The Eels and the Raiders stumble into their round 15 clash, beaten, battered and bitterly disappointing in season 2026. We’ve been injured and can’t defend, but I don’t know what the Raiders’ excuse is. Maybe the players are just having an “off Ricky Stuart” year, which will happen every now and then before the mercurial coach reinvents his side into a sudden reversal of fortune that too is but a brief flitter of success.

As a self respecting Eels fan my opinion on Ricky Stuart remains that he can get in the sea after his brief but damaging stint as coach in 2013. It is in contrast to my feelings on the Raiders in general, whose supporter base are kindred spirits of a sort to the Blue and Gold army; both clubs enjoying a brief golden era that now drifts further into history, now suffering through false dawns occasionally interrupting a status quo of agonising mediocrity.

Now both teams are stripped of the few good players they had left as Origin kicks in, leaving us a scramble that is sure to be high on effort but low on skill and execution. At least it will be mild and dry out at Parramatta, so we won’t freeze and shiver for the privilege. Yep, it’s one of “those” previews, except both teams aren’t good. Let’s dig in.

Game Info

Date: Saturday, June 13, 2026
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Parramatta
Kick-off: 7:35 PM AEST
Referee: Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski
Bunker: Grant Atkins
Weather: Mild, dry
Broadcast: Fox League, Kayo

Sixties Speculates (All odds quoted are NSW Tab)

To come…

Sixties

Teams

Parramatta Eels

1. Isaiah Iongi 2. Brian Kelly 3. Jordan Samrani 4. Sean Russell 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Joash Papalii 7. Ronald Volkman 8. Luca Moretti 9. Tallyn Da Silva 10. Jack Willliams 11. Kelma Tuilagi 12. Kitione Kautoga 13. Jack de Belin. 14. Dylan Walker 15. Sam Tuivaiti 16. Teancum Brown 17. Harrison Edwards 18. Apa Twidle 19. Charlie Guymer. 22. Araz Nanva.

No changes again for the Eels, likely because there are no returns from injury, it’s a five day turnaround and Cup just got beaten by 60. Going by NSW training, Mitch Moses wouldn’t have been right this week anyway, but he’s not considered due to Origin duty. One week injury my backside.

Expect the late Da Silva for Edwards swap to happen again. All eyes will be on the pack minutes, which were a bit warped last week and could do with some balancing. Teancum Brown didn’t look overwhelmed in his debut and could be trusted to handle a slightly larger load.

Canberra Raiders

1. Kaeo Weekes 2. Jed Stuart 3. Seb Kris 4. Matt Timoko 5. Xavier Savage 6. Daine Laurie 7. Ethan Sanders 8. Corey Horsburgh 9. Tom Starling 10. Joseph Tapine 11. Ata Mariota 12. Zac Hosking 13. Jayden Brailey. 14. Owen Pattie 15. Vena Patuki-Case 16. Morgan Smithies 17. Chevy Stewart 18. Coby Black 19. Joe Roddy. 20. Jordan Uta.

The Raiders lose Ethan Strange and Hudson Young to Origin duty, while Savelio Tamale is out due to a concussion and both Simi Sasagi and Noah Martin are longer term absences. Josh Papalii is also out.

Jed Stuart has played most weeks this year filling in somewhere and gets another chance for Tamale, while super utility Daine Laurie moves to the halves after stints at fullback and lock. Ata Mariota comes in for Young while the bench is a pack of fresh faces, including debutant Vena Patuki-Case and another potential first up starter in Coby Black.

Agonising

Captain Jack will be hoping he does the Raiding this week

I couldn’t agree more with Sixties this week, and am sick of hearing “the effort is good” when describing the Eels’ performances. Effort is a non-negotiable at this level, and praising it should be as meaningless as praising the players ability to breathe in and out or put one foot in front of the other in that familiar left right combination. Heck, a level of execution beyond our current abilities should also be non-negotiable.

The first thing that needs to go back in the box are those meaningless late offloads dribbled out the back of a ruck like a baby spitting out an unappealing dinner. Those led to several of the inexcusable mistakes last weekend, usually in prime field position that a better side than the Bulldogs would have converted into points. The Raiders might not be going well this year but they’ve got more execution in them than Canterbury and they will gleefully take advantage of decent ball.

Composure has to be retained as well. Whatever that half field pass on a kick return was, I want it thrown deep in the CommBank Stadium basement, buried under those “human Eel” mascot costumes and the unsold Zac Lomax bobbleheads. We don’t need to play uber conservative football, but keep the risks calculated and preferably have some upside in that calculation. The early shifts and wider attack of last year are gone, for good reason given how poorly we’ve defended errors, but stick to short sides and outside-in plays for our choice of riskier football instead of low percentage heaves and impossible offloads.

Raiding

The Fox is getting some interesting looks in attack

Canberra will be feeling good about their chances in this one, and not just for their recent record against the Eels of four wins in a row at a combined margin of 157-54. They are at the top of the table for both offloads and broken tackles, two areas the Eels are massively faltering and two areas that can lead to points without a coherent attack surrounding them. Sure, the Bulldogs proved last week that those two aren’t always enough, but I trust the Raiders won’t be as inept as Canterbury was.

In saying that, the Raiders attack is struggling and will only be worse without Ethan Strange. Kaeo Weekes is a dangerous runner but doesn’t offer a lot in terms of playmaking and halfback Ethan Sanders is building into running this team on his own. In lieu of playmaking, the Raiders love a bash and barge up the middle, in itself a danger to the Eels though the absence of Hudson Young is welcome. Still, Zac Hosking can run a line and is a special to score this week given recent performances by back rowers against the Eels.

Special attention must be paid to the Raiders centres, who are capable of winning one on one battles with strength and skill and have had a habit of turning even numbers into overlaps against Parramatta. The wingers need to trust the centres to hit and stick, and the centres actually need to execute on that and make the tackles. Trust has been in short supply on the Eels defensive edges, and it will be a point of focus for the Raiders attack.

Good kick chase is a must as well; the Eels have given away a lot of metres and half breaks on kick returns and Xavier Savage in particular will be looking for opportunities. This includes both long and short kicks, Parramatta has made a meal of contesting some kicks without any defensive line behind the contesting catchers. It is basic footy, but the Eels continue to mess it up.

The Game

Tallyn has sparked a bit down the short side

The Raiders venturing to Western Sydney for a match against the Eels is a rare occurrence, this is only the third time they have played the Eels at CommBank and the first “regular” regular season game (the last one was the famous “Corey Horsburgh flips Vince Sorrenti the bird” match during COVID). The Eels won both of the prior contests between the sides here, so if you think winning two games four years ago matters to this result, you’ve reason to be excited for our chances.

The Raiders haven’t been good this year, but they’ve got a better body of work behind them than the Eels do and if they harbor any hope for the rest of season 2026, this is where they turn it around. Maybe that manifests as trying too hard, pushing the ball too much and giving the Eels extra chances. Parramatta hasn’t been able to defend an error this year, but they have been able to take advantage of one. I like our chances in a shootout.

I just don’t want more of the same. Another match full of bad errors and beating ourselves. Edge defence that is an insult to turnstiles. The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results, but maybe it should be adjusted to “supporting the same football team over and over and expecting different results”. In that case, insanity reigns in Parramatta.

Rinse and repeat from previous weeks, this one is winnable but I don’t want to tip us winning it. The chance is there, the hope, and that will sucker us all in, but the likely result is more of the same. Prove us wrong, Parramatta, and prove us sane.

Go you Eels!

Prediction: Raiders 28 d Eels 18

Man of the Match: Xavier Savage

Gol

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