Jason Ryles acknowledged in his press conference following Parramatta's 16-10 loss to the Storm that it was a night of mixed feelings.
The Eels put themselves in position to beat the competition favourites, but poor handling and costly penalties gave the Storm the chances they needed to seal a much tighter victory than was expected.
Ryles has spoken constantly throughout the year about his young side learning on the job and having to tighten up their handling.
The Storm have been near the pointy end of the competition for 20 years while the Ryles era has been grinding away at lifting themselves off the bottom for 20 weeks.
A 40 point turnaround is nothing to sneeze at and the Eels are an entirely different side now compared to the one that took the field at AAMI Park in round 1.
While Mitchell Moses' return clearly elevates this side into a top 8 level squad.
But it's not just about Moses. Josh Addo-Carr has added needed speed alongside experience in the backline, Zac Lomax's grunt work has added metreage the Eels have been missing since the early years of Maika Sivo while Sean Russell has steadily improved to a point where he is becoming a legitimate NRL level centre.
Ryles' focus on youth has perhaps best been seen in the forward pack. A broom went through the pack with only Junior Paulo and J'maine Hopgood remaining in the starting pack from 2024.
Kitione Kautoga, up until injury, had transformed from a clear rookie to both a defender with steel and a genuine ball running threat with Jack Williams also providing mobility and sting in defence on the other edge.
Ryley Smith was unveiled as the side's new hooker at the start of the season and took his opportunity with both hands, even if he is now job-sharing with new recruit Tallyn da Silva.
Parramatta's match against the Storm though was typical of what he have seen a fair bit of this year. Able to go with the top sides for long periods, but prone to errors of poor concentration or execution.
Melbourne were close to full strength and were taken to the 80th minute. But as Ryles said in the presser, this was a match the Eels lost more than the Storm won.
Parramatta is in a more optimistic position now than at this time last year as they barreled into a spoon bowl.
But Ryles and his coaching staff will continue to have their work cut out for them as they try to eliminate the errors, tighten up the defence and turn the Eels into a premiership force.
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Looking the way we heading i think next year we come in at 9 or at best 8 spot then in 2027 i think we be in top 3 year after that we win the grand final
Arnie, you can bet your balls on us making top 4 next year.
Probably winning it!
You said that about this year 😂😂
Ryles's defensive structures are keeping us in games. We're still conceding feild position due to our pack being out muscled by the opposition, and thus they are winning the ruck.
Hopgood isn't the answer as a starter as he doesn't have the size to dent the line. 50 meters gained also isn't enough. I really don't know what to do with Hopgood, probably bench atm.
I think we are in good stead with Moretti, Tuivaiti and Doorey evolving, but Ryles needs to sign absolute quality now. We need one or two big , tough forwards who can get us onto the front foot, and dominate in defence.
Overall, Ryles has done a great job, and like I've said, Lane, Matterson, Ofehengaue and Cartwright being still in the cap means we are playing matches with almost 2 million worth of cap missing all season
Ryles knows we need forwards, he said recently that if we have an injury or two, it really hurts us with lack of depth.
JDB may go towards solving that problem. He's averaging 10m/carry this year.
I'd also say that us conceding field position is also partially connected to our poor handling at times. Our smaller pack gets gassed and then we start slipping off tackles.
Hopgood is going to be interesting case in terms of team make up next year. Does he get a go in first grade to start the year, or will he be coming off the bench?
Add DB, the 2 cup hookers and Wiremu to that and you're close to 4 million.
Growing pains go hand in hand with a rebuild I don't think there's to much more to say here.
The arrows pointing in the right direction.
Recruitment the off the field game is going to be crucial for the club going foward.
MoN the R and R crew get JR what he needs.
I think we hold on to ball we might have won .once there big boys tied Moses and joash would do some damage .that's footy
We get our 6 right and recurit an alpha prop like Tino and we are in a good spot for the future. Renzo will probably be our answer at 6 in 1-2 years. Paulo desperately needs someone to take over the forward leader (Tino) as he is past his prime despite still giving a lot of effort.
Once we get this I am very excited for the future. We are finally seeing lot of young players developing very well at the club. Look how many rookies we have played with this year and compare the start of their seaon to now and its wow. The coaching staff being able help players transition from NSW Cup & Jersey Flegg level to NRL players is something we desperately needed. Add this to the amount of talent in our pathways and its shows to a bright future if we keep it up. It will be system similar to how Penrith have managed to replace elite players with juniors coming through their pathways.
E A lots want would like Tino as the Alpha male. From what I have seen from the 20 year old Tuivaiti 1.9 tall 119 kg I think he could easily develop into the alpha male who takes over Paulo's role.. Not sure what others think . I like seeing how he is progressing.
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