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Link to Official Club Statement Confirming Appointments

So I was writing a comment on the blog, thought you know what to entertain myself and annoy a certain few here i thought why not just write my own blog about it to say all i want to say. Overall, i do not mind the hires Ryles has brought in. It is a wide variety, with older coaches along with news ones also. Plus, something that Ryles has done that i think is key is he has named assistants for each side of the ball, allowing him to do what he needs to do and oversee the entire team. Having tthese assistants on each side allows him to deal with other areas he may miss, plus is able to put forth opinion on both sides of the ball. Does not mean he doesn't have a say on how he wants the attack and defence to run either, he certainly will. That is where Brown, Wisemantel and Moa come in to implement his vision while putting a spin on it themselves. 

First, how it might work and the Positives

The way I think it will be structured is Brown and Wisemantel will look after the attack, Brown with halves particularly. Moa will work on defence. Ryles oversees both adding input where he sees fit, with a tiny bit more input on defence with it being his main area of knowledge. Another thing is he has added in so many different views of ideas instead a select few. It can avoid yes men and my way or the high type of philosphies. It seems Ryles is embracing help and collaboration. Brown especially would not be a yes man to Ryles, he is not afraid to say what he thinks for better or worse. Not saying BA 100% had all yes men, but he never went out to get the next big thing or a past coach until Barrett in 2023. His hiring of assistants was a poor part of his tenure. Though not saying this hiring process has been flawless either, I will explain the negatives below.

Let's go through the hirings each and see what they bring to the role.

Nathan Brown: I think this one is a smart hire for a main reason, Ryles has someone experienced to lean on. It is something many here were concerned about, how can a rookie coach take on this big role with a club like Parramatta who is heading down the track of being a basket case, if not already being one and come out the other side by himself. Brown is someone he can trust, being coached by him plus having over 250 NRL games of experience coaching, Brown has seen it all. Though not successful he would know a lot about what it takes to be a head coach and how to build a roster and making tough decisions. Also, Ryles has expressed the importance of investing in the pathways systems, Brown is the same and has dabbled in that himself at Parramatta, having a head start in knowing most of the juniors already. Brown, whether you like him or not, is an astute NRL mind. Perhaps he goes down the route of say a Neil Henry where he is a wonderful assistant but maybe did not have the skills in order to translate that to being a head coach. He knows that now, hearing him speak he has no interest what so ever in being a full-time head coach again. He mentioned wanting to help younger coaches and players as they are thrown to the deep end at times. Here, he will be helping Ryles where he can. Overall, i think this is a nice hire for Ryles. He will be working with the attack and with Wisemantel who will need some help also but there will be no undermining either as he has no intent in taking a job, plus he has knowledge on a lot of players in the league to bring over, like Bunty Afoa at NZ.

Scott Wisemantel: Quite possibly the most fascinating prospect on this list. Reason being is his entire coaching career has been in Union. The connection was with the England national team when Ryles joined Eddie Jones' staff. Wisemantel was an Eels junior, playing Presidents cup. During his coaching career, he has held posts for Australia Wallabies, NSW Waratahs, Japan national team, Samoa national team, England national team, numerous England, French and Japanese club teams. He has been around, dealt with different types of coaches and players over the years. He is an attacking style coach and will work with Brown, again as to why the Brown hire makes sense as it helps Wisemantel in his first year in the code coaching. The reason i say a fascinating prospect is due to being the most unknown option here, obviously he will bring in aspects of Union type structures to the Eels but how? How will it mix with Brown and Ryles' philosophies? How it help the likes of Moses and Brown? Wisemantel also has connections in England with SL, a few players there came through the Union system, he would have knowledge of players currently in SL for future reference. One thing is he has never actually been a head coach, is the aspiration there to become one in the future? Perhaps but either way it is a left field option with a high ceiling and some of a floor instead of a safe option with no ceiling a slight low floor. Also, while he was at the Waratahs, he introduced the idea of the back 3 all working as Fullbacks, which makes sense with the signing of Iongi and link of Wilson to the club.

Sam Moa: The Catalan's defence has gone down slightly since he left. Moa is an up and coming coach, probably the main one out of the 3 that will be in line for a HC job in the future. A talented player in his day, winning a premiership for Sydney City in 2013. Spent years in SL and France, leading to coaching alongside McNamara at Catalans. The connection i am not sure on, but it is not important. Moa is a young defensive coach with new ideas for a somewhat outdated system we currently have under Antonelli and formally BA. His defences in SL in his two years at Catalan were 4th and 3rd, with making a GF in 2023, where Catalan conceaded only 16 points in 2 semi matches. Ryles will be there to help and add a lot of parts to it, though Moa will be the blue shirt on the field delivering the messages. Can he deliver the defensive philosphy set by Ryles with a sprinkle of his own touch to it?

As for Cayless, if you read the press release he is coaching NSW cup next year, not an actual assistant. To that I say, really? But so be it. 

Overall, it is a good list. Ryles has occupied himself with older names as well as new ones tom implement what he needs to do. Though, are these assistants ones that will become head coaches in the future? Brown obviously not as he has not interest in it. Wisemantel has never held a HC role before in Union, why would it start in League? Moa perhaps, he could get Tonga or NZ jobs in the future. But i feel those who are future HC in the making are better assistants as it means the job they are doing is top notch to a standard of being one of the best out there. None of BA's assistants went on to be hired as a HC. Top clubs always have assistants getting or being linked to HC jobs. Parramatta, even with two top 4 finishes in 3 years had none of their staff linked.