Parramatta Eels 16
Dolphins 34
Well those first 20 minutes were great, weren’t they? While no Eels fan would have felt particularly comfortable (especially given the Dolphins record as slow starters), that was a blistering start for Parramatta who were winning the arm wrestle and taking advantage on the scoreboard. Then right on cue, it all fell apart.
It was a combination of fitness, personnel and ability that did the Eels in, as the Dolphins started to assert ascendancy from the moment Max Plath got on the field. Herbie Farnworth went from being barely but capably handled to being completely untackleable and as the tackle breaks and field position racked up, the tries flowed. They weren’t always conventional, but it is a concerning trend that Parramatta just can’t defend against ad lib and broken play.
It has been a problem all year, and flows back to 2024 where the Eels could break out to a lead that encouraged the opposition to throw caution to the wind and usually break apart the edges. Players just don’t have the technique or strength (or both) to put the opposition to ground one-on-one in broken play, they overcommit to the corner in cover and don’t hustle back across field to make up numbers when the opposition switch up. We give up regular passes from the ground or contact, again a matter of technique, strength and a bit of desperation (I think rules play some part there too, as cleaning up a defender on the ground by covering the ball is a good way to accidentally collect them in the head). It is a situation where individual skills, communication and desperation are required more than structures, and it shows how lacking the Eels are in some of those basics like bringing a player to ground. We’ll end up on the receiving end of a lot of “try of the year” candidates.
Jason Ryles continues to needlessly play funny buggers with his team sheet, this week planning swaps of Saxon Pryke for Jack de Belin (again) and originally Apa Twidle was named on the bench with Josh Addo-Carr the presumed fullback before a warmup injury to Jordan Samrani gave Apa a reprieve. It resulted in a bench with two back rowers, two locks and one prop, and while there was more to blame than just the middle for the Dolphins gaining the ascendancy about 20 minutes in, having an extra big bopper on the bench couldn’t have hurt. If you know De Belin isn’t going to play just don’t name him and balance your bench properly.
The 48-16 tackle break count tells the story of the game and the difference in class between the sides. Throw Herbie on our side instead of theirs and this result probably reverses, but Bostock, Isaako and Cobbo all significantly outpointed their opposites and had more impressive attacking moments in this game than most of our backs (bar Brian Kelly) have had all season. I like most of our backs, there’s potential and ability in all of them, but we need to turn some of these solid “fan favourite” battlers on the roster into elite stars to be a top line competitor in the NRL.
Apa Twidle
1 – Fullback
Apa works hard, but this just wasn’t his day. He made too many mistakes as the link man in backline movements and despite an impressive running total of 172 metres he was regularly ragdolled backwards in the opening tackle which had a cascade effect across the entire exit set. It’s not a surprise that the second backup fullback isn’t a well oiled cog in the attacking machine, but he’ll need to adjust to the extra defensive attention as the Dolphins just picked him out and worked him over on returns.
Brian Kelly
2 – Right Wing
BK has been so consistent this year that it was a surprise to see him pile up a few errors here, and on the other side of the ball he missed nearly as many tackles as he made. The yardage was hard work, he’d often be running at a set line as the first runner after Twidle was manhandled and his metres per run suffered accordingly, but after such a strong run of form it was a bit of a shock to see Kelly put on a bit of a stinker.
Sean Russell
18 – Left Centre
Not much doing for Sean Russell here, who did a decent enough share of the hard yards but didn’t find his name in my game notes too often. His one big moment ended up being denied by yet another video official out-thinking the room; if the rules say that is a try, then the rules should be changed. Defence is hard enough without applying freeze frame logic to it and ignoring what happened immediately before and after, and that was not control of the ball even if you can find a frame where his arm is still in contact with it. I can spin a footy on my finger but nobody would ever mistake that for being in control of it. Referees can barely keep consistency between sets, then on video we get the rules over-analysed and adjudicated in a completely different way to when the ball is in play. Screw your third place playoffs and Global rounds and just fix it.
Will Penisini
3 – Right Centre
There are a couple of runs a game where Will Penisini transforms into a raging bull, running head down and barrelling through defenders, and if we could get that player every run we’d have one of the better attacking centres in the NRL. On the other side of the ball Will made some decent reads and defensive plays, but when he whiffs boy does he whiff big. He remains a bundle of potential.
Josh Addo-Carr
5 – Left Wing
Another game where we struggled to get the Fox involved, though we did finally see the cross field kick for him. Like NFL teams have packages specifically to get certain players involved in the game, the Eels need to refine their ways of getting Addo-Carr one-on-one, he doesn’t even need a lot of space (see his break against the Cowboys) he just needs a chance.
Ronald Volkman
6 – Five Eighth
The Eels were left heavy here, much to their detriment as the play broke down time and again on that side. That isn’t all on Volkman, the backline was makeshift outside him, but the only time he looked dangerous was scooping a quick play-the-ball, and even then the try was harder than it needed to be. It just looks like the opposing defence has all the time in the world to shut down our left edge right now.
Mitchell Moses
7 – Halfback
The numbers don’t look good with six made, six missed, but in the running I didn’t see Moses’ defensive efforts as a big issue. When play went down the right at pace Moses looked good, but it was far too infrequent and given the ball the side had in the second half, the flailing attack falls on our experienced half.
Luca Moretti
8 – Front Row
Nothing wrong with Moretti, who once again didn’t miss a tackle but also didn’t set the world afire with his running. Our middles have gone back to playing up and down footy with limited passing, and possibly not coincidentally they’re not making great yardage.
Tallyn Da Silva
9 – Hooker
A couple of challenging darts early from Tallyn, but ultimately a quieter game for him. 49 tackles made is a huge effort, 9 tackles missed an equally large concern, but not a bad effort from a full 80 from TDS.
Junior Paulo
10 – Front Row
The only difference in stat lines between Junior and Luca was a few more missed tackles from big Junez, which is a concern given the experience (and salary) disparity between the two. It was hard sledding out there, but with the lack of size on our bench we needed more from Junior.
Jack Williams
11 – Second Row
A couple of nasty errors were luckily unpunished as they came on double knock-on plays or were retrieved straight afterwards, but after a long run of strong performances this wasn’t Jack’s best. Not his best is still making 100 metres at a good clip and cracking plenty of tackles, but even his defence wasn’t up to its usual standard with too many misses and ineffectives. He’s earned the benefit of the doubt after such a good year.
Kitione Kautoga
12 – Second Row
Kautoga looked like he had a brick on his accelerator in defence, charging out of the line on several occasions to come up with air. It was a very ordinary night for the K man, and whether he was hooked or a planned interchange he didn’t end up finishing the full 80. For an overly left side attack he didn’t have much impact out there either, it looks like he could use a rest and refresh after a long year.
Saxon Pryke
15 – Lock
Tough sledding is the name of the game here, but Saxon Pryke had a few nice touches and good moments of defence amid some hard yardage carries. We’ll see if his ceiling is higher than high effort battler, but he’s shown in a couple of moments like that crafty pass that there might be more to his game.
Harrison Edwards
14 – Interchange
Edwards was ridiculously busy in his 50 minutes, making 12 runs, 44 tackles and being a key passing link. He also gave away two of our three set restarts, which is becoming a bit of a habit for Harry and given how tough we find defending back-to-back sets, it’s a bad problem to have.
Teancum Brown
16 – Interchange
I wish he got more of a chance to run given he was making better metres than any other forward by some margin, but Teancum was busy in defence and while he didn’t miss a tackle there were a few moments where he gave away the offload and couldn’t put the man down quickly. Big workrate doesn’t feel like the best usage of him, but given he was the only genuine prop on the bench he was needed in that role rather than as an impact battering ram.
Jezaiah Funa
17 – Interchange
A clean debut for Jezaiah, who didn’t come on the field at the best time to get some running going which is shown by his three runs in 20 minutes. He defended well enough but it didn’t feel like we had a great plan for him out there beyond “go and get some minutes”.
Kelma Tuilagi
19 – Interchange
Good involvement for Kelma, who made nice metres in his short time on the field and was tidy enough in defence. Given how his fellow K-squad back rower Kitione is playing, he might yet get a proper Eels farewell with a couple of starts.
That was a stark demonstration of the difference between a banged up Eels side and a premiership contender. They tried hard, as usual, but were overrun and made to look amateur at times, as usual. There is a lot of work to be done on and off the paddock before 2027 kicks off.
We now approach the final home game of the season against a battling Sharks side that are ripe for an upset. They’ve lost to two minnows then barely got over a third in the Titans, and they’ll be desperate to get themselves back on track and might just keep sinking in quicksand. If the Eels are good enough, this is winnable.
That is, of course, a big “if”. It’s almost over for 2026, let’s hope there’s one or two wins left in the Blue and Gold.
Until then, stay slippery, Eels fans.
Gol
Stats and images provided by NRL / Eels media
Hard to argue with much here Gol. Everyone says that the dodgy bunker decision didn’t cost us the game but it’s a turning point, like stepping into a teleportation machine…every thing changes from that moment into a new reality and in mine, we won the game!