Eels Blogs

Replies

• • 

    Poppa > Nightmare Off-Season November 5, 2025 at 7:50am

    

    Nightmare Off-Season 

     

    "I know 1EE is split on the Eels R&R to a degree, but if Ryles wants Keon, and he’s genuinely interested in leaving Souths & not simply forcing the Rabbits into a higher offer, it’s a huge opportunity for our R&R to ensure they can provide the coach with an elite player he wants".

    '

    Hi Nos, I have probably misread/interpreted this but the wording implies the R&R provide the player the coach wants. I honestly don't think it would work that way.....this would be a MON /RYLES exercise with a financial overview from Saratinos.

    My guess and I stress guess is the manager approaches in a broad sense Mon who in turn discusses with Ryles and maybe Jim as a courtesy, IF all the postives come to this point, then Mon approaches the manager in a generalised sense with the view to an appoinments/meeting with the Manager and Player or even Ryles making a direct approach.

    Once Ryles is convinced he is the right choice, the discussion would be "how much and how keen".

    R&R I do not think have a bigger/ or more necessary say, especially Mon who may still do the contractual aspects at a due point.......so I suppose I am saying that R&R cannot ensure they provide the coach with anything of an elite player he wants. Ryles is the only person who will convince a player that coming to Parra will enhance his playing and expectations.

    The price then becomes the pertinent aspect and that is ultimately a financial question that R&R cannot deliver either, just the "bean counters".

    Key issues are elite player but I suspect the way our pathways are being structured, then Ryles will also be heavily involved in the non elite processes as well.

    In the Johns and sons Podcast, Ryles admitted that the R&R involvement and how difficult it could be was the most difficult "changing exercise from being an assistant/ to Head Coach.

    I say this with respect to you but felt it needs to be said as we had one of our members saying saying "comeon MON you Clown, make it happen"...../.in this case and most others for that matter, I think the Clown has to bow to the Ringmaster.
    • 

      Nightmare Off-Season > Poppa November 5, 2025 at 9:56am

      

      Hey Pops,

      Great post. Ryles would obviously have to have a huge impact on a player 'wanting to be here' as you say, he'd be a large part of that pitch & strategy process.

      I could be very wrong Pops, but in the past at the Eels we've seen the coach & R&R (Jim S) not agree on contract worth, and we've not kept or recruited a player the coach wants? 

      If you look at the Bulldogs, Phil Gould has had a huge claim in player recruitment, possibly far more than Ciraldo. Of course, Ciraldo would have to agree & sign off on it, but from all reports its Gould who is delivering?

      Again, I could be off Pops. Either way, if Ryles wants Keon, lets hope he, R&R & Jim S can all deliver him to Parra. If he doesn't want him, then for sure, I'd trust it.

       

       
  • 

    Adam Magrath > Nightmare Off-Season November 5, 2025 at 8:23am

    It makes me cringe when people start saying let's throw the kitchen sink at such and such, just pay whatever it takes to make it happen.

    The same was said about Galvin - we should offer $1million plus.  Player contracts is the one aspect of the business we need to be ultra conservative and resolute.  There's big trouble on the horizon when we start acting out of desperation or over paying for players.
    • 

      Nightmare Off-Season > Adam Magrath November 5, 2025 at 9:43am

      

      I understand your angle, and some fair points for sure, you don’t want to see the Eels make the same mistakes as in the past. Absolutely.

      The Tigers are another example, they’ve only recently started to make headway after signing players like Packer & Klemmer on ridiculous contracts.

       

      I never said I’d throw the kitchen sink at Keon, the kitchen sink would be reserved for halfbacks & maybe elite fullbacks, players that can win games single handedly in those clutch moments.

       

      Honestly, it makes me cringe when people start looking at athletes & personalities through the lens of an accountant.

       

      Keon’s price is irrelevant to me because A) fans have absolutely no idea what a player is truly worth, and B) because Ryles is aware of his asking price, and as mentioned, if Ryles wants him I’d trust that 100%.

       

      We see a few Souths games and think we know Keon’s worth - 70-75min representative prop, good player.

       

      But what does Keon bring to a team? Does he lift the intensity of others on the field, does he hold the middle defensively, does he drive standards at training, does he mentor younger forwards and help them become more valuable players, is his representative experience invaluable, does his presence impact our opposition, do they have to amend their defence in the middle to accommodate him.

       

      I have no idea, but Ryels would.  Josh Addo Carr is a prime example of this.

       

      Plenty on 1EE didn’t want JAC here. If the Eels had paid another 50-100k per year for JAC, this site would have had plenty of fan-accountants unhappy.

       

      But what we didn’t know, is that Josh has by all reports had a massive impact in overhauling our edge defence. What was that worth financially?

       

      JAC has also had a huge impact on players like Russell. Whats the value of lifting players around you, and solidifying a defensive structure to go from bottom 4 in the second half of 2024, to top 4 in the second half of 2025.

       

      Lomax is another, overrated, not worth the $$ according to many. His heart & passion for the jersey alone was worth 50-100k because again, what impact did he have on younger players & playing with pride? Not to mention his training standards are elite.

       

      JAC, Lomax, these guys have value that exceeds 80minutes per week on game day, and fans cant gauge that.

       

      Keon plays a position we need an alpha-replacement for, thats not desperation to me.

       

      Not sure about 1million, but, had we recruited Galvin, we could well be competing for a Premiership in 2026/2027 as opposed to ‘hoping' our young young halves can transition into first grade & compete by 2028 / 2029 - essentially spending 1.25m (reportedly) on our halfback, to see us through a rebuild. 

       

      You were also flat out against the Pezet deal, that to me is desperation, a desperation that had Galvin been signed would not exist. 

       

      You could see likewise with this, we miss Keon, and spend 100-200k less on a different Paulo replacement and get half the value in return.

       

      Galvin may have been a huge mistake, or, he may have been a game-changer. We won’t know.

       

      If Ryles wants Keon, then we can assume he see’s the price as worth it. If he doesn’t want Keon, then absolutely, would trust that decision 100%.

       

      Just my opinion, respect yours differs. 
• 

  KENDOZA November 5, 2025 at 9:07am

  Well we paid 750k for matterson. 900k for keon is a steal. Junior is on 950k. If junior does stay he will have to take a hair cut. Why can't we have keon its about time we start getting players like him the likes of the dogs roosters etc do.