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
'Huge declines in motivations and appreciation for creative thinking itself. Put differently, what is the point of being creative? Wow, think about that, using machine culture to be creative led to devaluing being creative or even trying to be creative' - Bingo, Daz. Perfectly put.
It devalues creativity, it devalues the process of learning, growing, the hard work, the resilience, it devalues the work of millions of minds who’s blood, sweat and tears are plagiarised via AI analyses, and it destroys any sense of achievement, for anyone….
Take away the need to be creative, or unique, & we ultimately devalue being human at all... Imo.
Daz, Going to "settings" will turn not off 21st century infrastructure.
Sure, you can mute Gemini in your settings (which you haven't in this blog just quietly), but the AI still parses your emails & runs the operating systems behind the scenes. Will you stop using email, social media, YouTube or GPS navigator?
It's like on this site with Ning. There are on and off settings but No Ai, No Ning. No Ning, No Site. No site, no Kill-AI pole dancing.
PS: I wouldn't bet on theoretical genius, Latin or Logic trumping reality.
Raw AI output cannot be used as training data for LLM. Why not?...because GarbageIn=GarbageOut.
Randy, While us fine gentlemen are going all Rambo Kill-AI in disgust at AI, this site's AI just effortlessly, diligently does its business, swan-like — for us.
Beyond irony, there's almost always a hero and a villain in every good story. Why is that?
Correct , unless you can build it yourself the long way AND have an understanding of the AI program's capabilities , you're going to struggle to use AI to do it for you the quick way.
I will use voice recognition to tell it exactly what I need it to do rather than sit there and codes and formulas and then have work it . It's not like someone with zero knowledge can just tell it to do a complex task they've never done themselves before .
Then you have tasks like mocking up an example of a floor layout let's say , and I'd have had to send it off to some banana who thinks he's super important as he or she has " the program " who will hold things up another week whilst they fluff around , I can now do that myself with ease as I know how to direct it . But I still need to know the measurements , the partners needs and what the capabilities of the builders are.
There are obviously positives and negatives with me taking work off the people who are employed to do these tasks manually for me , negatives are I'm now doing more work , positives are I'm getting it done faster and eventually when the business wises up and punts them, I'll be able to cut costs on my pitch. As for the people who are now unemployed , meh , they've been carrying on like their curing cancer for years. I've spent too many hours under the pump at the 11th hour waiting on them.
One day I'm sure AI will be killing my role too , fortunately for me I'll be the human role turning the lights off.
Id be a little concerened if I was just starting out in education.
It's garbage till reveiwed by humans. I don't engage in dialog with the sites AI. I think LLM is here to stay, and has good use cases, but it should be kept out of some lanes, lest it clog them...Again, we will never read less AI here than there is right now. If it is encouraged (featured blog!!!) it will swallow us, If it is heavily discouraged, it may still happen, but at least an effort was made We can but try
I do agree with BAN AI, for certain applications in certain spheres, where it is obviously noxious. I will settle for attribute always, like with news sources, but folks seem to think AI gets a pass because it's not a person and answered just for them!. Shame is a powerful tool. We can but try
Or how about ....just because it exists, why should we freely welcome it into all realms?
You have had good,real input into this Wiz. cheers
Sorry , wasn't me it was my AI program .
NoS, Great to see you posting. Your creativity, kindness & wisdom is inspiring.
We're both on the same page with our concerns without repeating myself.
But, the bottom line is: AI's a tool created by humans for humans — so any misuse or abuse is on our hands.
Any tool can be misused. Even plastic cutlery can be abused in a padded safe space.
Also, AI is so embedded in our society and will only grow in use. The ban AI brigade are decades too late. This sites engine uses AI. Ban our site?
Your point on creativity being what makes us human is intriguing. I'd partially agree.
You're a highly creative, wise soul — probably one of the most creative here.
Some studies and psychologists link creativity to "open-ness" of new experiences in the Big Five (of personality traits). Is that genetic or environmental, I don't know. But not everyone has high degrees of "open-ness" or creativity. Some are more meat and potatoes pragmatic or conservative.
Wasn't it Einstein who allegedly said something to the effect 'Imagination is more important than knowledge'? I'd agree, but not everyone would.
The thing is knowledge and creativity are linked. When Einstein used his imagination of being on a train to discovery relativity, he still needed to "know" concepts such as what a train and speed was and the language to express it. Also, even great composers, architects, thinkers and artists borrow ideas from the past. It's naive to think most ideas are wholly original in entirety.
Another downside of AI in addition to others, I've mentioned is laziness. If there is no struggle to obtain information or knowledge, because of the AI unbilical cord and over-dependance on, people don't really know much about anything. No drilling, No Struggle, No Knowledge and thus probably limited creativity. Any teacher or army instructor will tell you that is 101. They might become not much more machine than Chat GPT — lost potential. It's something we need to guard against.
Again, it comes down to human nature, habits and decision-making.
Thanks HOE,
I missed you too you bloody legend.
Excellent points, and my opinion is selfishly only based on my own experience / outlook, thats fair.
For the record I don’t refer to human creativity as purely in the arts.
Creative (original) thought, problem solving, to question, to search, facing challenges, how & what we teach our children, dreams, goals, planning for the future, how you spread peanut butter on your toast, its all creativity or creative thought processes & most of which is unique to our race (excluding extraterrestrials or dimensional beings, which is probably for a different convo)…
It makes us unique, and it all fits under an umbrella of creativity & cognitive development & growth, to Daz’s point.
AI is pissing down on that umbrella HOE-Man, and we are yet to really understand the consequences because it’s happening so fast.
100% agree with the links between knowledge & creativity, but is knowledge known the same as knowledge earned? Are there lessons in that journey of knowledge, that sacrifice, those failings, and those developments, that instant learning cannot teach?
Artists, musicians, architects, absolutely are shaped by those of the past, but an artist finding inspiration & ideas to paint their masterpiece, is very different to someone with absolutely no artistic skill whatsoever using AI to plagurise millions of artworks & 'creating' their own.
HOE I know you well enough to know you come from a highly empathetic & intelligent place, and understand that AI is entrenched in everything now, not purely creative industries - I agree, the fight is likely pointless at this stage, and as you’ve implied in other posts, somewhat hypocritical considering we all use aspects of it daily - true.
And humans are to blame, no doubt, we generally are.
Respect your place on this, it’s likely going to make these inevitable transitions much smoother for you. Smart.
But not sure I follow the risk adverse link with AI?
Kids hurting themselves climbing trees outside is fantastic. That’s experience. Immersing themselves in nature & priceless human connections with each other. Whether they graze a knee or break an arm, imo, is irrelevant, they won't remember those cuts & bruises, but they will remember those experiences.
Kids asking AI what it feels like to climb trees & play outside, or speaking to AI ChatBots to find friendships, connections, even love, is a closer linking risk? (It’s happening already).
In fairness to AI, a lot of these concerns started many years ago with our disconnection through devices, our silicon addictions, social media & lack of genuine human connection.
AI has just turbo charged it all, and now, we are genuinely facing the possibility of monumental spikes in unemployment across many industries.
I just cant see the positives in that.
Thanks for the kind words HOE, you know I respect your opinion very highly, this is just my opinion & I hope to end up very wrong.
-
19
-
20
-
21
-
22
-
23
of 23 Next