The Kaizen Way 改善. Constant Improvement. All for One, One for All.
That journey continues tonight against the high-flying fifth-placed Broncos on a five-game winning streak are looking to win five-straight against the Eels for the first time since 1992. Perhaps, triple-five is the new triple-six as the Eels battle to dodge the dreaded spoon.
Reinforcements arrive. The Broncos gets Haas, Jensen and Arthurs back. The Eels regain Penisini, Moretti and Mitchell Moses for his seventh game this year. Momax is back. Still Warming up. It helps ease Eels pain of losing Iongi. This season appearing destined to be one where a full-strength Eels squad is less sighted than Bigfoot.
Team Lists
Brisbane Broncos vs Parramatta Eels, 8pm AEST, Friday July 24th, 2025, Suncorp Stadium
Weather: Some cloud cover, rain unlikely (unless you're an Eels' fan), around 15˚C, 6-11km/h winds, 68% humidity
Ground: Expected to be good
Sportsbet: $1.21 Broncos, $4.45 Eels
Referees: Todd Smith (on-field), Phil Henderson (touch judge), David Outram (touch judge), Ashley Klein (senior review official, bunker)
Broncos: 1. Reece Walsh 2. Josiah Karapani 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Gehamat Shibasaki 5. Jesse Arthars 6. Ezra Mam 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Xavier Willison 9. Ben Hunt 10. Payne Haas 11. Brendan Piakura 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan
Bench: 14. Billy Walters 15. Kobe Hetherington 16. Corey Jensen 17. Jack Gosiewski
18th man/reserves: 18. Tyson Smoothy
Cut: 19. Deine Mariner 20. Selwyn Cobbo 21. Ben Talty 22. Jaiyden Hunt
Eels: 1. Joash Papali’i 2. Zac Lomax 3. Viliami Penisini 4. Sean Russell 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Dean Hawkins 7. Mitchell Moses 8. J’maine Hopgood 9. Ryley Smith 10. Junior Paulo 11. Charlie Guymer 12. Jack Williams 13. Dylan Walker
Bench: 14. Tallyn Da Silva 15. Luca Moretti 16. Matt Doorey 17. Sam Tuivaiti
18th man/reserves: 19. Jordan Samrani
Cut: 18. Dan Keir 20. Bailey Simonsson 21. Toni Mataele 22. Dylan Brown
Recent History Grimaces
Eels have lost 4-straight to the Broncos.
Eels have conceded almost 40 points per game in last three clashes vs Broncos (38pg).
Eels average losing margin vs Broncos is 22 points over the last three games.
At Suncorp, the Eels have lost 5 of their last 6; Broncos have won 7 of 10 there this year.
Milestone Watch
Addo-Carr: Will he break the drought? He needs one more to hit 150 NRL tries. He hasn't scored in a month since R17 (see above, Getty Images).
Reynolds, Captain Courageous, needs 14 points to hit 2500 career points (Getty Images).
The rejuvenated journeyman Shibasaki has 8 tries in his last 6 Suncorp games (centre above, Getty Images).
Edge of Disaster
Get the fire extinguishers ready.
Statsinsider shows the Broncos right edge (Staggs' bull-like charges, Arthurs' hair, Reynolds scheming) seems lethal, and should pose issues for the Eels' left-edge (Hawkins, Russell, the Fox). But it's the Broncos left-edge (Karapani, Shibasaki, Mam) where the points have been scored, while the Eels leak the most on their right (Moses, Penisini, Lomax).
Broncos
Score: 55% left / 19% middle / 27% right
Leak: 39% left / 22% middle / 39% right
Eels
Score: 42% left / 11% middle / 47% right
Leak: 34% left / 16% middle / 50% right
Joash Papali'i shifts from six to one, while Dean Hawkins steps into six (3 NRL games there v Joash's 2).
The Future is Still Now, With a Plot Twist
Ryles is sticking with the Kaizen Future is Now theme. There's no going Back to Brown for now. But Ryles never said never. Dylan still claws onto a possible inclusion come the final hour in the top 19.
This week it's Hawkins turn at six with Joash returning to his more comfortable fullback position. Another candidate? Last week, Ryles praised Joash for doing ‘some good things’ at six. He’s shown a deft short-kicking game (setting up Russell last week in the 37'), but it's a bit unrealistic to expect too much of the 21-year-old. Additionally, Joash’s explosive Cup-level running game hasn’t yet translated into first grade. At times his defence has been found out when isolated. But, not something unusual for a rookie with a handful of games.
So what are Joash's 'Future' prospects at six? The 'Now' has mixed signals. Or is he depth cover for one? A future utility? Will the future six be Hawkins, Twiddle, Hunter, or another unforeseen rookie? It's too early for Iongi to be considered. Or does the answer lie in a yet-to-be-named recruit?
The Goethe Dilemma
In the 18th century's Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, Goethe warned that 'too many options and choices can lead to confusion and indecision'. Cohesion alert.
The young Wilhelm, not unlike Joash and a few of our rookies, is trying to find his way amidst the illusions of freedom and an abundance of tempting directions.
In a way, the Eels mirror Wilhelm’s journey: full of youthful exuberance, potential and artistic expression. Expansive footy. Pretty. Young. Brave. But like Goethe's protagonist, often betrayed by harsh real-world realities.
Poor ball-handling and error counts (top-four highest for both, via nrl stats). Poor completions (bottom five). Getting dominated through the middle (bottom four for run metres per game). Getting pinged more by referees these days (seventh-highest for penalties conceded). Playing on the back foot exposes our kick chases, which are still far from Panther-esque. We're often losing the grind, despite staying in the arm wrestle until exhaustion.
Doorey makes a linebreak but his lone support is too far behind (Getty Images)
Small Moments, Big Consequences
Here are some missed opportunities last week. What is the common theme in each? Check the highlights and compare our busts to the Raiders.
- 10' The Fox almost scores after picking up a sublime Hawkins kick as he's held up; naturally there was no effective support.
- 11' The Fox makes a 60-70m linebreak with only Papalii late in support and in the wrong position, swamped by Green jerseys.
- 16' Dylan Walker busts the line, but has no support as he's mowed down 20m from the Raiders' line.
- 22' Lomax takes an intercept, then jags and weaves 70m upfield, UFC wrestling a Green-army, looking for support no-where to be found before getting swallowed whole by Green jerseys 30m out.
- 31' Doorey makes a 50m break from the Eels red zone off a deft Hopgood short ball; running like a pepped-up-gazelle checking left-right side mirrors for non-existent support with Da Silva late to the party.
- Note: The Raiders made 8-0 linebreaks in the second-half, with 4 of those in the final eight minutes (nrl.com). The second-half was an Eels' horror-show (32% territory, 35% possession, 217-123 tackle-count against us via Foxlab).
Hypothetical. We convert three of those five opportunites and we're leading 34-22 (instead of behind 22-16) with eight to go. Better Support. Better execution. More ball for us, less for them. Less tackles for us, more for them. Less fatigue for us, more for them. More wins.
Lomax played Prop last week
Second-Half Collapses
Over the last two weeks, rounds 19-20, the second-half scoreline hasn't been an oil painting. 20-0, 28-0. End-of-season fatigue setting in? Fitness issues? Mental issues? Is 2024 returning where we practically lost every last quarter?
Let's stand back.
Those last two games were against the Raiders (1st) who have won 13 of their last 14 on an eight-game winning streak and Panthers (6th), four-peat champions on a six-game winning streak. Against the Panthers, it was 22-16 with under 8 minutes to play before the spectacular seven-minute nose-dive.
Overall, we've lost about half (8 of 17) of our second halves this year. Almost all of those second-halves lost (8 of 9) were to the current best-nine teams (Canberra twice, Penrith twice, Dogs, Cronulla, Dolphins, Manly).
In contrast, most of the second-halves we won (5 of 8) were against current bottom-eight team (Tigers, Knights, St George twice, Titans). Only three times have we won second halves against top-eight teams (Melbourne, Manly, Dogs).
Takeaways? It suggests is we're not able to keep up with the best often enough. Ergo, rather than being a 2024-like perfected habit of second-half implosions, we more often than not get out-grinded by the best even when we're in the arm wrestle.
Final Word
Goethe's rookie Wilhelm Grew. Matured into Reality. Small changes. Gradually. Eventual Transformation. He was Kaizen. Maybe the Eels will too. Iongi, Joash, Smith, Guymer, Tautoga, Da Silva, Tuivaiti are the future with more to come. There is improvement. A faithfulness to The Kaizen Commitment. But we need more. To own the scoreboard.
Meanwhile, tonight looms. It cares naught for future nor ideology. History suggests more pain against yet another team running red-hot. Still, Wilhelm can't ever surrender hope nor fight.
PS: Currently, Sportsbet has the Eels as second favorites for the Spoon ($5.50) after the Titans ($1.72), while the Rabbits ($6) and Knights ($7) round up the top-four shoe-ins.
Replies
It is hard to implement breathing techniques under physical stress when you cannot map a path out. 3 rounds in with a superior boxer your mind can become a mess...but...breathing right while training under stress really helps.
I am friends with an old-school, wooden board big wave surfer (you might know his name). He is the Patchwork Man...skin-grafts everywhere. The first time he was dragged over a coral reef, he knew he had to find a way to survive it beyond luck. He went to Tibet and spent 2yrs learning a breathing technique. When I asked for details, he punched a cone, stood, closed his eyes, and walked me through his mindstate in a wipeout. As the air was thumped from his body, he went to another place. He imagined a tiny bubble of oxygen still left inside him. He made it real. He pictured that tiny bubble slowly exiting his nose. He felt (and could see in kinda third person, he said he looked relaxed, like he was meditating underwater in a calm pool ) he pictured it flow over his head, to the nape of his neck. It traced the back of bodyplan, came under a foot, then traced up the front, returning to the tip of his nose....Breathe it in, pause, give thanks, then pop it back out and let it do it's thing AGAIN....all while getting dragged and thumped accross a reef. He felt nothing, he was somewhere else. Was held in the churn for 8 min, as each cycle buys him 4min, till he was rescued and hospitalised
As soon as he started describing it, tears flowed from his closed eyes and a look of exhaltation settled on his face. It was spiritual. Made Randy teary too and i left him all the weed I had. Mind blown
Great comment Randy.I am no expert in this however if I had the responsibility of trying to get the best out of people I would train deep breathing to centre your emotions and have complete focus on the preparation you have had for a particular game. Once you learn those techniques you get much better at having breathing patterns take over instantly when the stress starts to build. It becomes a natural response to stress related encounters.
Good preparation doesn't require half time high energy coach directions. It might look like the coach is doing a good job but in my opinion it's not. Crowd noise,strong emotions, dressing room noise at half time creates to much brain activity which hinders your preparation. Half time breaks are something I would look at. Dimmed walm lighting,no overcrowding with unnecessary staff or onlookers, maybe some meditative quiet music, with breathing techniques to think about using physical energy energy when needed. Conserving physical energy with mental techniques.
You do get moments in game you have learned with breathing techniques to automatically take control and reset your energy. The players that can do that the better the transference of this energy and connectivity filters within a team. High energy emotional releases can feel good but also become a distraction. Crowds love to see those high energy player moments however they could actually be a negative for players mental strength disciples..
This site is daily looking for big fixes at BUYiNG new players. I would think looking at the science which makes good players with an emphasis on creating a better understanding of teamwork and good systems has more value. Shopping for quick fixes with endlessly looking for the next big thing which has a small chance of becoming a reality is a waste of time . Good players from other systems don't necessarily solve problem. Eg Ponga Turbo,Lui etc
What made a bunch of " ordinary kids" beat a team loaded with SOO players who beat the best NSW players?
TAD, Great points & questions. We were the better team. They were the bigger names. And were expected to win. They expected it. Classic David and Goliath.
We were more at one and sychronized than we have been, and it frustrated the Broncos at times who expected to outmuscle, outskill and outclass us, eventually.
I've been critical of our support play, lack of urgency in our kick chases, errors and ball handling. Although we had been in the arm wrestle in most games over the last few months, we were losing the grind because of those missing pieces.
But, on Friday night that changed. We upped our game even though we were on the back foot at times.
Have a peek at that list of five missed opportunities — listed above in Small Moments, Big Consequences — where there was next to zilch backing up of the play. Now, compare it to the Sean Russell try where Moses kicked under pressure on the back foot somewhere not too far from half way. There were about three or so Eels jersey's chasing that ball.
If we played like that every week, we'd win more than we lose. Can we keep it up, though?
Perhaps, it had something to do with what Moses hinted at in the press conference. Ryles' challenge to the younger players to step up. To install belief in them by their own hand. To make good on their Kaizen commitment made in the off-season.
It was like a switch had been flicked and all the lights were on. Not just some. Even Sean Russell's. He finally looked like he was more than a depth player. Like he belonged in first grade.
HOE I like the Kaizen commitment concept. It is something I strongly do already with my Artwork . Always looking for more ways of doing better and never satisfied of where I am at
Absolutely, TAD. It resonates loudly.
It aligns with wisdom from Lombardi, ancient sagely finger-pointing to modern day sports psychologists like Jauncey & Goldman.
Basically, habits define us. Small moments, large consequences.
It's what built the Storm and Panthers into champion clubs.
HOE I think coaches Egos is a factor with many. " I know everything their is to know about coaching. Hec I have played the game under many top coaches and now I know everything their is to know"
I'd say there's a strong correlation with those who can't afford their electricity bills.
Hi Adam.I thought I was on a good deal. I checked the government site Energy Made Easy and did a comparison and got what looks like a much better deal with a provider called Glow bird. Some one on this blog suggested to do that. Will look into it a bit further. We use a lot of power and have Solar.
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