Parramatta Eels head coach Jason Ryles has been placed on the hit list of the Melbourne Storm who look to replace Craig Bellamy. With talk of Bellamy set to coach is last year in Melbourne in 2026, he will move to role with the Storm remotely or coach the Gold Coast Titans.
Ryles was an assistant in Melbourne before coming to Parramatta. Issues with this link are, firstly he and his family live in Wollongong. They have the whole time he has been coaching. Apparently when he got the job the celebration was he would be home more often being back in Sydney. So would he move to be with Melbourne again full-time? Maybe. Some might say why not go there when assistant but he may not have wanted to move them there if not guarentees of getting HC job at Storm. Secondly, when Ryles was still at Storm, he would have known Bellamy would call it at any point, he could have waited. It was not like we got Ryles out of Melbourne, he wanted the Eels job badly. If he wanted it badly, with Bellamy retiring looming, surely he would have stayed put knowing he would be the front-runner had Bellamy stepped aside.
Of course, media have to bring us into all this. Bellamy moving to Queensland has allowed Titans to catch a lucky break. I wonder if the "He hasn't won a comp withouth Smith" has affected Bellamy to the point he wants to prove it is him and get Titans up and going into a powerhouse.
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Agree he seems to have way too much integrity and class
I hope Isaac Moses isn't JR's manager?
Nope, it's George Mimis
Ryles would be pissed off with Melbourne if anything. They brought him there on the promise of being the next man up, he soured his relationship with Uncle Nick, got there any Bellamy refused to move along and now Ryles has been gone 12 months all of a sudden Bellamy's talking about vacating the seat ? You'd be pissed off .
I do not think there was a promise. He tried to get the Dragons job, decided he didn't want it but due to him going behind the Roosters back to get it, they sacked him pretty much (Even though it was petty not let him at least interview, god forbid). He was looking for a job to not take the Dragons job and Melbourne, where he was for years, offered him a spot. It was added if Bellamy moved on he would be in line for it.
Ryles could have held out for another few years waiting for Melbourne job, it is a job worth waiting for. Particularly if "Promised" that job, he would wait. Anyone would with an organisation like Melbourne.
Though at the same time, i think even if Ryles was still there, Slater would have still been courted for the job.
On a side note, there are all these links of Slater not taking it, for some reason i just see him taking it. I do not know why but i feel oddly enough with the success of Origin, winning a comp as an NRL coach would be something he would want badly, he is a competitor. It is risky as coaching Origin is way different to NRL coaching, would be better he came in for 2026 and learned the ropes, take some media responsibilities week in week out. Too late to give him a team to coach like Jersey Flegg but unlike Marshall at Wests with no coaching experience what so ever, Slater at least has Origin on his resume. It is practically match preparation, medis is strong but once game is over only lasts for 2 or so weeks, NRL coaching is every week. You don't have the best to choose from either. Dealing with matters in the club, sponsors, personal dramas with players.
If there is a place for Slater to go to it is Melbourne to coach, wonderful environment for a rookie coach. Ryles would have been great too. But the balls and gall he has shown as a rookie with a club like Parramatta, coping the criticism he did after a month and not flinching, very impressive. We saw with Slater after game I this year show cracks when pressure was on him. He got out of it but still showed some cracks and made some mistakes with the media that made him look stupid. Sometimes Ryles said one or two things in pressers that was a bit reactionary to pressure or reaction to losing but it wasn't stupid what he said just frustration. Shows a coach ready and another with some things to learn.
Slater to Storm.
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