The Parramatta Eels can confirm that Brendan Hands has been granted an immediate release to join Toulouse Olympique for the remainder of the 2025 season.
Hands remains contracted to the Eels for the 2026 NRL season.
Parramatta Eels General Manager of Football Mark O’Neill said, “Brendan has been terrific for us during his time at our Club. This is a great opportunity for him to gain valuable experience where he can continue his development in a new environment”.
The Club wishes Brendan all the best during his time in Toulouse.
Replies
Lussick and Lane surely going soon
Lussick is off contract at the end of the year so doesn't really make a difference
Lussick is off-contract.
Another one. DJ Khaled has a job at Parra just yelling "Another one".
There is another top 30 spot available, though i hope they sign a 3rd string Hooker on a dev deal or 2nd tier contract. Hands got the opportunity of a lifetime in 2023, played well but showed he was limited. He was just a reliable, basic Hooker. Nothing awful about his game but nothing great either.
There was a decent amount of hope after 2023 that if he continued developing he would be a decent NRL 9. However would say he has not improved at all since 2023
When you look at what Simth and TDS offer, Hands probably can't really compete with them for NRL spots. I can see Ryles would prefer that 3rd string hooker role to be taken by a young bloke with real potential rather than a fringe first grader. Whether we already have someone in the lower grades to take on that role next year or not I'm not sure.
So Matto and Hands have both been loaned out and will play for us next year unless they find a contract at other club.
While he may not have been the best player, he tried his heart out and wasn't bad.
All the best to him and I hope he goes there and kills it.
This is just a loan for the rest of the year isn't it? He's back next year?
It's a decent way to try and get them in the shop window. Might get a bite in England or France for next season.
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