NRL Team List
Round 11 vs Melbourne Storm, 7:45PM Saturday, Suncorp Stadium
Magic Round against the Melbourne Storm with Peter Gough holding the main whistle.What in the footy devil’s most devious of machinations is this?
Get the bandolier of salt pouches ready, start burning the sage, fill the super soakers up with holy water, start smelting some silver weaponry and brush up on your Latin. If a method exists to purify a curse or purge evil then the Parramatta Eels will need to employ it this week if they are to conquer this accursed trial.
Jason Ryles may very well have the Winchester brothers on speed-dial for advice but in terms of the team he will be fielding the Eels are set to deploy the same squad that upset the Cowboys in Round 10.
The only changes from this week’s team sheet to last that of last Tuesday comes in the extended elements of the bench with new recruit Harrison Edwards featuring as the 20th man while Jonah Pezet returns from a 1-game suspension in jersey #22.
The Storm escaped a quandry at fullback after Sualauvi Faalogo was cleared of a potential facial fracture in Melbourne’s big win over the Tigers. The live-wire fullback will turn out against the Eels while Moses Leo also returns to their back line in the centres.
The dark history of this fixture dating back to seasons 2019 and 2024 looms large for the Eels but there is no time like the present to avenge those games (and plenty of others, including Round 1 this year) given Melbourne’s recent form struggles.
| Parramatta Eels | Melbourne Storm | |
| Joash Papalii | 1 | Sualauvi Faalogo |
| Brian Kelly | 2 | Will Warbrick |
| Jordan Samrani | 3 | Jack Howarth |
| Sean Russell | 4 | Nick Meaney |
| Josh Addo-Carr | 5 | Moses Leo |
| Ronald Volkman | 6 | Cameron Munster |
| Mitchell Moses | 7 | Jahrome Hughes |
| Luca Moretti | 8 | Stefano Utoikamanu |
| Tallyn Da Silva | 9 | Harry Grant |
| Junior Paulo | 10 | Josh King |
| Kelma Tuilagi | 11 | Shawn Blore |
| Jack Williams | 12 | Ativalu Lisati |
| Jack De Belin | 13 | Trent Loiero |
| Interchange | ||
| Dylan Walker | 14 | Trent Toelau |
| Saxon Pryke | 15 | Cooper Clarke |
| Toni Mataele | 16 | Davvy Moale |
| Charlie Guymer | 17 | Joe Chan |
| Apa Twidle | 18 | Stanley Huen |
| Teancum Brown | 19 | Preston Conn |
| Reserves | ||
| Harrison Edwards | 20 | Josiah Pahulu |
| Araz Nanva | 21 | Manaia Waitere |
| Jonah Pezet | 22 | Angus Hinchey |
Injury Report
Some notable updates this week. Isaiah Iongi and Kitione Kautoga are no longerp resent on the injury report but obviously neither are listed in the NRL squad this week. Ryley Smith unsurprisingly has been downgraded to a Round 13 return date giving him the benefit of the bye for additional recovery.
Will Penisini is still without any sort of official time line to return with his struggles with osteitis pubiswhile his younger brother Richie Penisini has unfortunately had a re-occurrence of bone bruising which is set to side line him for some time. Spare a thought for Jake Tago as well who returned from a heavy concussion from an ugly high tackle only to shortly thereafter be hit in another vicious tackle that has left him with a broken jaw.
| Player | Injury | Return Date |
| Sam Tuivaiti | Shoulder | Rd 13 |
| Ryley Smith | Sternum | Rd 13 |
| Jake Tago | Jaw Fracture | Rd 17 |
| Richie Penisini | Bone Bruising | Rd 17 |
| Will Penisini | Osteitis Pubis | TBC |
| Bailey Simonsson | Ankle | TBC |
| J’Maine Hopgood | ACL | Season |
| Matt Doorey | ACL | Season |
NSW Cup Team List
Round 11 vs St George Illawarra Dragons, Sunday 3:00PM, North Sydney Oval
Some notable changes in Cup for the Festival of Footy Round at North Sydney Oval. Pezet returns from suspension at halfback while Kautoga will get some minutes pumped into him at the Cup level ahead of a potential NRL return after the bye next week.
Apa Twidle takes over in the centres for the injured Richie Penisini while Devonte Vaivela has cleared concussion protocols and returns on the right wing.
Curiously the lock forward position is currently vacant despite a number of healthy options available. If the team is updated today I will also update this post but it might be a mystery solved on Sunday afternoon.
| 1 | Brad Avery |
| 2 | Mohamed Alameddine |
| 3 | Araz Nanva |
| 4 | Apa Twidle |
| 5 | Devonte Vaivela |
| 6 | Lorenzo Talataina |
| 7 | Jonah Pezet |
| 8 | Teancum Brown |
| 9 | Kruz Niutili-Schmidt |
| 10 | Tyrese Lokeni |
| 11 | Jezaiah Funa-Iuta |
| 12 | Kitione Kautoga |
| 13 | TBA |
| Interchange | |
| 14 | Trace Beattie |
| 15 | Zack Visconti |
| 16 | Ryda Talagi |
| 17 | Jordan Hill |
Jersey Flegg Cup Team List
BYE
The Jersey Flegg Cup enters a global bye this week before the Eels have their scheduled bye next week in Round 12. The boys won’t be in action again until Saturday the 30th of May.
Gough has taken the mantle of ‘worst referee’ by a country mile. We have the dubious distinction of a 34% win ratio when Gough adjudicates. This is some sort of nrl sick joke. The Lomax stance is coming back to bite us in a big way.
A Storm resurgence and the ref from hell does not engender a lot of positivity!
Bring on rd 13.
“Get the bandolier of salt pouches ready, start burning the sage, fill the super soakers up with holy water, start smelting some silver weaponry and brush up on your Latin.”
Quite possibly the funniest and most accurate assessment of pre-game fan sentiment I have ever read.
Upon discussions with a colleague It has also been assessed professionally as a relatively achievable list of preventative measures leading into a critical game day.
Love your work.
If Gough shafts us then I expect a rant on the officiating from Ryles, we copped the blowtorch last time from Gough and nothing was said in the after match presser which was piss weak.
My heart sank when Faalogo was named to start and now with Gough I’m almost ready to strike through the game, it shouldn’t be this way
I feel like Abdo has an axe to grind with the Eels pulling out of Darwin, the Lomax saga which Abdo got involved with and the “apply the blowtorch” text that we never got to the bottom of because the Eels foolishly settled out of court an hour before it was due to be heard.