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
HOE says "Chat makes mistakes, just as we do"
NO, ChatGPT does not make mistakes "just as we do". It makes systematically different kinds of mistakes. Hallucinations, which ChatGPT commits all of the time as part of its normal operations, are associated with mysfunctioning humans. Crazy people (not a term in the DSM OK). ChatGPT bullshits. Humans bullshit but we normatively devalue the bullshitter, because our socialization as humans, from children to adults, is organized by moral codes regarding empirical claims. Don't over-egg 'moral' here unless you're philsophically astute. When a parent says to a child "don't touch that hot plate", there is an empirical fact of the world (hot plates and their hazards) that the child is being guided by moral codes - "don't let harms come to those to whom you are responsible" - to know. We come to know the world in and through threse moral codes about what is true or not. "No, johnny, surfing in the 12 foot swell with a storm rolling in is not a good idea". "No, fatima, 7 + 5 = 12 not 13" is not a simple empirical claim, because as Kant showed, it's a synthetic a prior where a concept is added to make sense of the empirical data.
ChatGPT thus makes mistakes but in a very different way to humans. What is that difference? It's mistakes are in a vacuum, it lacks any moral code or any moral upbringing - where moral is used in the sense as above - with which to grasp the meaning of a mistake. And if you don't grasp the meaning of a mistake, just go to our categories of humans who completely struggle to grasp the meanings of errors, they're normally locked up somewwhere and certainly not surrounde by talk of "guess we better adapt to them".
Humans bullshit but we normatively devalue the bullshitter,....(Trump has entered the chat)
Even if it all inevitale everywhere, the bell must be rung. Imagine the worst comes to pass and you offered no pushback while you still could?
You have given me a few new lenses to veiw this thrugh. Cheers Daz
I do not agree with signing JAC.
He is a liar, after hearingthe contiunued spin about community and club standards, they give him a deal.
I still do not agree with losing the King and RCG.
Ryles has made the team worse in that they can play for 40 - 60 mins and then fall over, back to too many lapses as you say which can happen at the start of the game and no resilance or stamina.
I am questioniung my membership still on those 4 things, I do not think ryles has what it takes to lead us back into the 8.
I am going to have to disagree with you strongly.
JAC made a terrible mistake, very costly. However, on the field he has been very solid for us, and even more so off-field. Parra socials posted a video earlier this week of JAC visiting a young fellow who is battling cancer.
I can understand being disappointed in losing Gutho, however Iongi is performing to what I'd say is an equal level with the potential for so much more. RCG has been a passenger, I have not heard one positive come from him this season.
It depends what people want. Keep what was here before (nearly a wooden spoon) or bite the bullet with Iongi to have a 10-12 year class Fullback? Or keep the prior Fullback who's legs are not what they used to be and got a deal worth $800k so even if we wanted to keep him we would have to match the offer at least. So those would have liked to have a 34 year old Gutho at the club for $800k? They would also be first to complain about results and injuries as well.
Iongi was a risk, but it was the right call. We have one of the brightest Fullbacks in the game right now.
Macross, since joining this site in September 24, you haven't said one thing positive about the club.
Right so Gutho is leading a team that is very inconsistent and RCG is starting for a team coming last. You confident to say we are a better team with them both here? We nearly got the spoon with them here last year. We've been through this so many times but how many more wins do we have if both are still here? 1-2? Not enough for semi's. I would take Iongi for the next 10 years than Gutho for 3 then have to find a new Fullback worthwhile. So you would be happy to pay RCG and Gutho the money they want to stay moving forward? RCG being 32 and Gutho being 31?
As for your comment of making the team worse based on mins we play. You sure you are not watching reruns of last year? As that was us we would get to about 50-55min mark and collapse. This year we are in games a lot longer and are way fitter than last year. A lot of times we finish stronger where in past we started better. No resiliance, we came back against St. George Illawarra, that's resilience. Stamina we came back and dominated the 2nd half, that's stamina. We are one of the better 2nd half teams in the comp, you are not that if you have no resilience or stamina.
As for JAC, he made a mistake but not like he did what Ezra Mam did or what Matt Lodge did. Only person he hurt was himself. I see what you mean in the sense of sprouting all these standards to sign him but at the same time Ryles also wanted players who wanted to be here. JAC wants to be here and is playing good footy.
If you are questioning your membership on us letting go RCG and Gutho, who nearly helped us get a spoon last year, then good luck to you as it feels no matter what happens you have made you agenda and are keeping it for loyalty of players of the past who let's be fair didn't really help the club, both held the club to ransom over contracts yet are seen as being hard done by.
If you do not like Ryles or what he has shown so far, i can live with that. But the reasons presented i feel are poor with all due respect.
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