Here’s how I see it playing out. I’ve always felt Footy Dean was on the outer at Parramatta. If you remember the final four games of the 2025 season, Dean dropped out of the side completely when Iongi returned from injury, pushing Joash Papali’i into the five-eighth role.
What stood out to me was that Dean didn’t even feature in reserve grade — he was nowhere to be seen for the final rounds or the finals. That seemed strange at the time and hinted that he may have already been out of the club’s long-term plans.
Now, with Pezet’s arrival and Dean reportedly heading to the Super League, it makes sense that Pezet has been brought in as a reliable backup to Mitchell Moses, allowing Joash to retain his starting position at No.6. Given Moses’s recent run of injuries, this looks like a smart move by Ryles — having a quality half ready to step in if needed.
To start the season, we’ll likely see Moses at halfback (7) and Joash at five-eighth (6). That said, Joash is still very young in his career, and there’s always a chance Pezet could slot in at six during the season if Ryles feels Joash needs a breather or a fresh perspective.
Overall, this looks like a well-balanced outcome for the club — exactly what Ryles probably intended. With a capable backup secured and Joash keeping his place, the team’s chemistry remains intact. It avoids the disruption of bringing in a short-term “stop-gap” player, something many feared would happen.
Replies
The Broncos deal would have been locked away before they came back to Parra with the loan option.
We are being used as a bridging contract to help the Broncos manage their cap space after winning a premiership. That's how weak our position is. We are literally helping the premiers recruit their next spine player and developing him for a year next to Moses.
This is stupid on so many levels for the Eels. The Storm get him off their books and get to move on to developing their talent. The Broncos get to see out Reynolds contract and get a neat transition to Pezet. Pezet and Anasta get great paydays and perfect development and experience pathways.
And Parra help the Storm and the Broncos.
I wonder why those two played the grand final and we didn't...
Ryles will not be able to succeed until we get some actual talent in our R&R staff.
Ok but at same time, Ryles also would have to agree to this deal. So yeah blame the R&R but Ryles is a part of that too.
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