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
@Nightmare off-Season
Hi mate, Obviously I am still learning all this stuff but the generalisation as against the practical usage seems to be "maized" by selective opinions.
I hear what you are saying with regard to creativity and also the labour elimination espoused by Daz and the reality of the situation identified by Hoe.
I can't help but think there has to be a balance in the overall "big picture"".
My mind remains open?
What you have identified there Wiz, is just good management.
Your principles are very sound, I always had another approach. Make sure you employ a number 2 that is technically smarter than you but had no ambition in senior management dealing with fcukwit boards and the like. That second part is the hardest part of that formula.(notice I used the past tense in that id). I never had a problem with the process as I remunerated them over there competition and was more than happy to recognise their input.
People that do not have much understanding of practical situations or solutions, i.e. many of our Academics could never adopt such principles.
Hey Pops,
Absolutely, balance is always key, right?
Are humans capable of that? Would history suggest that as a species we can hold greed in one hand, morality in the other, and choose morality?
I agree with HOE, humans are ultimately the problem, no weapon is a weapon at all without someone holding the trigger.
We have something truly genius in developing AI, a weapon that could eliminate so much of the mundane, to allow more time with family, time within nature, achieving goals or working on our passions, learning, experiencing, and most importantly, it could mean less hours working.
But this weapon is becoming more & more efficient and capable in replacing family time, keeping us inside, creating our passions or achieving our goals for us, learning for us, experiencing for us, and its costing countless people their jobs & livelihoods.
It's easy to say we all have a choice in how we use AI, but thats simply not true, especially within employment.
Pops I respect the open minded approach, and I am trying also, but as I watch ultra talented people I have worked with for many years revert to driving Ubers as they are out of work, its hard, and for what? That is the part I don't understand.
When the AI train hits you personally, when it hits your employment & therefor livelihood, its hard to remain open minded to the hope that humans will create rules & regulations, moral policing, and ownership laws to protect us from ourselves. There is just too much money involved.
We might be too late, as HOE as mentioned?
Anyways Pops, I have bored you & others enough with my opinion on this.
Wiz, good points.
It's a good idea to use AIs like Chat as critical-thinking creators and less as mindless consumers swallowing whatever it spews out on an umbilical cord. Check it sources too: Easy, just ask. That's what we have a brain for.
The key is using it wisely. Same as it is for anything in life. Personality and human nature is a more important factor here. Not Musk, Trump, Zuckerman or Prince Charles and the Kardasians.
PS: Chat makes mistakes, just as we do. All the time. I was just telling NOS about a romantic AI image I tried to make for my wife with us in a Twilight garden (her favorite) with romantic text of undying love over a few lifetimes (she's a romantic). It was perfect. The garden. Our positions. The font. I looked like me. Twilightish. Everything, except for one minor detail: She looked like another woman! Could've been the next door neighbour. Fail. Your images are pretty good in comparison. Maybe some of us middle-agers and golden oldies need some AI training.
The sad thing NOS disempowered people will always look for scapegoats. Destructive leadershave lots of deep unfulfilled needs and always try to feed that vacuum by getting support of winning by conquering. Look around the world today.Unfortunatley it has a domino affect down the chain.
I can relate to how people doing creative gigs are falling behind.. Our values are addictive based and that is where the money is in moving our needs.
Good point Randy on attribution.
It's a good idea for people be transparent if they're generating blogs from AI. Good for your soul.
Though, I suppose they might get shot down & stoned Sharia-style. We humans are like that. Even high IQers can be serial killers. Easier to find creativity, passion and intellect, than wisdom.
At the end of the day studies also show most humans lie, and let's face it human nature isn't all roses and rainbows. But if we can avoid a little drama and panic (never all), fab. This is the Way.
I'm only loosely aware of well-documented psychological studies (e.g Suler's work) on social media issues. The combination of anynmity, mob-mentality, invisibility (you don't see how others react in real life) brings out the inner-monster and a lack of empathy which makes aggressive behaviour and being hyper-critical quite common. It's actually a form of sociopathy, and is a real soul-destroyer long-term. Kinda ironic when we're shooting down AI as a psychotic monster while simultaneously using AI (e.g. this site runs on Ai). What about our own backyard?
Dunno. Tricky one. Mod land might need to make discretionary calls (closing, deleting blogs etc) and cop any flak. Lesser of two evils. Will talk to Super. As Ai grows, it'll be harder to manage. Never pleasing all...
Yes, Poppa, spreadsheets are nothing but tools. But ChatGPT is inherentrly limited, even just being a tool: can't feed in live data, limited in total data tabulation, can't actually execute complex formulas, and has no idea about sentiment analysis, and often gets jargon wrong.
Humans do all of that work, which here we can call repiaring indexicaility, or part of it at least. I'm asking folks to imagine thinking of spreadsheets as whatever ChatGPT can perform and, once that bar is lowered, it's a race to the bottom
Meelk, that is exactly right.
HOE, re: muting Gemini, note some restrictions. My computer in my office and at home runs software under license to my university, and some admin controls are removed from my control. So in some places I am stuck with limited mute/off abilities, because of corporate a***holes, and other places not. I suspect many are in the same boat.
Some examples: AI sorts my email into focsed/other, AI offers one-click icons in excel to produce data visualizations. My GPS does not utilize live traffic updates, and I don't make YouTube videos.
Having Big Tech load software with AI and some corporate shove it down your throat is categorically NOT the same as rolling over and playing dead, asking some LLM to be creative for us or turning over decision-making to an insurance corp AI.
Well, Daz, kudos for standing by your beliefs. That shows back-bone. I admire your intelligence, strength of character and wit. A force of nature.
AI is in so much systems and software. I don't think you can turn off all the AI that runs the systems, just limit some AI, for stuff like social media, Google, Bing, Youtube (doesn't matter if you don't create videos) or GPS navigators (even if you don't use live traffic). It uses AI to update your maps and so to hook up to satellites for your location. If you want to limit AI use on the GPS you could avoid using "voice" or save locations. But that won't get rid of AI that runs the system.
AI is so widespread these days, in so many industries — not all for nefarious purposes like some examples you mentioned. Say, Medical Imaging or robotic surgery is emotionally scary for us, but not nefarious, right?
All this kill-AI talk reminds me not just the 19th century Kill-the-Machine Luddites who went around smashing machines, but of my Sydney uni days, over 30 years ago.
I was in about my fifth year, and our design lecturer was a well-established architect (who worked with the legendary American architect Louis Khan). So, in one semester, I had to make a design presentation and it was the first time I used CAD at uni with almost all designs at the time being hand-drafted.
It was my turn to speak in front of the group, and the lecturer took one look at my work, and gave me a snarly, disgusted look.
“Why and how could you possibly use CAD for design? That’s not something real architects do.”
I replied that “I could, and just did” and that CAD was becoming increasing used in real-life and I wanted to use it, as soon I would enter the “real-world”.
He went on attack trying to tear strips off me in a passive aggressive way, claiming you “can’t do details with computers.”
I replied, “It’s easy to do and you just zoom in, takes a second. I can show you if you want?" I was sharper in those days.
His bear-like face went rosey-red and balloon up as if a volcano was struggling to hold itself. If he could have hung me in a public execution, he probably would've.
No surprises he gave me the lowest grade I ever got at uni in six years. Things were awkward between us after that. He avoided talking to me as much as possible and gave me a few grunts.
And we talk about AI being biased? If you were him, I probably would have been arrested, handcuffed and escorted off the ground into a paddy van, right? Bhahahaahahaa
Thing is every architect and his dog (99.9%) use CAD, Revit or ArchiCAD etc these days. Walk into any office and you see an army of architects beavering away at their computers and AI without blinking an eye.
PS: Corporate sociopaths are thay way by personality and nature (or nurture), not because of AI IMO.
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