In case you missed it this weekend:
- Parramatta scrapped it out against the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL but fell short of an upset victory under the weight of repeated errors. The injury curse stretched its tendrils once again as Ryley Smith departed the game inside 10-minutes with an exacerbation of his sternum injury.
- Jason Ryles actually took a quick swipe at the referees after weeks of garbage officiating.
- The Eels are poised to turn the corner in the NSW Cup as they strung together consecutive wins with a dominant 43-14 victory over the Warriors. Jordan Samrani marked his return from injury with an outstanding display at right centre as a host of young player stepped up around him.
- A rapid start was enough in the Jersey Flegg to see off the fast-finishing Warriors as the Blue & Gold remain entrenched inside the Top 4 and just a single game back from the competition leaders.
- History was made in the Tarsha Gale Cup as the Parramatta Eels became the first ever back-to-back premiers in the competition. Coach Ryan Walker, captain Kyliah Gray and the ensemble cast of phenomenally talented footballers headed by player-of-the-match Freedom Crichton Ropati proved to be too much for a very good Cronulla outfit as the Eels successfully defended their 2025 premiership.
So yeah, a fair bit happened. Let’s get right into it.
NRL Round 9
New Zealand Warriors 36 defeat the Parramatta Eels 14
You don’t win any awards for gutsy losses, in particular gutsy losses that are rife with costly turnovers, but the Eels pushed the 2nd placed Warriors deep into the late exchanges of Round 9. It is small solace for fans as the losses start to stack up amidst the never ending injury crisis and increasingly vocal concerns from supporters about recruitment. I do think the team has largely trended towards competitive since their victory over the Bulldogs, albeit with ugly lapses, but it requires the barest degree of empathy to understand why there are fans at their breaking points.
Round 13 looms as the hopeful turning point in the relentless bleeding of talent to the injury ward with the likes of Isaiah Iongi, Sam Tuivaiti and Kitione Kautoga (and perhaps Ryley Smith too depending on his official status later today) set to provide a major boost to the team. A bye in Round 12 helps ease the load as well but before the Eels get a brief bit of respite in that oasis they have to navigate a tough fortnight in Queensland with the Cowboys in Townsville this week followed by the Storm in Brisbane for Magic Round.
In the context of an improbable hope in keeping their prospects for the finals alive they absolutely need one and more than likely two wins in that trip. At the very minimum they need to find a way to curtail the alarming error rate. Yes injuries, inexperience and the incredibly fractured combinations that have resulted from the ceaseless attrition rate are major factors here but the compounding mistakes need to clamped down on some way, some how.
NSW Cup Round 9
Parramatta Eels 43 defeat the New Zealand Warriors 14
The drain of endless injuries did a fair job derailing any chances the NSW Cup had of building momentum in the first quarter of the competition. In recent weeks though, troops have begun to filter back into the team from the injury ward while some precocious young talent from the SG Ball and Jersey Flegg ranks have combined to reinvigorate the roster.
It is still too early to say they are well and truly back but a gritty win over the Sea Eagles in Round 8 has been followed up with a much more convincing effort against the Warriors as the Eels poured it on at Eels HQ on Saturday.
Jordan Samrani was evidently keen to make up for lost time as he struck up an immediate rapport with young flanker Devonte Vaivela as the pair combined for a brace of tries in the first half. Samrani smashed through 20 carries for 174m to go with his 2 try (and line break) assists as the rangy centre threw his hat in the ring for an immediate NRL recall. Vaivela’s stats aren’t quite as eye-popping (8 carries for 113m, 2 line breaks, 1 line break assists, 2 tries) but the young back is making more and more posts winners in the NSW Cup as he seizes the opportunities afforded to him by injuries.
Samrani wasn’t the only player to send the coaching staff a message as Toni Mataele responded to his drop from the NRL with a season high water mark effort. The big bookend fell painfully short of a hat-trick in the final moments of the game and was left to settle with just the 2 tries to go with his 20 carries, 194m, 2 line breaks and 7 tackle busts. It was an excellent response from Mataele and perhaps an indication of a checkpoint in his young career or perhaps the right amount of accumulated experience.
Aiding him was sterling games from Tyrese Lokeni and Zack Visconti as the trio combined to utterly dominate the ruck in general play and terrorise the Warriors inside their red zone. Both Lokeni and Visconti are enjoying protracted runs of rich form over the last month or so. I have no clue whether higher honours are on the horizon for either young player but they are doing everything required of them presently.
The rest is a smattering of collective positives for the Eels. Jonah Pezet made a good return from his hamstring strain in his favoured #7 jersey and worked well with Lorenzo Talataina through the first half before his young offsider was put on ice as coverage for the extended NRL bench. Ryda Talagi and Chris Petrus both made notable contributions from the bench and should see more playing time as a result.
Unfortunately there does look to be an injury concern for Jake Tago to monitor with the luckless winger leaving the game in 5th minute due to a high tackle.
Jersey Flegg Cup Round 9
Parramatta Eels 30 defeat the New Zealand Warriors 24
A 24-point blitz in the first half did most of the heavy lifting for the Eels in the Jersey Flegg on Saturday. The Warriors did fight back hard in the second half to leave the two sides in possession of 5 tries a piece with the prodigious boot of Kade Moujalli ultimately separating the two teams.
I imagine the Eels will be frustrated they let the Warriors back into the contest but win marks the 6th victory of the young season for the Blue & Gold and keeps them just 2-points behind the ladder leading Dragons as we make the turn to Round 10.
In terms of individual, or perhaps combined efforts, Moujalli is probably a great player to start with as he continues to be a stabilising influence on the side. His ability to strike up rapid and effective partnerships with 4 different halves pairings across the opening 9 rounds of the season has been crucial. His most recent running mate, Cameron Bamblett, has had little issue adjusting to Under 21s and his fearless running game has been a prominent feature in Parramatta’s recent victories over the Sea Eagles and Warriors.
Jackson Koina has also made the immediate transition with considerable aplomb and notched his second try is an many weeks with a short range burst that saw him burrow through multiple defenders on the goal line. Jordan Miller continued his terrific season with another try (from a hit-and-spin no less!) and an impressive workload from the big man.
Tarsha Gale Cup Grand Final
Parramatta Eels 20 defeat the Cronulla Sharks 6
And here come the belles of the ball, or maybe the gals of the Gale is a better fit in this case.
Your reigning and back-to-back champions in the Tarsha Gale Cup. History makers and a group of players that have carved out a special place in the annals of junior rugby league.
Sixties and I will rave plenty about these girls on Tuesday night while we are also scheduled to catch up with Steve Georgallis soon for the season debrief but for now they have simply earned the right to soak it all in. Higher honours await plenty of them in the Harvey Norman’s Womens Premiership and perhaps even beyond later this year but for the time being they can revel in their collective glory.
Freedom Crichton Ropati, whom I imagine TCT readers are quite familiar with at this point, ascended her game to even higher level on Saturday with a domineering effort around the ruck that culminated in a legendary virtuoso try in the 50th-minute that sealed Parramatta’s win.
Fair play to the Sharks as well. They were a formidable opponent for the scorching hot Eels and it took a serious second half escalation from Parramatta to put them away. On another day, against perhaps any other team in the competition they very well prevail. On this particular Saturday though, it was all Blue & Gold.
Congratulations girls, you are history makers.
I was not surprised that Toni Mataele dominated in Cup. I believe that, at 23 he has arrived as a mature, potentially dominating prop at NRL level. The job now is to tie him up for the next three years before Mal grabs him as he has grabbed Russell and Twiddle
Before he was injured I thought Samrani was looking the pick of our centres. He seems to favour the right, as does Will. Kelly contrived to make a contribution each week but in my opinion he’s not a winger and often gets caught out of position in defence; maybe we could try a Penisini-Samrani pairing on the right..
Given his chance Ron Volkman has shown what an effective competitor he is but gee there:s work to do in defence, isn’t there? The loss of Brown has left us with defensive challenges at 6
I know it’s gloomy for nrl eels atm.. we are in a hard period.
But Volkman has played well and offered us a lot more than Pezet has. Volkman has (in my view) proven himself to be more valuable than Pezet at 5/8.
With bears + PNG teams now building their rosters.. it will be crucial that we lock down whatever decent back ups & developing players we have who have shown they can do a job in fist grade.
If we think now is a tough market to sign external players who are valuable, just wait until these other two new teams arrive.. it’s already starting.
And not only will they sign whatever good players hit the market – they will be throwing money at eels Jnrs as well, we desperately need to solidify key roster signings asap or we will be weak.
I’m not sure it people realise this year but the tax free dollars from PNG, and the cheaper real estate market in WA (compared to Sydney) will be a huge selling point for younger players.. even to those who are only fringe NRL players and reserve graders.
Fringe NRL / reserve graders who may not ever get $500k to $1 million dollar salary’s can go to either of those clubs mentioned and set their lives up much easier than staying in Sydney.
If you are a back up player / reserve grader for PNG or bears and only make say $200k (ish) per year?
You can literally set your whole life up on that living in those players.. either tax free in PNG means you take home the same as a player making $400k, or you move to WA to play for the bears you can buy a apartment for 40-60% cheaper then buying a unit in north west Sydney.
Really hope that Ryles & the eels can navigate this period successfully, because us being down the bottom of the ladder + TWO NEW teams starting means recruitment and retention is going to become FAR more difficult. Plus we are already failing in that area most people suggest.
Interested to see if we can bolster our roster or will have to settle for what we have. Huge pressure on ryles here. NRL head coach gig at a struggling club is a huge load to manage. 😅
I agree completely with Muz. 60 NRL players will vanish out of current NRL clubs by the start of the 2028 competition; we have already lost two very promising backs. There:s some real talent still uncommitted for next year but they will be very difficult to snare. The danger, if we are slow to move on those in the club who have a future, that this foster about whom so many of us have expressed reservations will get worse
If PNG don’t win the premiership in 10 years after they join it will be a massive massive failure.
I say 10 years because that’s how long that off set is guaranteed.
If they get rid of that offset after 10 years the club will just die a natural and quick death.
Given the tax offset, they should be able to field a near Australian calibre team in a very short time and will become the frontrunners for years to come.
I believe it will just kill the NRL. other clubs are now just waking up to the deal and clubs will not be able to compete in the marketplace.
If you are ever willing to sow the seeds of a breakaway competition like super league 2 then PVL has given those breakaway proponents every avenue to do so.
Stupidist thing the game has ever ever done.
Typical PVL though..the game was going to well but he has to change it.
As for the Eels, well enjoy the game in its present form whilst you can because I won’t last long.
“If we think now is a tough market to sign external players who are valuable, just wait until these other two new teams arrive.. it’s already starting.”
Since i am probably considered negative, i will try and put a positive spin on this:
Since we literally fail in every competitive bidding process for a player, then we can’t do any worse, even when there are two more clubs!
Congrats to the Tarsha Gale girls. IN an under age competition, to go back to back with many girls the same, is a real credit.
As for: “Jason Ryles actually took a quick swipe at the referees after weeks of garbage officiating.”
I don’t want to hear it. We’ve all bemoaned officials at one point or another. And sometimes we wish our coach or captain would stand up and defend our team. But when you have played 9 games and given up 32 points in 6 games and are yet to hold anyone below 20 points, I don’t want to see the Head Coach fishing for excuses or giving any sort of defense for our players and their lack of ability to defend. Have some self respect Rylesy. Or better yet, instill some in your players.