That might have been the most 2026 game of football you’ll see. Both sides rode momentum to thorough domination of a single half, creating a close contest that somehow lacked tension for most of its duration. It went from being over by the 11th minute to needing a historic comeback to be overturned in the 40th, to sitting there in the 70th minute wondering when, not if, the Eels would topple the Rabbitohs.

The first half was a disaster from start to finish. Dropping the ball in the first set started a slide that was lucky to finish only 28-0 when the halftime hooter sounded. Parramatta couldn’t make many handling errors for the simple lack of having the ball to do so, their defence fell apart close to the line and far from it. Then Isaiah Iongi got injured and required a dramatic reshuffle which left inexperienced combinations all over the park.

That should’ve been the end of it, but a mix of Souths putting the cue in the rack, the Eels coming out with a bit of venom and a few penalties coming their way saw three tries in ten minutes and suddenly we had a game. Defensive effort and particularly scramble improved, handling remained clean and ultimately only some scrappy Souths defence, a few veteran plays by Cody Walker and some average attacking execution from the Eels is what stopped the all time comeback from landing.

Jason Ryles has some explaining to do on his bench choices that left the side with no fullback coverage this week. Joash Papalii has caught a cold on the extended bench most of the year, but was inexplicably omitted this week for a bench of four middle forwards, a back rower and a hooker. Needing to shift a winger to fullback, a centre to wing and a hooker to centre is inexcusable in the age where you can have a utility AND a specialist outside back on your bench while still leaving enough room for as many middle forwards as you could possibly need. It is beginner coaching with no reasonable excuse. The players make enough mistakes in the games, we don’t need the coach making them too.

On the flip side, it was refreshing (and long overdue) to see Ryles give the officiating a bake in the press conference in an effort to get some long standing tip sheet items adjusted in our favour. The Eels don’t help themselves in the set restart stakes by frequently failing to dominate tackles, but most weeks there are examples of side-by-side infringements where Parramatta is penalised but their opposition is not. We may as well never run at an offside player again for how reluctant referees are to make the call. Not being a “bad team” would also help get a fair shake in that regard, but if we are stuck in a world of set restarts then we can at least be a squeaky wheel instead of hoping the quieter official processes suddenly produce a different result to the ones we’ve (not) seen over the last decade.

The handling, the resolve and the second half defensive effort are all positives to take going forward, but we can’t forget that first half. The Eels need to learn how to wrestle momentum back in a contest, from moments of game control to getting little things like kick chases right. The game is designed for unstoppable momentum these days, you can’t kick to the touchline and dawdle to a scrum to buy a breather anymore, you don’t get to dispute a penalty and buy your team a half minute to regain their composure. If Peter V’landys wants to keep stealing ideas from other games, maybe the timeout is next on the agenda. Think of the ad revenue! A minute to get together and refocus might have saved the Eels in that first half. I’d prefer that to a third place playoff, though I’d prefer they stop messing with the game entirely.

It’s a very tough one to grade, a traditional game of two halves that probably deserves two grades. Given how much trouble that would be with the grades template, I’ll do my best to find the middle ground. Here we go!

 

 

 

I was going to grade him N/A, but his drop in the first set of the game deserves a baking considering the downward spiral it put the team into. It looks like we’ve seen the last of the Eyes for 2026, with the big question now how much, if any, of the preseason he misses. He’ll probably want to push a return for the World Cup, but given how interrupted his 2026 campaign has been I hope he focuses on getting right for season 2027.

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The sin bin to me was a classic case of why rugby league is shades of grey rather than black or white. Yes it was technically an infringement, but given Kelly’s visibility in the situation and the pass being held up a beat it is harsh to issue essentially a double penalty with both the whistle and the bin. Unfortunately any professional foul near the line is an automatic bin, and three tries later this game was as good as over. I continue to make the case for an NHL style “the binned player returns when the opposition scores” rule.

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“Kick it to the Beak” is becoming “pass it to the big kid” for the Eels close to the line, and the result is usually the same as passing to the kid who somehow has a moustache in under 10s. Samrani could’ve had two or three here, and definitely should have earned at least a penalty when Jye Gray tackled him in the air. Just thinking about that call is annoying me, it is complete incompetence from the review officials when they can’t stick to the precedent they’ve set all year long where even the slightest arm wrap is deemed a tackle attempt. The more these referees watch something the less they see, and basic consistency should not be this hard.

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When 13 on 13 I thought Penisini did a solid job defending Tallis Duncan and the Rabbitohs left edge, but he was caught in no-man’s land a few times and has plenty of room to improve his decision making in difficult scenarios. I don’t expect him to be able to shut down overlaps every time, but too often the choices out wide leave a saloon passage for his opposite. There were a couple of lovely, aggressive runs in there too which are worth a shoutout.

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Josh Addo-Carr is a walking heart attack at fullback, with his half field passes on kick returns. He was fairly solid back there for a makeshift custodian, I’m not going to hold his muff on the game ending 40/20 against him too much, it didn’t look good but positioning against kicks like that just isn’t in his regular training diet. He did well in difficult circumstances otherwise.

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The Ronald Volkman solo effort is becoming a thing this year, but for a final stat line of two try assists and a try himself, I thought Volkman left a lot on the table here. Maybe it was shellshock after the rushing defence of round 17 terrorised him, but he ignored overlaps to his left several times to lay the ball back off inside, and poor old Kitione Kautoga was left to hit the ball from a near standing start time and again as Volkman ran underneath then passed back across his body. Judging him for what he didn’t do instead of what he did may be harsh, but his conservative inside play left maybe a half dozen chances on the table in the second half. He missed seven tackles as well.

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If we are hitting Volkman for what he didn’t do, then Moses needs to take some of the same medicine. His long kicking was, as usual, excellent, but his halves partner out-pointed him for attacking kicks and the few times he got to unleash the right edge at pace didn’t amount to much. His defence was a game of two halves in itself, he finished strong but had a few moments in the first half. It hasn’t been Mitch’s happiest year, but it’d be nice to see him finish strong.

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Playing most of your minutes in the first half is a sure path to a poor grade today, and big Sam’s attacking numbers are fairly pedestrian compared to his fellow middles. I’m holding Tuivaiti to high standards for a guy with 25 first grade games, but he’s shown such potential and sooner than we think he will be the alpha in this pack. He needs to grow into the role quickly.

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Tallyn notched up another “crap forward pass” to the season tally here, but he also added another try to his team leading total as well. His support play is great, but no matter how many Mitchell Moses bakes he gets, he doesn’t appear to be learning on the distribution front.

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Luca didn’t miss a tackle and made some good inroads in the middle, and while he was credited with an error for the Rabbitohs try that bounced off the upright I think that is very harsh. His scramble defence was notable and it was a high energy performance overall. As solid as we need.

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It was hard going in the middle for Jack Williams, but his workrate remains unmatched in this pack and he has cleaned up his handling in the last month of footy. His performances on the edge might pose some interesting questions next season, but the good type of interesting.

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Poor old Kitione might have forgotten what it feels like to run a line and take a pass, as so much of his possession is now angling back into the middle as Ronald Volkman runs by him. His strengths at this raw stage of his career are tackle breaking and freak offloads, and that left edge gameplan needs to cater more to exploiting those abilities.

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Not covering Brandon Smith a metre out from the line is an unacceptable mistake, the man has made a career out of wombat burrow tries and De Belin just strolled off the line and left a huge gap for Smith to dive through. It followed Jack over-committing on the first tackle when a ball bounced leaving a gaping hole for Matt Dufty to stroll through. If De Belin is in the side for his defence, then on this effort he shouldn’t be in the side at all.

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I don’t think Ryley expected this in his return to first grade, as he moved to the backline as part of a triple shift to cover the injury to Isaiah Iongi. We got some of his trademark kick pressure and quality service in his start, and while I’m not convinced on how he and Da Silva can coexist in a first grade side long term, for today it worked a treat. As far as makeshift centres go, he is far more Marata Niukore than Kelma Tuilagi.

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The penalty Pryke copped early was one of those ones that I’d need a forensic examination of the rulebook to judge. Rugby league is like that, you can be run onside except for when you can’t, you can be offside but if a ball carrier runs at you they are playing for it and thus it isn’t a penalty, but this kind of ticky-tack call will get blown once in a blue moon (the delay in the whistle means it was probably a review official call too). Other than that, Pryke was very busy, making 16 runs and 30 tackles, but the number that stands out to me is 11 passes. He could be a surprise contender for the distributing lock role going into 2027.

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I wouldn’t say this was a vintage game from Junior Paulo, but he had a couple of notable charges in the second half and was clean in defence. Mal Meninga will be at home chewing his fingernails off in anticipation of Paulo finally signing that big Perth contract, but it looks like Junior is giving the Eels every chance to get close enough to his minimum to stay on. We need him, but we also shouldn’t pay him anywhere near what Perth’s ridiculous offer stands at. It’s a tough test for a recruitment team that desperately needs wins but can’t let the salary cap get bent out of shape.

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Brown is another man who is joining the Will Penisini school of unspeakable nicknames, I might just call him TC and be done with it. I’ll need a nickname soon though because Brown is going to be a big part of Parramatta football going forward. He’s big and strong, he’s agile, and he’s making statements from his first dozen top grade games.

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The Eels now host the Cowboys in what shapes as a very winnable game that also means far more to the opposition than it does us. Parramatta was basically perfect with their handling back in round 10 and barely came away with a 33-30 victory, but the Cowboys also let in 80 points a couple of weeks ago. This game could be anything.

We’re entering “give the boys a go” territory and it will be interesting to see who, if anybody, Jason Ryles bloods in these late season contests. Regardless of who wears the Blue and Gold, we need to see more commitment in defence and improvements in the basics. Handling improved this week, but we also let in six tries in 40 minutes so, you know, swings and roundabouts.

It’s the second last home game of the year, which even in a disastrous season like this one, is still a sad time. Hopefully the Eels give us something to pin hope to through the off season.

Until then, stay slippery, Eels fans.

Gol

Stats and images provided by NRL / Eels media