Parramatta eels next five-eighth is looking more and more likely to be an external signing as we really don't have the answer internally. The main candidates the club will be looking at are Chanel Harris - Tavita 27, Kodi Nikorema 32, Jack Cole 22 and Luke Metcalf 27
The main two Eels candidates are currently Ronald Volkman and Lorenzo Talititiana.
Volkman is still relatively young at 23, has performed well in the past few games, but I don’t think he's the club’s long term solution. If he was in the club's plans, he wouldn't be off contract this year. Also if he was in Rylsey's plans, why did he have Pezet along side Moses all pre season and during the early rounds - forget Volkman he's out of the running.
Lorenzo Talititiana. He's only 18 or 19. He's played a few games in cup around 15. Lorenzo hasn't yet debut in first grade and Volkman, who isn’t even signed for 27 has the jump on him. Its nearly mid season so if Ryles was considering Lorenzo for 2027, you'd think he would have at least gotten a taste of fg and would need half a season as Joash did last season. Lorenzo is also very slight in stature and he will most likely stay in cup for another year or two unti lhis body fills out - it won’t be Lorenzo
Joash- if it was Joash he wouldn't have been training at fb in the preseason with Pezet and Moses calling the shots. It seems like Joash has been scrapped from the idea of 5/8.
For mine its between Chanel and Metcalf. Tannah Boyd has just committed to a three-year deal. So three into 2 doesn't fit, and both are NRL standard
So Its a dead set toss up between Metcalf and Metcalf
Replies
I think Ronald Volkman is improving with every match at six and gaining lots of confidence.
Last round.
Volkman (came on a train and trial). 2 try assists. 6 tackles busts. 2 line-breaks. 5 runs for 95m. His break allowed Moses to kick the winning FG.
Brown ($13m + $3m in TPAs). 0 try assists. 1 tackle bust. 0 line breaks. 9 runs for 106m.
It's still Ponga's team but admitedly Dylan is playing well overall.
Dylan has Volkman for defence though 18 tackles for 1 miss and extra kick metres. Volkman made 16 tackles for 5 misses. So that's where some of the extra $15.7 million went.
Haha HOE, some top level 'cherry picking' there.
Great bait, but not biting.
Newcastle spoon to top 8 in half a season.Parra bottom 4 just saying 😂
NOS, agree. It's cherry picking: last round. But it's also factual. Reality.
More cherry picking. Against Souths, it was a dropped ball from Brown on the line that allowed Souths to get back into the match and almost win it.
Admitedly, Souths made an error (Aitkin) on their line that Dylan made amends with some briliance on the line to set up that Mooney try.
To his credit, Brown also took that dropped ball really badly. He dropped his head and took it to heart. He seemed to take errors like that more casually at the Eels quite often.
I like that. It showed he cared. I respect that.
I'm not saying Brown isn't a loss, or he's playing badly. He's had some excellent moments on his short highlight reel at the Knights and us.
But remember he's on the richest deal in history (he's a new father and starting a family) and POs or no POs, he would've tested the market and his agent knew O'Sullivan (who's also made plenty of dud signings no one talks about) was going to offer him the deal of a lifetime. Let's be realistic.
And in many ways, I think a change is as good as a holiday for him at the Knights. The extra responsibiliy is good for him. I don't bedrduge him. But I also think the cheap shots at the club are naive.
Looking at DB stats like that is a very poor way of looking at the affect he had on the game. DB didn't play as wide. Dylans best work when doing a team movement has always been how direct and square he plays at first or second receiver to give his fullback and outside men more space. The work he did on the inside allowed for Ponga to put this outside backs away but that wont show on the stat sheet.
Too many halves careers are being destroyed by putting them in too early. Kade Reed at saints was highly regarded but playing in a bad team means his confidence is dropping each game and he will probably be replaced and disappear. Putting Lorenzo in now won't help his development so hopefully he can bide his time, bulk up and work on his defence. In his favour is Moses will take most of the blame for loss but we need to be better before debuting someone like Lorenzo. Maybe with Sua defending next to him would be better than some of poor defensive back rowers we currently have.
Some of the best halves didn't debut until their early 20's, Cody Walker was 26yo and the storm system had Hughes as a Fullback and Cronk as centre and utility before taking control of the team at 23yo, Hynes transitioned from fullback as well. Moses despite early promise didn't really start living up to potential unti later in his career as being a half as a teenager is bloody hard and now with social media, non stop news cycle and multiple shows and podcasts analysing performances it is even harder. They hype up the next big thing then find negatives and tear them down.
Joash playing fullback is probably good development for a running 5/8 but his defence will need a lot of work in the off-season if he is to transition.
I would love to have Chanel but still think Ryles is looking internally with either Volkman or Joash and Lorenzo to transition in when injuries or as a utility which is how Melbourne system have done it for years.
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