Welcome to what we call a “character building” weekend for Parramatta Eels fans, as we face our in form bitter rivals the Bulldogs with literally half a first grade squad. Just to rub salt in the wound, this was meant to be a celebration of the 1986 premiership victory, but the only joy you’ll find in Blue and Gold this weekend is throwing in the VHS and watching that replay. First grade is going to be ugly.

Not much more to say than that. This might be the most perfunctory preview we’ll get for season 2026. Let’s get into it.

Game Info

Date: Sunday, April 19, 2026
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Parramatta
Kick-off: 4:05PM AEST
Referee: Liam Kennedy
Bunker: Grant Atkins
Weather: Mild, dry
Broadcast: Nine, Fox League, Kayo

Sixties Gol Speculates (All odds quoted are NSW Tab)

Gol here for the punting tip this week. There’s a lot of value in the Bulldogs markets, it feels like they should be much bigger favourites here, but I’m not in the business of tipping the Dogs so instead I’ll recommend Bulldogs back rower Jacob Preston as first try scorer at a reasonable $15 on the TAB at time of writing.

Happy, responsible punting.

Gol

The Rivalry

You know what, I’m not doing it. You all hate the Bulldogs, and if you don’t, you should. Firing up the rivalry any more this week is just going to make me depressed. We’ll leave this for the next clash where hopefully we have more than half a first grade team available to play.

Rivalry status: Depressingly hot, like somebody dropped their guts in the sauna

Teams

Parramatta Eels

1. Joash Papalii 2. Brian Kelly 3. Will Penisini 19. Araz Nanva 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Ronald Volkman 7. Mitchell Moses 8. Luca Moretti 9. Ryley Smith 10. Junior Paulo 11. Charlie Guymer 12. Jack Williams 13. Dylan Walker. 14. Tallyn Da Silva 15. Saxon Pryke 16. Jack de Belin 17. Toni Mataele 18. Teancum Brown 19. Lorenzo Talataina. 21. Jezaiah Funa-Iuta.

The comically overflowing casualty ward added our entier back row last weekend, with Kelma Tuilagi and Kitione Kautoga out, forcing another reshuffle in the pack. Sam Tuivaiti is out as well and Sean Russell a late withdrawal following a massive head knock two weeks back. Araz Nanva gets his second NRL start in Russell’s place, while Luca Moretti and Charlie Guymer earn starts in the pack while Jack Williams shifts to where I prefer him to be, the edge.

Saxon Pryke makes his NRL debut on the bench, a tough nut who is getting a just reward for hard work over several years. He’ll be a trier and should bring the energy. Toni Mataele also gets his second first grade jersey, bringing a bit more size and aggression to the pack. It is a huge opportunity for both men but they were both on the NSW Cup bench to start this season, showing just how deep this injury crisis is cutting. Seven members of that round one Cup side are now in the NRL squad, with three more unavailable through injury.

Teancum Brown and Lorenzo Talataina remain in the extended squad, and based on how Eels players are dropping I’d be flying their families in to see a debut because there is a good chance they’ll be required.

Canterbury Bulldogs

1. Connor Tracey 2. Jacob Kiraz 3. Enari Tuala 4. Bronson Xerri 5. Marcelo Montoya 6. Matt Burton 7. Lachlan Galvin 8. Sam Hughes 9. Bailey Hayward 10. Leo Thompson 11. Viliame Kikau 12. Jacob Preston 13. Jaeman Salmon. 14. Kurt Mann 15. Sitili Tupouniua 16. Harry Hayes 17. Jake Turpin 19. Jonathan Sua 20. Lipoi Hopoi. 21. Josh Curran.

Bulldogs captain Stephen Crichton remains injured in a small mercy to the Parramatta backline, with Bronson Xerri earning a reprieve after having one foot out the door a month ago. Max King is also out but a timely replacement in big money recruit Leo Thompson is on deck to take his place. Former Eels Sam Hughes and Jaeman Salmon are also in the starting pack.

Cameron Ciraldo has gone with a development bench, with Jon Sua and Lipoi Hopoi named in the extended jerseys. Hard to see this as anything but a chance to blood some youngsters in a game they should comfortably control throughout.

Blueprints

We need a big effort from Jack moving to the back row

The Bulldogs finally showed some variety to their staid attack last week, realising they weren’t going to grind Penrith to dust and in their attempts to exploit the few weaknesses in the Panthers line they accidentally opened up their own offence. Going two wide early and hitting the edges with hard running back rowers is the blueprint to beating Parramatta (well, one of them) and I would suggest Viliame Kikau and Jacob Preston will feast in this one.

They could also find joy in following the Titans gameplan from last week, simply running big bodies right back in behind the ruck. Sitili Tupouniua was running like a man possessed last week and if he brings that speed and power to charges back in at the ruck he is going to find joy. Hughes and Thompson are more vanilla big men, but you aren’t going to need to have elite footwork and speed to exploit the Parramatta ruck, those two just need to aim at a retreating man (there will be plenty to choose from) and earn quick play the balls.

The main hope for Parramatta will be that the Bulldogs fail to execute the gameplan. Bailey Hayward could get greedy or the halves could want to overplay their role in a game where they shouldn’t be required to do much. Galvin can be forced into a run if his first read is off, his running might be deadly in itself against a weak Parramatta line, but a half cutting back inside is far less threatening to us than any kind of shift wider. If they can’t capitalise on momentum and a retreating defensive line because their halves get run happy, the Eels might just hold off enough charges to gain some defensive confidence.

Sadly I don’t think it will get that far. Parramatta has been torn apart defensively by simple rugby league, and the Bulldogs are good at simple, it’s when the halves need to step up or their plan A doesn’t work that things get dicey for them. It’ll take an effort with commitment well beyond what we’ve seen from the Eels this year to force that level of panic in the Bulldogs, so I will be rather surprised if we turn it around here.

Hope?

Luca needs to lift

The Eels have really struggled to break down the Bulldogs defence in recent years, trying to grind them at their own game and falling into the trap of playing basic shape that the Canterbury defence eats up and demands for more. With combinations askew and hope tossed to the wind maybe we see some variety in the attack that causes the Bulldogs problems; throwing more offloads, chancing the arm earlier in the set, kicks behind the line for speed merchants. There aren’t a lot of options here, we saw last week that Volkman and especially Papalii struggled with decision making in shape, leading to disjointed attacking lines and intercepted passes, but if the Eels have a break in case of emergency plan, this is the week to try it out. There’s nothing to lose.

We may also see the benefit of youthful energy coming into the side. Luca Moretti hasn’t been in great form for 2026 but we know he has some mongrel in him and if he can get some of that back he could help hold the line early on. Guymer, Pryke and Mataele should bring the energy (plus Brown if he gets a run) and Jack Williams is less prone to his defensive gaffs when playing on the edge. If the Bulldogs come into this one a touch light and we sock them in the jaw early on, we might just ride that momentum to an early lead and a bit of confidence.

Maybe we see Jason Ryles go full future mode and we get Talataina starting, who is going to be shakier defensively than Volkman but provides a lot more of that energy and a strong running threat. It’s not a great time to debut, but there probably won’t be a great time this year so may as well get it over with now. If we can hold our own defensively then Talataina, Da Silva and Papalii find themselves with space to run against tired defenders, good things could happen.

That is the big “if” though. The Eels are leaking 40 points a game, one of the worst rates in history, and the combinations aren’t getting stronger as the casualty ward fills. It isn’t just effort; it is fitness, technique and philosophy. Parramatta has traditionally been punished when attempting to push the boundaries of slowing the ruck, but how much worse can it get for them? The ref’s arm will have to get tired of waving eventually, and maybe if it doesn’t (or he starts to use the bin for repeat infringements) we’ll bring this stupid six again rule to a head. It sounds like momentum is turning against it, clubs are pushing back on the speed of the game and the injury rate. Maybe we’ll get rugby league back sooner rather than later.

The Game

A livewire effort from Joash against his former club wouldn’t go astray

It is hard for me to cop that the Bulldogs were a bigger underdog against Penrith last week than we are against them today. I just don’t see that many paths to victory for half an Eels team, and those that exist are going to be extraordinarily difficult to pull off. Maybe the fire of the 86 team will inspire them, maybe the fear of a roasting by Ray Price will be enough to get a performance out of them. It’d be nice to give the old boys something to cheer about, but it is a big ask.

This Bulldogs team is far from perfect. Aside from last week their attack has been anaemic, and the once impenetrable defence has been a touch shaky in giving up scores to the Knights and Rabbitohs. That Knights game has to be the guide for a Parramatta upset: forcing Galvin to run and containing him from the inside out, bending but not breaking in defence and suffocating the on-line attack. The Bulldogs were lucky to score 16 that day, unable to get anything going against a resolute Knights goalline wall. It’s a big ask for the Eels to replicate that, but if they can hold and counterattack, good things will happen.

It will take a miracle, but given we were denied one on Easter Monday the football gods owe us, and they’ll be there in person to celebrate the 86 premiership hopefully Sterling, Kenny, Cronin, Price and co. can make it happen for us. There are no forgone conclusions, this is why we play the games, and even with little reason for hope or optimism, we roll out in our colours just in case it is the day that miracle arrives. I’m not tipping it of course, but I am hoping for it.

Go you Eels!

Prediction: Bulldogs 34 d Eels 6

Man of the Match: Jacob Preston

Gol

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