Before diving in, it's important to acknowledge where we currently sit on the ladder. We must acknowledge as fans that our position is far from ideal nor acceptable, however, we must also consider the challenges we've faced throughout the early part of the season:
The extended absence of Mitchell Moses, both at the beginning of the season and more recently
Mid-to-long term foot injuries to key players Zac Lomax and Bailey Simonsson
The off-field distraction and uncertainty surrounding Dylan Brown’s contract situation
A wave of suspensions, including two for Kelma Tuilagi, along with bans for Ryley Smith and Josh Addo-Carr
The inexperience of a rookie head coach still finding his feet at NRL level
The departure of several experienced and influential players — including Clint Gutherson, Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Maika Sivo, and Joe Ofahengaue
A very raw and inexperienced squad — at the start of the season, players like Iongi, "Kit Kat", Sam Tuivaiti, Ryley Smith, and Joash Papalii had fewer than 10 first-grade games combined. And with inexperience inevitably come error
Positives:
Signings:
Our recruitment for the season has undoubtedly been one of the brighter aspects. With signings including; Jack Williams, Iongi, Kit Kat, Lomax, JAC, Dylan Walker, Dean Hawkins, Joash & Jordan Samrani. Across the board, each player has at the very least met expectations, while many have exceeded expectations. Jack Williams, Iongi, and Kit Kat have stood out with consistently strong performances. There was initial scepticism — myself included — around the signings of Josh Addo-Carr and Dylan Walker. However, both have proven to be excellent additions. Addo-Carr has added a new dimension to our edge attack, offering a different style to what we were accustomed to with Maika Sivo. Meanwhile, Walker has been exceptional off the bench, regularly shifting momentum with his impact and versatility. Importantly, there hasn’t been a signing I’d categorise as a “miss.” Even those brought in primarily for development or Cup-level depth — such as Hawkins, Joash, Samrani, and Volkman — have shown encouraging signs when given the opportunity at NRL level.
Style of Football:
Gone are the days of Parramatta relying mainly on our left edge to generate points. While the Gutherson sweep play to Maika Sivo was highly effective, over time it became predictable and overused. This season, however, we’ve shown far more variety and creativity in our attacking structures. We’re now threatening across the park — not just down one channel. Through the middle, we’ve seen promising link-up play, often sparked by a Dylan Walker burst or a smart tip-on from Junior Paulo. On the right edge, we’ve found success through short balls to Kelma Tuilagi/Jack Williams or well-placed last-tackle kicks targeting Zac Lomax. Meanwhile, the left side continues to fire, with Isaiah Iongi and Josh Addo-Carr combining dangerously. Overall, our attack has evolved into a far more balanced and unpredictable system, capable of striking from multiple areas of the field.
Player Development:
A key example of our Player Development this season is Sean Russell. I’ll be the first to admit that over the past two years, I wasn’t a fan — whether he was on the wing or in the centres, I often felt he offered little in either attack or defence. But credit where it’s due: this year, Russell has taken a clear step forward. While he’s still not among the elite centres in the game, he’s become far more reliable defensively and noticeably stronger in attack.
Luca Moretti is another standout. He showed glimpses of promise in previous seasons, but before his injury this year, he was truly beginning to deliver on that potential with consistent, tough performances through the middle.
The emergence of young players like Ryley Smith, Sam Tuivaiti, and Joash Papalii has also been a welcome boost. All three have shown encouraging signs in their early NRL outings and bring much-needed energy to the squad.
We’ve also seen a resurgence in Junior Paulo’s form — back to playing with real intent — and continued strong contributions from players like Bailey Simonsson when fit.
Player Rention:
When the decision was made to release Clint Gutherson to the Dragons, it was met with heavy criticism. Many viewed Gutherson as the “heart” of the team — a leader whose effort and presence were invaluable. However, coach Jason Ryles saw things differently and placed his trust in Isaiah Iongi at fullback. So far, that call has paid off. Iongi has shown immense potential and looks every bit a future star. While Gutherson, as we saw on Saturday, can still be effective, it’s clear he’s beginning to slow down. I wouldn’t be surprised if next year is his last season at fullback.
Other key departures include Reagan Campbell-Gillard, who has struggled for form and impact this season, and Maika Sivo, who had become a shadow of his former self. Joe Ofahengaue was averaging just 65 run metres per game — a significant drop-off for a middle forward. Shaun Lane, ruled out indefinitely, had unfortunately not returned to his best football over the past two to three years.
Additionally, players like Wiremu Greig and Ryan Matterson have reportedly been encouraged or granted permission to explore other opportunities — a move many fans would agree is overdue given their limited impact in recent seasons.
Negatives:
Jmaine Hopgood & Will Penisini:
Throughout the Brad Arthur era, J’maine Hopgood was one of our most consistent performers — regularly punching out over 60 minutes with minimal errors and a strong defensive work rate. However, this season, he’s looked a shadow of that player. His minutes have been reduced, and he's become more prone to handling errors and giving away unnecessary penalties. That said, there’s no doubt the talent is still there — which is likely why Billy Slater has kept faith in him, selecting him in Queensland’s squad for Game 3. If Hopgood can rediscover his best form, it would go a long way toward stabilising and strengthening our forward pack.
As for Will Penisini, I was anticipating a breakout year. With two of the game’s most powerful wingers outside him, I expected a significant boost in both his attacking output and defensive stability. So far, though, that lift hasn’t materialised. There's still time, but he’ll need to find another gear in the back half of the season to reach the level many were expecting.
Lapses:
While the team is still relatively inexperienced, that can’t fully excuse some of the lapses we've seen in both attack and defence this season. The most recent examples — our abysmal first half against the Dragons and Chris Randall’s try last week — highlight just how costly these moments can be. Randall’s effort, in particular, was one of the softest tries you’ll see a back-rower score at this level.
These kinds of breakdowns can be momentum-killers and swing games dramatically. While there has been some improvement in addressing them, there’s still a long way to go before we become a consistently disciplined and resilient side.
Replies
Ban AI!!! Say Daz and Randy. Two is enough, let's do it.
I asked Gemini (the Google AI) why Gemini should disappear entirely? Gemini replied that it is a complex question with pro/con answers, but ultimatrely society will have to decide how to harness its strengths and address its weaknesses.
What a souless little calculator to have no sense of a bias toward avoiding extinction.
Kill the AI
Randy, your first position of "ethical attribution" and being transparent about the source of writing was simple and sensible.
But this sexy Ban-Kill AI stuff is pure comedy relief — straight out of Dogman.
AI is just a tech tool. It's everywhere. Even for for our cattle farmers, Luddities and any AI allergic folk.
Even in the NRL. Gus Gould admitted the Dogs use AI for salary cap management, and sees it being used in the future for training simulations. Of course the cynics will cry "all lies!" Humans hey?
Only psychopaths for now are all humans. Just quietly. Any future AI psychopathy will be human creations.
Btw, check out studies on bias and lying. Most humans lie (for many reasons) and are biased. If you've travelled a bit, met different people from all walks of life, lived in different places, or just read a bit, you'll know what I'm talking about.
We're fully accountable — not victims — whichever way this pans out.
Okay. So, out of practicality & laziness I asked Chat GPT for examples of its practical applications. Here is a list it gave.
From Chat GPT:
PRACTICAL USES OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)
1. DAILY LIFE / CONSUMER APPLICATIONS
2. TRANSPORTATION & MOBILITY
3. HEALTHCARE & MEDICINE
4. FINANCE & BANKING
5. BUSINESS & PRODUCTIVITY
6. INDUSTRY & MANUFACTURING
7. EDUCATION
8. MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT
9. AGRICULTURE
10. SECURITY & SURVEILLANCE
11. GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC SERVICES
12. SCIENCE & RESEARCH
13. LAW & LEGAL SYSTEM
14. COMMUNICATIONS & LANGUAGE
15. ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY
About AI. Grew up on a cattle farm. AI used to stand for Artfiicial Insemination. When I read AI stories on here I reckon the authors have their hands on it. Stop the AI and use your own brains to put down genuine, thought out comments and not some made artificial imagination
What Eelovution said.
Also, a sociologist once wrote that the sociological imagination is the ability to (reflexively) see the context that shapes your understanding. An AI large language model, if asked how it is trained, spits out that it is trained on publicly-available datasets and some kind of fine-tuning process by humans. But it has no conception of the labour that goes into either input and cannot emphathize with the process. In addition it's literally a bullshit machine, completely indifferent to whether it's outputs approach truth or not. So if an AI were 'human', it would be a combination of a psychopath and a bullshitter.
Seriously, who wants reviews by a psychopathic bullshitter?!
ChatGPT said:
I asked AI Does AI require more energy ? You can read the response
The climate change science I posted above comes up with à seriously bad out look. By 2050 lots of people will die starting with order people. Bush fires,floods, cyclones, power outages, food shortages, housing, labour, , viruses, insurance etc will be huge issues. Look at what the climate affects are happening now in the Northern Hemisphere.
AI says their additional infrastructure in the near future will require power require.about an additional amount of what USA is currently using. USA have ceased most renewable energy projects are are going fossil fuels big time
Sorry the full article didn't come out. Cut and paste.hmmm. If interested ask AI how much additional power will the system need and see what response it comes up with.
I have a car with a function that records a lot of information about the car performance. One feature records every time I exceed the speed limit . We have a number of hills where I live with downhill speeds of 60 . The number of recordings going over 60 are enormous. If a cop checked the notification app I would be without a licence long time ago. ÀI ? Hmmm
TAD, I know you're gentle soul and not a Luddite, but have you fantasized bashing that AI thing in your car with the largest hammer you can find? Just curious lol.
TAD, you're a wise soul. I agree. AI is a fast-moving work in progress.
Also, I suspect advanced AI (and the more dangerous) is being worked on behind public eyes. For some time.
All the horses have bolted — the Ai Killers are a few decades late.
Ultimately, in the AI virtual world the battles we have will still be between people.
PS: I do share your concerns about climate (there are consequences of spewing out gigatonnes of crap into the atmosphere non-stop) and other things we can talk about in private. One disaster at a time lol. Climate is not a beneficial discussion on here. It'll just go round in circles. Best to let people be.
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