The “days since last disgrace” counter on the Leichhardt Oval scoreboard is back to zero, as the Wests Tigers have once again dominated the rugby league discourse with their latest dramas. We don’t need to recount all of those dramas (though I reserve the right to do so in the name of kicking Wests while they are down), but it all narrows down the potential outcomes today to two: Wests show up hard, or they don’t.
The Eels make the long trip down Windsor Road to CommBank Stadium for an away game, and while I don’t think they call it “Our Jungle” anymore there is a developing habit of both teams trading wins on the Eels’ home turf. Luckily, the pattern dictates it is our turn this weekend.
Will the Eels do what we expect of them and run away with this one? How long will this newfound harmony in Tigertown last? 15 minutes, a full half of footy? Let’s dig into the preview and find out!
Game Info
Date: Sunday, August 2, 2026
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Parramatta
Kick-off: 4:05 PM AEST
Referee: Liam Kennedy
Bunker: Chris Butler
Weather: Mild, dry
Broadcast: Nine, Fox League, Kayo
Teams
Parramatta Eels
1. Isaiah Iongi 2. Brian Kelly 3. Will Penisini 4. Jordan Samrani 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Ronald Volkman 22. Mitchell Moses 8. Sam Tuivaiti 9. Tallyn Da Silva 10. Jack Willliams 11. Kelma Tuilagi 12. Kitione Kautoga 13. Jack de Belin. 14. Dylan Walker 15. Junior Paulo 16. Teancum Brown 17. Harrison Edwards 18. Joash Papalii 19. Toni Mataele. 20. Araz Nanva.
No changes to the nominated starting line-up for the Eels, with the late change last weekend of Kelma Tuilagi to the bench reversed. This may be due to the absence of Luca Moretti due to concussion, though the return of Junior Paulo from injury makes up for this and then some. It will be interesting to see his role and whether Jason Ryles eases him back into grade. That bench middle role traditionally doesn’t get big minutes, but Ryles has shown he likes to give Junior a decent run on the paddock.
Wests Tigers
1. Jahream Bula 2. Junior Tupou 3. Heamasi Makasini 4. Patrick Herbert 5. Sunia Turuva 6. Jarome Luai 7. Adam Doueihi 8. Terrell May 9. Apisai Koroisau 10. Fonua Pole 11. Samuela Fainu 12. Sione Fainu 13. Alex Twal. 14. Heath Mason 15. Charlie Murray 16. Alex Seyfarth 17. Tony Sukkar 18. Tristan Hope 19. Starford To’a. 20. Javon Andrews.
The Tigers are coming out the other side of their own injury crisis, with only Taylan May and Kai Pearce-Paul unavailable through injury while Latu Fainu is suspended. The current backline configuration is Junior Tupou, Heamasi Makasini, Pat Herbert and Sunia Turuva, though only Turuva has been a regular through the entire season and Tupou wasn’t even on the roster a few weeks ago.
After experimenting with a few back row combinations the Tigers have settled on the Fainu brothers Samuela and Sione for this one. The first four on the bench have played a combined 27 games this year, of which 18 come from Alex Seyfarth. There isn’t a lot of experience there.
Will They or Won’t They?
What a different career the Fox would have had if he’d stayed a Tiger
Let’s get straight to it, the Eels are relatively peripheral to this contest. The big question is about the Tigers: can they overcome the drama? The club is saying all the right things: Adam Doueihi is sorry, Benji Marshall has admitted he can do better, all is forgiven, all is well. Yet rifts in football clubs aren’t fixed by a couple of words and a hard week of training. This has been breeding for two seasons and the underlying events that triggered the collapse: Jarome Luai’s departure, Benji playing favourites, the continued boardroom clown show, those haven’t changed.
I’d expect a bit of a sugar hit for the side, they might come out hard with a bit of fire lit in their belly, but I don’t expect that to survive first contact with tough footy. To quote a much-mocked BA-ism, if the Eels can front load their effort and smack the Tigers in the mouth early on, this will get ugly for Wests fast. They simply aren’t playing for each other, and it might only take one trip behind the posts and a few glares between teammates to open the floodgates.
The problem for Parramatta is that sustaining momentum has proven challenging for the side. The worst thing that could happen is they give the Tigers some running, compounding mistakes or following up points with errors, allowing Wests to top up that motivation like they’ve been hooked up to intravenous Red Bull. Starting slow hasn’t been the Eels problem this year, so I’m not terribly worried about them getting smacked in the mouth by the Tigers firing out of the blocks, but the Eels can’t be rolling onto the field expecting an easy one, either.
The Actual Football
A former Tiger with plenty to prove
Wests have been in freefall for a while now, and while it is easy to pinpoint the moment Jarome Luai signing with PNG as the trigger it is hard to deny that the club built their culture around Luai and it shouldn’t be a surprise that him fleeing the club caused fractures. They’re the worst defensive side in the competition, hard to believe considering we were talking about the Eels as a top ten all time worst defensive team after six weeks of footy. They are equal opportunity try conceders, bad on both edges and the middle, and while statistically they don’t struggle in any particular category they don’t have a lot of cohesion to their defensive line and commitment is generally poor.
Where they do find some success is in offloading the ball, and Parramatta are not great at defending second phase. While the performance of the middle against Penrith last week gives me some hope, alongside the return of Junior Paulo, if Wests can get late offloads away and get the Parramatta defence scrambling, only bad things can result. Terrell May hasn’t looked himself for a month, but he was specifically targeted in this Doueihi nonsense and if he pulls his finger out and drags the starting pack with him, things could get rough.
In terms of Parramatta’s attack, take your pick of targets. Both Tigers edges are frail, with inexperienced combinations of average defensive players. It was a long time ago that Heamasi Makasini was talked about as the next Jonah Lomu, right now the only comparison is in how well they both defend, and at least Lomu has an excuse for not making tackles. Turuva can be got at as well, and he’s probably the best defender of this group. Some composure, good shape and decent execution should carve the Tigers apart all day long.
If the Eels can hold off what I expect to be a fast Tigers start, they should roll once the benches come into play. While Twal and May are big minutes guys, they will also present tired legs for Dylan Walker to exploit and Teancum Brown has shown he loves a nice little short line off of Walker’s shoulder. Junior Paulo off the bench will be a mismatch in itself, and none of the Tigers bench can match Paulo or Brown for size and power.
The Game
Mitch loves a good revenge game
It’s a great week to determine who of your Eels loving mates is a perpetual doomer and who is an eternal optimist. There is no reason to be anything but confident going into this contest. The Tigers are in freefall off the field and even if they weren’t, they’re a bad footy side. They hate each other, their best player just stood up to the coach and basically won, their star recruit and cultural centrepiece is leaving. “Oh we play down to the Tigers” and “this is the kind of game the Eels always lose” is self-pitying loser speak. We’ll thrash them.
It wasn’t long ago we played the Tigers in similar circumstances. Last round of 2024, Wests in freefall off the field but with plenty to play for in the final round against the Eels, where the loser gets the wooden spoon. The Tigers had even won two in a row to get themselves a chance to avoid finishing last for the third year in a row. Everything to play for, in front of their home fans at Campbelltown. We 60’d them.
I think that will be closer to the mark than the doomer scenario. It might not be a Cowboys-esque hiding, but it should be a comfortable win over a broken opponent. When the going gets tough, are these guys going to play for each other? Is a tired middle forward going to look across as Jarome Luai, who is leaving, and Adam Doueihi, who didn’t want to play last week, and find that reserve, dig that bit deeper? Will he have the lung capacity or did he vape too much in the weights room this week?
Parramatta can’t just turn up and expect victory, but if they have been good at one thing this year, it is putting in the effort. The skill, particularly in handling, hasn’t always been there, but the effort usually is. Effort alone won’t win you many games of professional rugby league, but this week I think is the exception. Parra by plenty.
Go you Eels!
Prediction: Eels 40 d Tigers 16
Man of the Match: Mitchell Moses
Gol
Torn on this. Should be a win but like Sixties during the week – I’m nervous. Maybe it’s just because we are favourites.
In reality. Doueihi Is not a good defender, Luai has a worse tackle percentage than Volkman, Herbert is a state cup player and the rest are there to attack, not defend.
That said, it isn’t like we challenge teams with our attack much these days.
Another big chance for Big Sam. May is over rated. Decent offload, but he is a powder puff who plays within himself. Not a true enforcer. Thats what we need Sam to grow into. So why not start by running all over a wanna be tough guy.
Api worries me most probably. Our forwards have shown a lack of lateral movement in defense and Api can exploit that. Thst said this has not been his best year… Though would anyone be shocked if it just clicked for him today?
I think a wet track would have suited us more, but hope Mitch and Iongi continue their slowly improving form and guide the team home.
A win and we jump the Broncs and go equal on points with the Storm. How about that! Love your work, Gol.