If anyone ever tells you that the Parramatta Eels are a boring team then make sure to bring the receipts from the last months of footy. It continued into Round 24 in the most dramatic fashion as the Eels, on the back of a clutch Captain’s Challenge from Mitchell Moses, kicked themselves to victory from the boot of the very same man to claim an insane 32-30 victory. In a game that featured some mind blowing tries from both sides – including a legendary try assist to Junior Paulo – Parramatta did just enough to secure the season sweep on the men from North Queensland.
Sixties and Forty20 try to settle the adrenaline levels as they debrief on a legitimately absurd game that featured oodles of offence and the scantest semblance of defence.
Excitement a plenty but we should have wrapped it up much earlier.
Before all the criticism starts, let me say that I believe that without injuries we finish in the eight this year.
As it was, we had three or four games taken off us with disgusting refereeing, one after the siren.
If we get a powerhouse forward and a quality centre we will be there next year.
Now if Ryles works out how to lock down the defence around the ruck, we beat teams like the Cowboys by 20.
We don’t have a team good enough to break the drought yet, but getting into September next year will give us a chance to compete for quality players in the market.
Well done lads.
Nice to win but agree the poor defence means we rarely pull away from teams. It’s all about scoring more than opposition. Our ruck defence is putrid (and has been for years) so big area of focus in pre season
I believe we need two new centres, not one. Samrani tries hard and would be good squad player but he’s just too poor laterally in defence and speed wise. Ditto for will p but he’s has so many serious deficiencies I don’t see why he has any claim to start. We need centres with some speed – they can be taught to tackle in due course. Would love a centre who can draw and pass/pass to winger under pressue as we haven’t had that for years. Russell, penisni, waqa Blake etc all have hands like feet
Credit especially tds, junez, Moses.
Joash shouldn’t be our backup fullback twiddle offers way more because of his passing threat and Bamblett should be next up
Sorry 57. We didn’t have 3 or 4 games taken off us with “disgustting refereeing”. If we lose tight games to quesitonable calls (according to Eels fans) we should have done more to lead by more and take the refs out of those games. Our injuries are not the difference between us being a top 8 team. Hopgood, Doorey and half a season of Iongi (based on the form he showed when available) don’t convert 4 of our 13 losses into wins – The Storm could miss Harry Grant for 3/4 of the season, and it wouldn’t equate to changing that many losses into wins. Statistically that isn’t how that works,
Tonight was great entertainment and they played well to beat a pretty average defensive team. Lets just enjoy that.
Delusional. Much!!
Penisini Moses Sam tuivati.moretti
Tuilagi pezet. Hopgood paulo doorey.
Something like four times the amount of missed games by squad players as the minor Premier’s. It makes a slight difference to your season. And I can only think of one game or two games maybe where the boys gave up.
The Tigers early game referring was disgusting. The round one Melbourne game was not a game of rugby league based on the disgraceful refereeing.
The Warriors game in our home yard referred one team of the other. The roosters game in Sydney refereed one team and not the other and how the hell in the second half last night we couldn’t get a six again was quite unbelievable.
It seems Melbourne lost Harry and a few injured players and aren’t gonna make the eight but luckily they got some wins before they lost all their players.
I would kill for the refereeing six again treatment that Melbourne get compared to other teams which is hilarious considering they spend all off-season trying to devise ways to break the rules of the game and hence we have the six again rule which is an absolute blight on the game.
We have the worst defence in the comp. Forget about this delusion that we would have made the 8. Manly if fit would say the same thing… as would most other clubs. It’s pure copium. We have serious and fundamental problems in defence. The bottom 4 of the top 8 aren’t that great. It’s a weak comp. We may have jagged a few more wins but also lost a couple tight ones we did win. All could be true in a different world but all are speculation other than our putrid defence
Luke – you do you – thats cool.I suspect if you watched our players as closely as you watched the referee’s you’d find out a lot more about them.
One of those things is, the players you list that were injured for extended periods (and Moses has only missed 4 games through injury this year) – the replacement level of the person coming in for them, isn’t that much different.
BA, the truth lies between where you and Luke stand. Your case is absolutely true as far as having any premiership hopes. The Eels need to recruit both floor raisers (base level standard) and ceiling raisers (top of the roster) to be a top four side. And the defence has had far too many putrid moments, which is also symptomatic of poor completions and errors. However, the bottom end of the eight is weak. A full strength Eels team could have got near it. No other side has had the level of injury as Parra. And as far as the replacements having a similar ability, that’s not quite accurate. They haven’t had the same level of experience for a start.
But making the bottom end of the eight might have masked the roster weaknesses. So a season like this does serve to place a more accurate picture of what needs to be done.
Moses missed 5 rounds, but your point is valid, seemed like more.
That said injuries were a curse and conjecture can mean a lot, but I don’t think we can be too critical of the way we performed.
The referreeing has been diabolical and it is something the NRL need to look at when it comes to consisitency of interpretating errors.
The rules could be opened up a bit, these high kicks and who touched etc, I would like to see within some basic laws that who finishes up with the ball gets the nod. Likewise I think that bunker decisions can be only be judged at normal speed, decisions may alter but it will be decisive, no slow motion replays…. the words “play on” have enormous input in making the game fairer.
Finally a commonsense component with forward passes, if they don’t effect the run of play or the ref cannot be sure the benefit goes to the attacking team…..tricky one this because if there is the difference in scoring or not scoring the ref still then has to be certain of his call.
Commonsense is not easy to apply but I am sure the refs err on the error not the game i.e. they shit themselves that the video is going to make them look stupid…..guess what refs, you can’t look much worse than you currently do,
They were fabulous, Penisini included. Such heart. They never gave up.
Penisini 150+ metres, 6 tackle breaks, no missed tackles.
That may be so but how can we continue with a player so utterly bereft of basic skills ??
I honestly cannot think of a player who has regressed as far as Will Penisini has over the years.
He showed such promise as a junior but now has trouble just catching a ball.
I think the term ” hands like feet” may have been made for Will.
Moving forward, whilst Samrani is limited with his speed and agility he’s light years in front of Penisini in terms of basic abilities.
Maybe an extended run in Cup or a good reset over the off season may find a player there?
Much too hard on Penisini……successive coach and team mates, obviously see positives that you don’t see i.e.that’s 3 coaches!
Penisini 150+ metres, 6 tackle breaks, no missed tackles.
Gee he certaimly polarises some of our supporters but making statements “utterly bereft of basic skills” “cant think of a player that has regressed etc” “now has trouble catching the ball”
Those are statements are of some exxageration…. too prove your point, I think it proves your very biased in your process.
Great to get a good win like that when the entire team put in for the whole game. Yeah there were mistakes but name a team that in the comp that doesn’t.
How good was Junior with those hits and that pass, couldn’t get the smile of my face.
Have to agree with 57 year an Eel above about being higher on the table without some terrible officiating and to think of our injury hit season that would have been something.
As I’ve said before a lot of positives to look at and hopefully no more injuries for the rest of the year and next.
I have always rated Penisini and I really like Samrani but the issue is they are both power centres like the equivalent of a Union inside centre or in league before they split the centres each side. What we need to add is the equivalent of an outside centre – a classy finisher with silky skills.
Who you go forward with as first preference out of Samrani and Penisini – struck match between them Samrani is better in the air Penisini probably the more dangerous ball runner. Both are good defenders in my view.
They really are a heart attack team. Two back to back errors and the Cowboys have back to back tries – let’s them back into the game then the lead. Moses goal kicking really worries me and looking back over the years poor goal kicks have hurt Parra.
When Will P came on the scene I had high hopes for him – possibly origin. The number of times the bloke gets put into the clear with a race to the line and falls short – seriously – and generally loses the ball. And what is it with JAC – he is off his game – thirteen games between tries, but I do like him at fullback. Parra were clearly the better team and yet looked like they could lose it. Five errors – one in the second half and that was JAC actually two. Is there any truth in the rumor Apa might back flip on the Bears? I know Mr Sixties will not comment on rumors. I get that – just hoping. Parra need two more wins to match last year which means we haven’t gone backwards. It just mens we haven’t improved.
I’ve heard this rumour with joash going over instead.
Brian Kelly really should hold his head high his had a very strong year after a average start
Stayed in the game mentally and physically and got rewarded. Every time the Cows got repeat ball they looked threatening, a big, fast team where weight of possession feeds their strengths. Interesting to know play the ball speeds, the Cows seemed to be keeping us on the turf for longer which was shortening our set yardage. Will P needs to look at DWZ scoring tries avoiding tacklers and sidelines.
This and other games suggests the tackle in the air contest may have received some review this week. ‘Tackling the ball’ appeared a few times but not in the rule book this week. Disruptors need some similar attention.
Take a look at The Brian Kelly post contact metres. Of course, he’s on the open market for 28 in ten weeks time. Has anyone thought it worth the effort to tie him up? Ditto The Fox.
I do note that our first two tries were scored by players we are releasing; how any one could not tell that Twidle is a serious footballer bemused me; how would be have gone at centre? The continual denigration of Volkmann since he rejected our offer disturbs me greatly. Low politics? I hope not.
The Good:
It was entertainment.
Saxon Pryke again good. 9 hit ups and 27 tackles (1 miss) compared to our usual lock who gives us 3-4 hitups. Why haven’t we blooded him more?
Angry Moses – The Taumalolo hit got him in the game
TDS – best game by a long way.
Volkman.
Jnr – In a year when we won’t be able to spend our cap, it will be a disgrace if Jnr plays his 300th game for another club.
The Bad (lets call it not so good)
The Cowboys – How that is a possible Top 8 team should worry the NRL – sadly it doesn’t.
How we end up with Harrison Edwards finishing the game at prop ( i guess it is because we used Russell)
Dylan Walker. 1 touch of the footy… Pretty ordinary response the week after the club got your back
Penisini not being able to get to the corner in the first half. Good covering tackle from Laybutt, but pretty sure every other centre gets there.
The Confusing
How on earth do we let Twidle go and persist with Joash?
How did we let Reed go?!
Why hasn’t Pryke seen more footy over JDB?
Volkman. I can’t stress it enough. Sign him. How anyone (respectfully to all of you who think an unmotivated Jerome is the answer) thinks Luai – playing with us for one reason – so that his family don’t have to move for a year, before moving to PNG is a better option than signing Volkman for 2 years to start the year and be a serviceable option if the juniors don’t work out/get injured, is beyond me. From where he was at the start of the year, to where he is now. He digs into the line, he is smart, works hard, above average kicking game, creates. What more do you want when we can’t secure a star long term? He is Kodi Nikorima and outside peak Dylan Brown, I don’t know who our last 5/8 was who was better than that.
All very well. But the reality for Ronnie is that he is a back-up half if he stays with us. Or he can take a SL contract and be first string. I’d much rather have him than the show pony next year, but staying makes no sense for him, we can’t offer him the same money or opportunity. If he has ambition, he leaves, even if we want him. That’s not a club failure.
Agree with your comments about Luai B.A. He attracts headlines for all the wrong reasons. He is a mercenary at this stage of his career and has achieved all he can out of the game. If we start to struggle next year he will lose interest very quickly.
I agree with you about Reed. How was that allowed to happen? When I raised this at the time I think it was ‘Sixties’ who shot me down with “Well Joe you can’t keep them all”. And who did we sign to replace him, a 36 year old with shot knees who lasted (predictably) half a season.
As for last nights game, very entertaining with some good performances. My only gripe was when we were up 18-12,JAC makes that break on the 2nd tackle and goes for a low percentage play, turnover, 6 again and Cowboys are in. Our kick off is out on the full , penalty and Cows are in again from the ensuing set. What happened to good old fashioned match awareness. All he had to do was take the tackle and with 4 more tackles we could have put them under more pressure.
As for Ryles he is doing a superb job with what he has got to work with. Have a look at our roster and then compare it with the defending Premiers, the Broncos who are running second last.
Mahoney was a boyhood Canterbury fan. Went to the club in the lower grades and was absolutely shattered when they showed him the door.
Came to the Eels and played some good football.
Gus showed up and told him that they made a mistake letting him go, offered him the captaincy at his preferred club and blew smoke so far up his backside regarding how if he returned, he would play SOO etc..
And we wonder why he left and joined Canterbury???
He was always going to go there no matter what the Eels offered.
I spoke to a player agent friend of mine who has spoken to Reed about this and he admits he should have stayed at the Eels.
He’s dirty about Gus and the broken promises but just sees it as just a mistake we can all make.
Everything is easy in retrospect.
It’s all part of the journey.
Reed is a good kid and a bloody good footballer.
I think it was the leagues club Chinese banquet that got Reed over the line for Canterbury! Media reporting at the time also suggested the difference in dollars was pretty significant. The doggies were throwing the cheque book around at that stage like Manly in the late 1970s. Unfortunately that was enough to turn a young man’s head. I think history shows Gus is just as happy to discard players as he is signing them.
I think Reed and the Eels would both have been better off if he stayed. Another to add to the list of “what ifs”.
Joe, I absolutely never said we couldn’t keep them all. Reed was lowballed on Parra’s first offer, but his last offer was around the $600k mark. This was well above what I saw as his market value at the time. He hadn’t completed a full season in the previous three years, so it was a value based on potential. The Dogs offer was still too much for Parra, plus there was the captaincy stuff etc (see Spark’s reply).
Reed made his debut in round 14 of the 2018 season playing 9 games as a 20 year old. In the following seasons he played 26 in 2019, 21 in 2020, 17 in 2021 and 28 in 2022. Given his size his durability his toughness is not in question. His defence was/is first class.
It is no coincidence that the Dog’s fortunes have taken a dive since Gould shafted him and Sexton. In the three years at the Dogs he played 24, 25 and 25 games respectively. Again his durability is not in question.
“value based on potential”? He had already been identified as a potential State of Origin player for Queensland.and was called up by Slater in 2024 to be part of their squad As a spine player with a great kicking game who can kick 40/20’s, I would have thought the $600k you thought was “above what I saw as his market value” was the very minimum.
As to the remarks that I attributed to you I did say that I thought it was you so if that is wrong then accept my apology, however I stand by my comments.
We have the ability to be a finals team next year and Luai is a better player than Ronald.
He can offer everything Volkman can but he will not have defensive issues with big back rowers running at him.
Luia for a year and Lorenzo looks like he will be a better version of Volkman in 28
I do wish we kept Api but in a few years TDS could be the best hooker who has ever played for us so i am now over Reed leaving
Tony – my thoughts:
Literally everything woul dhave to go our way to be a Top 8 team next year – even with the capitulaiton of standards across the league. Right now we are going to be lucky to have 25 rostered players!
Defensive issues? Luai made 18 tackles today and missed 6! An unmotivated Luai is a worse defensive propostion than Volkman.
Volkman for 2 would have been insurance if Lorenz didn’t work out/ had injuries and given hima chanec to devleop and set him self up for a big contract somewhere in 29 and beyond.
I hope TDS works it out. He’s young, some weeks he shows signs he is learning, then there is regrressive moments. I’m happy to persist, but if he does work out, his recruitment should never been seen as anything more than dumb luck.
I definitely agree if we can keep Volkman as a back up and he can fight Luai in 27 and Lorenzo in 28 that’s a good thing.
Luai was average in defence yesterday but he usually puts his bid on the line.
Lorenzo also has a lot of work to do in defence.
We had the best num 6 defender in Dyl Brown but he took the cash.
TDS is 21 and was exceptional against the cowboys and long term I think is going to be a representative player. He has tricks at 21 that others do not have.
Not sure you can call his recruitment dumb luck, a solid recruiting effort I think.
Tallyn Da Sylva was and is highly regarded by many smart league pundits. He’s sharp and decisive and no fluke he leads our try scoring.In a good young developing pack we’ll have something.Our recruitment got this one right, to suggest he is just dumb luck is your problem
Gee what did Joash do wrong, solid all year.
JDB maybe offered some experience to Pryke’s game that allowed his improvement. Dyllan walker tried a few things, didn’t come off.
You are just not rationale in your approach, its all a “curates egg” to you…..they did well, some better than others….most games go that way…..but you are knocking guys who were not even there!
Two sides now are left to rue letting reed mahoney leave and the minute he went off the field for the cowboys they didn’t look half as dangerous.
Some really solid performers for Parra tonight and there are definitely elements of the team that gives you hope but I think there is a huge gap between the top 5 sides to the next cluster of teams.
If we re fair dinkum about being a contender there’s some big changes that need to happen.
Volkman has improved and credit to him but I’m not losing any sleep over him leaving the club. The simple fact is we have a very high prospect in the same position in Lorenzo who I’m certain will move his way in the side at some stage next year. Our next 2-3 signings need to be genuine game breakers and Unfortunately Volkman is just not going to be this type of player in the near future. We can’t keep filling our squad with middle of the road players. If look at our squad next year there is already way to many of this type
Rueing Mahoney go? I don’t think so, he was at loggerheads with Moses and generally a hog. No qestion he is a good player……but understand where he fits and his replacement TDS was arguably the MVP.
Personally I rue Riley Smith not being able to get back in, but subjective selections are what there expertise is for.
On the subject of of Mahoney. I thought the pass he threw to Cotter for the Cowboys try late in the game was half a metre forward. I know the short ball on the inside close to the line rarely are picked up but I thought that should have been.
As per your earlier comments earlier I agree that the referees seem happy to let those go.
Yep agree the game was entertaining. I’d be less inclined to say that if we were the cows and playing for a top 8 spot though. The ebb and flow all day kept the interest levels high. But it was on account of some very ordinary defence.
Kelly has had an outstanding season. Sure he had some clangers in him, but that seems to have disappeared and on top of his strong carries, he’s got some magic touch capability to complement that.
Paulos last 15 mins was great. Hopefully he can deliver that more often going forward as a bench impact prop.
TDS I didn’t notice the arm grabbing as much, but his attack was fantastic.
Our effectiveness in tackles and domination of the ruck is a concern. The cows had complete ascendancy at the ruck and our tacklers are always a bit of a spaghetti mess trying to get back to marker and manage the speed of the play the ball. It’s one thing the Panthers have done consistently well for 6 years – managing the wrestle at the ruck and dictating terms to the defence. We are the opposite and I think it’s the main reason we let in so many soft tries. Defenders are a few steps out of position and frantic from a slightly too fast play the ball, and before you know it someone is cruising over the line for a soft try under the posts. This needs to be addressed.
Take a win though!
All the media talk about the penalty at the end of ore the fact Bateman was never ran onside after the Purdue kick in Chester’s try, never should have been awarded.