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.
Replies
100% agree Coryn. It's why I also think Cup will be good for this development. He won't be getting big minutes in the NRL with the minutes the likes of Paulo, Williams, Hopgood and JDB can play.
Such a great comment Coryn on the real life lessons it takes to develop mental toughness.
Mental and physical scars. I like that. The test if you progress at all
They had like 4 plus out Melbourne were horrible it helped parra looking better than they were
If we manage to get a couple of big name middles, a good 5/8 and Moses doesn't get injured, then we'll be in the 8 for sure.
Speaking of growing pains, how fat are the kunts at Costco. Buy in bulk and eat in bulk. They're making the costco trolleys look like normal size trolleys.
An American walks into a pub in Australia...says ''I'll have a bud light.'' The bartender replies ''You're an American, right?''
The guy says ''How did you know, was it the beer or my accent?'' To which the bartender replies ''Neither, you're the fattest fuck I've ever seen in my life.'
🤣🤣🤣
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