We bid a sad but merciful farewell to season 2026 today, with the Eels traveling to Wollongong to take on the dispirited Dragons. While we know from this year that ending on a high is no guarantee that it can be carried into the next year, it certainly beats ending on a low. Let’s hope the Blue and Gold can put on a show.

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there, even the ones that made their kids Parramatta fans before we could know what we were getting into. Footy is so often the thread that connects fathers and their kids, whether it is shared triumphs and glory or a weekly session of “misery loves company”. Don’t let the Eels ruin your day.

Apologies for missing last week’s content as well, we’ve had a very sick household at a very busy time of year. The Sharks win was the most fun I’ve had at a footy game in some time, so just imagine the written version of dancing a jig and you’ll have a fair view of the positivity. Grades will be back this week too, unless we get absolutely bodied. Now, on with the preview!

Game Info

Date: Sunday, September 6, 2026
Venue: WIN Stadium, Wollongong
Kick-off: 2:00 PM AEST
Referee: Liam Kennedy
Bunker: Wyatt Raymond
Weather: Warm, dry
Broadcast: Fox League, Kayo

Teams

Parramatta Eels

1. Apa Twidle 2. Brian Kelly 3. Will Penisini 4. Jordan Samrani 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Ronald Volkman 7. Mitchell Moses 8. Luca Moretti 9. Tallyn Da Silva 10. Junior Paulo 11. Jack Williams 12. Kitione Kautoga 13. Saxon Pryke. 14. Harrison Edwards 15. Jack de Belin 16. Teancum Brown 17. Dylan Walker 18. Tyrese Lokeni 19. Sean Russell. 21. Jonah Pezet.

Jordan Samrani is back for the Eels, pushing Sean Rusell to the extended bench for his final game in Blue and Gold. That’s the only change to the starting lineup that upset the Sharks, though young gun Tyrese Lokeni comes onto the bench for Ryda Talagi to continue the “giving the kids a taste” theme that Jason Ryles has gone with over the last month. He’s in the 18 so may not get a run, but Jack de Belin has been named and not played for most of the last month so Lokeni could get his debut.

St. George-Illawarra Dragons

1. Dan Atkinson 2. Mathew Feagai 3. Moses Suli 4. Valentine Holmes 5. Tyrell Sloan 6. Lyhkan King-Togia 7. Kyle Flanagan 8. Toby Couchman 9. Damien Cook 10. Blake Lawrie 11. Dylan Egan 12. Hamish Stewart 13. Loko Jnr Pasifiki Tonga. 14. Connor Muhleisen 15. Ryan Couchman 16. Josh Kerr 17. Jacob Halangahu 18. Jacob Webster 19. Setu Tu. 21. Kade Reed.

Future and former Eels are missing for the Dragons, with Jaydn Su’a and Clint Gutherson both absent from this contest due to injury. Regular top graders Jacob Liddle and Hame Sele are also out. That sees the Dragons continue with their most recent experiment of playing half Dan Atkinson at fullback, making room for young gun Lyhkan King-Togia in the halves partnering Kyle Flanagan.

Noted Eel-killer Luciano Leilua has been dropped from the side, with the forward pack, aside from Damien Cook and Blake Lawrie, skewing young. The old heads that remain are unfortunately all known for good performances against the Eels, Cook especially but Lawrie and Josh Kerr have both had big days against the Blue and Gold in the past. Hopefully their spirits are broken here.

Merciful End

Farewell to Dylan Walker, one of my favourites

The Dragons are guaranteed the wooden spoon and while they snagged a couple of wins early in August against the Sharks and Tigers, the cue went in the rack for good over the last fortnight and all signs point to it staying there this week. The also-ran Bulldogs and Sea Eagles both put 40 on the Dragons in those games, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Eels repeat the feat. No pressure.
The Dragons hold the “disgrace double” for 2026 with the worst defence and the worst attack, records they should hold barring the most unlikely of circumstances in the final round. Statistically they aren’t as terrible as their record suggests, they just struggle to score points and have the defensive resolve of soggy tissue. They’ve been directionless in attack and completely lacking in strike power, and have been waiting for this season to end since April when they sacked Shane Flanagan.

So is there any reason to worry? We’re Parramatta, so of course there is. Lack of strike power hasn’t stopped plenty of teams crossing the stripe against the Eels, especially if they’ve rolled in the middle with the Dragons are very capable of doing. They’ve got speed on the edge with Tyrell Sloan and tackle busting with Moses Suli, while even at his advanced age Damien Cook is more than capable of finding a gap behind our ruck, which he’s done as early as the first attacking set in recent times.

The key to victory will be blitzkrieg, to run the Dragons off early and break their spirit. Put them behind on the scoreboard and invite them to throw in the towel. They’ve been down 24 and 26 to zip at halftime the last two weeks, and while there might be a bit of last round fight in them, that should be able to be beaten out pretty quickly. The Eels have had hot starts of their own the last three weeks (we don’t talk about four weeks ago against Souths), if they can channel that again this one could be over as quickly as it begins.

Watchlist

See you next year to Junior, also one of my favourites.

Tyrese Lokeni will be hoping for better luck than his preceding debutants if he is to get on the field this week, with Jezaiah Funa and Ryda Talagi getting tackling practice and not much else in their debuts. It seems like these debuts are to make the kids fully aware of how much work they need to do to be ready for regular first grade, and in that regard I can’t see a reason for Lokeni to not get a run, unless Jason Ryles really wants Jack de Belin to get a run against his old club.

The recent debuts should help us fully appreciate how quickly Teancum Brown and Sam Tuivaiti adapted to first grade. It isn’t always easy, and goes some way to explaining Ryles’ reluctance to blood Lorenzo Talataina late this year. The form of Ronald Volkman certainly made that decision a bit easier for him, too. The patience required to be a “Development Club” is directly at odds with the expectations of immediate turnaround when things aren’t going well, but Ryles is sticking to his guns on the go slow approach, hopefully it pays dividends in the future.

We also farewell one of my favourite Eels of recent years in Dylan Walker, who has faded his way out of 2026 but has unlocked some entertaining attacking moments for Parramatta over his short time at the club. The passing at the line and his dual threat provided a unique angle for the Eels in a sport that is homogenising as rule changes and interpretations reduce the game to a contest of ruck attrition and speed through the centre. Wear them out then walk on through isn’t always entertaining, but it is effective. Dylan Walker showed there is another way to a team that frankly hasn’t been very good at “six again speed” footy.

Hopefully this isn’t also a farewell to Junior Paulo, who like many others we have said goodbye to deserves a better sendoff than a member email in October. His form in recent weeks (and notably post injury recovery) is such that you can confidently bank on at least one, maybe two more good years of footy from him. Lock him in.

The Game

Congrats on re-signing Ronnie!

I am really hoping for a celebratory procession of points from the Eels here, who are on a five year streak of winning the final game of the season and in the last two finales have put 60 on the eventual wooden spooners. That might be too much to ask, but if any trend is going to continue I’d love for it to be that one.

To counter that, the Eels are 1-5 at Wollongong in the last 25 years. This is only the second away game the Eels have played against the Dragons since 2019, one of those anomalies of the television schedule that masquerades as an NRL draw. Maybe we really hate the sea air or get sick on the bus ride down the mountain.

Still, I expect a win in this one. The Dragons have been looking to 2027 for months and barring a last throwback for Damien Cook in his final NRL game I don’t see them getting up off the canvas one last time. They pose some threats and certainly could smack Parramatta in the mouth, but this is one the Eels should win.

I’ve got no time for fatalist doomerism and worry about being favourites or winning games we should win. It’s all nonsense in my book. I’m going all out on this one and predicting the Eels continue their final round trend of the last two years. Let’s make it three from three boys.

Go you Eels!

Prediction: Eels 64 d Dragons 10

Man of the Match: Brian Kelly

Gol

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