dividends on Sunday. We need an entire new generation of eels. The young guys coming through from what I’ve seen so far aren’t up to first grade bench players at best. Talent identification and recruitment are frankly appalling. Really telling in round one pre interview with Ryles when asked about Melbourne’s success he put it down to the talent pool Melbourne have, I knew we were gone when he said that. Reading between the lines he knew his team this season was a stack of shit, poor Ryles I feel for him, this isn’t his team. Also Moses is old now peaked 2 years ago. as someone said a few weeks back on socials we look like a bunch of Banana’s. I have to agree. Banana 🍌 Eels how embarrassing.
Pingback: The return of expected run metres and the Cowboys, plus Storm, Wahs and Tigers - The Rugby League Eye Test
The injuries aren’t helping, but I think leaning on that is a still a little bit of papering over cracks.
If you look at the pack at the moment there’s a real lack of athleticism/punch through among the forwards. Tuivaiti has shown he can do it, and Williams offers some as well, but that’s about it. Watching at the ground yesterday, Tuilagi and Kautoga were gassed inside the first 10 minutes and never receovered. Junior tries, but his best days are behind him as a big minute impact man, JDB is washed and Guymer hasn’t quite found his feet.
i don’t know being at full strength would really help that, Doorey has some good line running but I’m not sure he could keep that up for large stretches if not injured and Hopgood isn’t that sort of player either.
Maybe a fully-fit Moretti could help by allowing Williams to go to the edge like he did at the end of last year, or starting Tuiviati and Guymer and then bringing Paulo and Walker on after 20 to keep the tempo going, but even that might be deck chairs on the titanic.
Maybe this week Brown gets a start with Tuivaiti out and Sua gets an early release and we can start refreshing the pack a little.
We must be close to another Jim Sarantinos club statement about how luck and injuries have affected our progress going forward. But we’re all still striving for the ultimate goal. There’ll still be something missing from the statement and that is , a big dose of reality and the truth. These people don’t know how to achieve success in Rugby league. Forty years and we’re going backwards. Let’s get real.
The patched-up cracks in our football department are starting to show again — which, honestly, always felt inevitable.
It’s becoming clearer why we look so off the pace physically. The club made the decision to appoint an S&C coach with a history that raises serious questions, and it’s hard to see how that was meant to improve our physical standards.
Right now, we’ve got 16 players unavailable, with at least three more clearly injured but still taking the field. By Round 7, only 9 out of 28 players were fully fit and available — that’s a serious concern.
At this stage of the season, that kind of injury toll points to something deeper than just bad luck. Averaging around three players going down each week isn’t sustainable, and it’s hard not to look at the strength and conditioning program as a major factor.
We’re only in Round 7, and this has the potential to become a catastrophic season if it continues. The decision-making around this area feels amateur, and it raises real concerns about whether the right systems and people are in place.
Right now, S&C is clearly our biggest issue, and there needs to be accountability for why we’re dropping like flies.
We could very well struggle to field any sort of team in a few weeks. Does the NRL really want a team full of Jersey Flegg players in the NRL? That would not be good for their safety or development.
I really struggle to see how we turn this season around with so many players out. The NRL has shown too that they are not willing to lift a finger for us. Maybe they will take notice if ratings and hence the value of broadcast rights start to drop because Parra fans have had enough.
Guys nobody here has really said this yet (that I’ve seen)
I actually think Mitch Moses is unhappy, I thought that in rd 1.
This is only one aspect. I actual think the teams unhappy and there has not been the same vibe about them this year. Even last year during hard beginning you could sense belief in them or at least some type of team connection amongst them even after a few losses.
Either ryles has lose his players belief, Pezet coming in, or poor form from our middles / no key signings on middles, has effected their belief or confidence in the squad.
There’s no way that performance was just from a few guys “being off” let’s say
Look at manly as soon as soon as the old coach went, or Newcastle now under a new coach
When your players are happy they’ll magically turn a corner at times, manly and knights being good examples of that
I support ryles but there’s something going on at our club and it goes much deeper than on field performances, all of our players up until now turned up every week for ryles
We also don’t look crash hot in NSW cup either, something is going on here, injuries aside too many eels are under performing
As to possible causes of discontent, it’s easy to speculate several; now that you suggest discontent, I’ve felt plenty and I’m just an old bloke watching football from the comfort of my lounge room. In particular, I suspect that the club took a massive gamble in signing Pezet under those conditions. Presumably big money, pushing blokes who’d bled for the club further down the order, no commitment to the future of The Eels. He’d have needed to be a particularly charming guy and outstanding footballer not to have caused some resentment.
We are unlikely to be in as good a position for a marque signing as the start of this season.
The end of last season we showed real promise under Ryles and managed to get nothing.
Only ridiculous money could attract the sort of players we need now.
Where to from here?
We are losing games in the first 10-15 minutes through errors.
Ludicrous when a simple no error game plan to play safe and get out of pressure with probably the best long kicker in the game.
If we make it to the 20 minute mark still in games, we won’t have the massive fatigue deficit that has been the main driver of the collapsing defence in the second half.
We showed, albeit with the full team on the park, that we can beat teams in the bottom half, even the top half of we remember a week ago against the Tigers.
The top eight is a pipe dream now, but establishing a solid defensive structure and the discipline to eliminate errors, penalties and six against, will give us the opportunity to at least not seem like a dead end for any prospective talent we might chase.