The way 2025 started with the season being over after one half to now playing some pretty good football but just cannot get over the line. It has been a whirlwind 2025. Unlike 2024 where it was the first year of something different since 2014. We started ok, Moses went down, team fell apart, few hammerings and BA was sacked. Then the coaching search added in with a few miss match players added last year was more exhausting than this year. Last year was a write off in a different way, where this year you could say yeah we are not making finals or even trying hard to make it but planning for the future, using 2025 to develop and harden players for that future. 2024 was about surviving til someone else came in, it was nothing, there was nothing from 2024 that has made us better for 2025 in a squad or club point of view.
Where do we sit as a club at the moment? Well i before i start just want to say this is my opinion, if you do not like it so be it just be polite in disagreeing as i am all for it. Ryles is definately building defence, we are a better defensive outfit (I know 32 last week and 40 yesterday). But to be fair, compared to what we dished up last year and a bit of 2023, not hard to be better. If anything our goalline defence looks better, still not great and fitness has a bit to do with that but it is getting there. We have periods of looking great in defence then in attack we are so ill-disciplined and impatient we hurt our defence by having to do more work so soon. Both Penrith and Canberra tired us out in the middle, that is where we fell apart. Though at the same time, inexperience and young workers make mistakes, but they grow. The making of some of these kids, particularly the Ryles type kids are ones that make a mistake and move on. Iongi being prime example, he made a lot of mistakes early one, to the point where many here called for him to go to Cup while Papali'i played some Fullback, or Iongi goes to the Wing. Ryles stuck at it now the kid is looking better and better. But credit to Iongi for just getting on with it as he should. That comes from Ryles putting faith in these kids.
Majority of the kids Ryles has played have shown improvement and drive. Iongi we all know, though Kautoga improved rapidly. Adding toughness in defence then his attack got better with the confidence from his defence. Charlie Guymer who started the year looking quite frankly out of his depth has gotten better and shown he can play a full 80. Is he great? No, but he is a workhorse and is getting better with the speed of the game, his attack is not great but his role is for defence, he can be a nice depth player and we need them. Ryley Smith has shown to be a steady Hooker from day 1, clean in defence and though one or two wayward things in attack he has been stable and an improvement. Tuivaiti is getting better and better and is a beast, though still raw the finished product will be exciting.
Now there are some who are works in progress further. Jordan Samrani has shown to be versitile, ability to play Centre, Wing and Second-Row. He had a solid debut on the Wing working with Lomax then made his way back into the team as a back-rower which would suit his size a bit better. Issue for Samrani is learning to play FG but a new position as well. Though started well his minutes dropped as did his form and now is just a 10-15min contributer to the team off the bench though he will be a handy depth player moving forward. Toni Mataele got only one game then seemed to just evaporate into nothing, he was fine in his debut but was not expected to be anything other than a bit player for us.
*Disclaimer, depth is a word here that is seen as one thing to a few people but when we sign depth it is not good enough. Depth is something we have lacked for a while, teams with the best depth are those that go deep into the season for obvious reasons. People here cry out for depth but when we sign the likes of Mataele, Samrani and Papali'i to extensions it is frowned upon. Well guess what depth players are one of two things 1) those no team really wants or 2) those not good enough for week in week out FG. When needing a back-up Fullback, many here wont be happy unless we signed Edwards as a back-up. If we signed a superstar as depth they are gone quick, therefore are not depth.
Anyway back to this. One big key rookie that is high in discussions and for good reason, is Joash Papali'i. He signed after we got Isaiah Iongi, was seen as either a back-up Fullback, 14 option or competing for the Fullback spot. Iongi obviously won the FB spot therefore Papali'i was sent to Cup to bide his time further. Issue was, he was playing so well in Cup many thought he should be in NRL somewhere, make a spot for him. Even Gus mentioned he could play Hooker when at Canterbury. Ryles eventually got him onto the bench but his debut was on the Wing to replace HIA ruled out Penisini, scoring a try and impressing all involved. The next few games he played as a Hooker relieving Smith, though very limited game time to actually make an impression but was getting experience in NRL nonetheless. Then when Brown was suspended gave him the chance to start at 5/8, a position he had rarely played. It was a very vanilla, pedestrian performance there was but it worked for what Hawkins and the team needed. Took a few runs, fed the edges and forwards and tackled. It gave Ryles someone to lean on if necessary. v Penrith he looked ok but as the game went on the pressure to impress gained and he started to do too much. Fast forward to Canberra and similar, he tried too much, tried to be too clever and it cost us with errors.
Issue comes with where to put him many said at the time he is too good for NSW Cup but cannot be at Fullback due to Iongi. Could he be a Hooker off the bench, could he be a 14 like Walker, could he be a 5/8. Truth is it seems, he is a Fullback only. Nothing wrong with that as he is a quality Fullback option. Hell he is even a handy 1-2 game bench utility incase of injury if you feel 16 can get job done. He can be a mr fix it in games but not full-time. But what a handy back-up Fullback to have and that is what makes squads great.
Though i never actually believed Ryles was going to have him be the future at 6 anyway. If he impressed then i believe Ryles would be open minded but always said he gets "first crack" it is not developing it is an audition. If a quality 6 comes available; whether Pezet or Campbell for example, Ryles will chase them. We have money to do so as we feel necessary. Will Papali'i be our starting 5/8 come Round 1 2026? Doubt it. I reckon Ryles gets someone as there is always movement from October to February. But Papali'i is getting knocked about his performance at 5/8, he definately can improve, to me he is not dreadful. He does ok in defence, he is eager and has some natural instincts. However, just feel he is not suited to the position as no matter how much experience he gets i am not sure he will be a steady player under pressure. Kid is a goer but seems to not fit the role of a 5/8.
As for the season moving forward, i believe we can get about 3 more wins. NQ, Souths and Newcastle i think are very winnable, 2 of them at home. Also, if you had asked me during the bye who would be more likely beat out of Penrith, Canberra, Brisbane and Melbourne? I would have without hesitaiton said Brisbane. I am boyish on us v Brisbane and have been for a little bit. Here's why. Firstly, we seem to do well at Suncorp against Brisbane, it is a fast track. Secondly, Brisbane are coming off a bye, they have the pressure of trying to get into the top 4 and catch up to the Warriors. Issue with them is they are a momentum team, the bye may not be friendly to them. After each bye this year Brisbane have lost to Manly heavily and barely beat Cronulla despite being down for most of the game at home. Now not saying we are morals but Brisbane are a very fragile team, you go into HT like we did v Canberra, they aren't coming out like Canberra they get frustrated and start to blow us off the park and make mistakes. Brisbane more likely still win but i see us in with a chance. Now watch them put 50 on now i said that.
Squad wise, i think we are seeing most of the squad for next year already of course, though some areas still to ponder. Does de Belin's signing move Hopgood to the bench or Williams to an edge? Speaking of Williams, is he a middle or an edge player? Are we still in the market for younger forwards or going with the future? What rookies might jag a debut by seasons end? Do the rumours of Paulo retiring come to fruition and change our plans or have we already planned for it with de Belin?
Ryles did say he is planning for the future, does that mean in the last few games we start blooding a few other forwards? Names like Will Latu, Saxon Pryke, Toni Mataele getting more game time come to mind who could get a debut. I mean 1-2 games is nothing at all but better off going into the pre-season with at least a game of experience then none at all. We know the likes of Tuivaiti and Talagi are the future in the middle in the next 1-2 years, similar to Funa-Iuta. Though i feel our forwards are far from being settled and there could still be movement both ways.
Edit: This was written before Iongi's injury.
Replies
Depth is everything LB the secret to success in the nrl is adaption to mishap and injury.
I love this term lift the floor not the ceiling as when it comes to talent lifting the mentioned comes with the benefit of less drop off in performance when injury or alike happens.
The only real issues I have as constructed so far and the way we want to play is athleticism we don't have enough of it,errors are absolutely killing us and lastly combinations we cannot continue to chop and change our combinations in the spine and edges as examples and expect to be successful.It's just not going to happen
Biggest take out of 25 is have we established a foundation to launch off roster wise that's a question mark for me.
Outside of that the absolute must is to add more and more athletes if we are to compete successfully.
Next year will tell the real story where we are as a club.
Honestly finishing and not getting the spoon is a win it is.Yes we are a bottom 4 side at the moment and we have been sporadically good in areas of our game.But we need more of the mentioned to have any shot of improvement.
Are we really lifting the floor though....or are we just replacing floorboards. we will see next year
Exactly that's ?
Or are we escavating for that new basement....
Need somewhere to stash the spoons...can also be used to dispose of our failing executives cadavers
Coryn depth makes teams. People knock Sean Russell but he is the ideal depth player where he would sit in Cup and when called upon you know he will do a job until who he is replacing is back. Compared to having say Jake Tago or Lorenzo Mulitalo come in cause you have nobody else. As i mentioned many here hate our depth unless say Nathan Cleary is in Cup for Moses. If they are too good for Cup they get snapped up and are no longer depth. Depth are usually not amazing players but good enough to fill in.
As for next year, i agree i have always said i am giving Ryles til the end of 2026 to put my judgement of whether i knock him or not. I think by the end of 2026 we should be able to see some improvement from Ryles. Doesn't mean he needs to make the 8 but at least we can see where we are going and improving. If we are bottom 4 this time next year, Ryles is in big trouble as the moves he made put the target bigger and brighter on his stomach.
It's the 1EE narrative Moses goes down everyone expects DB just to jump across and alls good with the world.
Same same with Russell he's not a beater but if I wanted someone with experience who'll do a job for a week or 3 I wouldn't be complaining at all.
Everyone on here was talking up Simonsson being back but he was poor last week good the week before but it's what it is if you ask me I think Simonssons pretty much a depth player at a good club but we aren't that so he's an nrl starter here.
This is our problem and why I believe we are a long way away from being anything we struggle to attract top tier guys and our pathways aren't producing really good players who'll hit the ground running.
In all essence in the last 5 season DB and Penisini have been pretty much it when it comes to impact pathway players that's a real problem we don't seemingly have an answer to as yet.
It's okay, i am assured that other teams will clean ou their deadwood soon. We can coach them into floorboards and install them in our new basement
I think 2026 will be a middle of the pack season for the Eels, 9th mabe.
I think our spine will be a major concern, not alot of experience and pending MM availability. Also not a fan of a specialist hooker on the bench. Joash should have locked down the 14.
We have competed with teams playing at 70 %, but can't go with them when they hit there straps and play at 90%.
Our goal line defence has improved slightly. But defence overall is still shit. We are very very soft in defence and rarely dominate a tackle.
Ryles attack style looks good when it clicks but not sure he has the playing roster to play to his style. Eels are averaging 16 errors a game 7 of them unforced and 30 plus missed tackles a game.
Are the Eels fit enough to win games of footy. On the weekend 4 clear line breaks with not one player backing up another area where our 1,6 and 7 let themselves down.
I don't have much confidence in Russell, Simmons or Penisini playing in the centres backup at best.
After a full pre season and 3/4 of the season gone I don't see alot of improvement in the Eels as a team. Some individuals yes great improvement, but not the team. As I said some areas, line defence yes. But overall 80 minutes were not much better then the Arthur days.
This is Ryles first season and he has moved 5 or 6 on, recruited 4 or 5 and is getting the personal he wants. He has made it clear on his expectations and game plan and style he wants. So bring on 2026.
Still think we're 3 or 4 players short of a good team.
Hope iam wrong. As a moth ago I thought we were heading in the right direction but last 3 games we are back to getting flogged.
Good points Graham. Hopefully a few kids will get ready by the end of 2026. Likes of Ryda Talagi and Jezaiah Funa-Iuta are the two big ones for the forwards.
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