Poppa's Corner: We made a mistake, lets admit it, move forward; and it looks like we are overated!

This heading is probably something we don't like admitting to. Yes it implies criticism but I don't want to start looking for blame or scapegoats, just accept it and move on.

The main issue in my mind is the "Pezet" experiment. It hasn't worked and the future has to be now. If its not, then it is a pointless exercise.

Back to Pezet. It occur's to me that just about everyone is in concurrence that he is not up to the 5/8 role.

The fact that our Reserve Grade side is struggling and do not have a proper half, it is a good opportunity to let Pezet fill this role and see what he can achieve, and how our long term 5/8 potential reacts to having a "proper" half!....????.

After all the real point of having Pezet was a backup half for Moses and the developing of our junior 5/8 talent. Well the 5/8 role ain't working.

He has no speed. His defence is poor. And he show's me nothing much as a link man.

I believe all the rhetoric and dislocation, not to mention the poor form of Moses is directly related to covering Pezet's shortfalls. That included the positioning of Williams at lock and the dropping of JDB to provide cover defence for the Pezet shortfall.

We are in a remarkable good position with 2 out of 3 games, whereas we could be zero and 3 and in deep shit.

Lets not abuse our good fortune. Let's act now.

There is no way we will beat Penrith going forward with this current make up.

Finally, I expected with our back ups and juniors coming through that we were good things for Reserve Grade. But we are now showing issues there. Our junior's are struggling as well. The issue is our upcoming 5/8's are not exactly killing it!

Have we overated our position and personell?

How does this happen? Well, we, Parramatta, are total optimists with the exception of a few and we always want to see the positives.

All that being said, I continue to believe in Ryles and our coaching staff and the reality is he is still learning as well.

Just a smokey to end this discussion. Bevan French.

I do not know the contract implications, but if we get cap dispensation on Hopgood, how about making an offer for French to take the 5/8 position? He hasn't played for Wigan yet this season and I would be not against making an offer he "can't refuse". Obviously this could simply be too hard, but we are a long way short of what we want to be!

Please don't bring up the "french" defensive issues, he is now one of the best players in the world and a lot stronger defensively than when he was with us.

Great blog, Pops. Some really good points here, and the posts as well, we have some very intelligent minds on this site.

Most fans will admit to often getting recruitment wrong, there is so much about a player we aren't privy too, and so need to trust 'the process' from those behind closed doors.

I look at Sean Russel, this is a player I would've happily seen leave in 2024, now, wish he was staying long term - couldn't be happier to be wrong, he's always seemed a likeable person.

But, we did we get this one wrong?

Many of us said losing DB & it will cost us years, we'd already lost Blaize, targeted a disinterested Jaydon Campbell, and missed a sliding doors moment with Galvin where all the stars aligned, and this is where we land.

If Pezet was a generational talent, a Kotoa type, for 12 months you take him, why not. He's not in the same stratosphere.

Joash, even if not a natural 5/8th, is committed, a team-first (Eels first) player, and he brings energy, and he is no further behind Pezet in development, who is also not a 5/8th, so to your point, what is the point?

Pezet had to hit the ground running at 5/8th to make this work, at a minimum he had to hold up defensively, he's not & it was never really possible for a kid of 20 odd games. A back up 7 makes sense, though. Moses will miss games.

Like Bluey, its not Pezet in particular that bothers me, its everything that's happened (and hasn't changed) to see us taking a 4th/5th preferred option as our 5/8th for 2026, with no guarantees beyond this season either.

As Cap said, until we are ready to be more honest with ourselves & where the issues are clearly sitting, we will continue to see the same short comings roster-wise & in turn what we are seeing on the field.

Its not about personal vendettas or finger pointing, signs of a weak organisation, it might just be more clarity around roles & investing in a new recruitment system.

Ryes & the club have come so far in so many areas, and have actually now gone backwards in one area.

Coryn mentioned a line through us in 2026, but honestly, I can't see how we genuinely compete until 2028, unless we sign 2/3 elite talents in needed positions, or, our juniors have a storm-in-a-teacup Panthers style development incoming.

Just my opinion, and of course, hope to be wrong.

"Well those opinions are subjective, not necessarily wrong, just subjective.
Talataina & Fletcher should be blowing the house down....they are not at present....question, what has gone wrong, are they overated?
jjeel, your statement was Pezet with no…"

"Seeing Pezet defend, I am not too worried about anyone replacing him i dont think there will be too much difference. I think everyone is pointing to the broncos game as why Pezet could be good... But just look at the reaction from Ryles after that…"

Replies

- - - LB > Poppa March 23, 2026 at 11:39am
      
      Now that i do agree with in that Pezet is overrated. He was rated as a great signing and brilliant, i would not say that at all.
      
      And Mutts is right, 2 of his try assists were luck and his try was luck from a poorly excecuted kick.
- LB > Clintorian March 23, 2026 at 11:38am
  
  SL is a league where players like Jai Field, who was fine in NRL, look like superstars. Just saying. Joash would carve up SL as an example. That is the problem with SL is that the quality is lower, ask Luke Keary a 3x premiership winner who said the quality is that bad.
  
  French defending in front line? Mind you defending in front line without a pre-season in Ryles' defence and forming combinations? If you are to sign French, it would be for 2027 so he has a pre-season but even then, i think he would be ok in the NRL, but he would not carve up as he has been.
  
  It's funny how when there is a player who is not much good, we all say "He will end up in SL" yet we are excited about those who dominate SL?
LB March 23, 2026 at 10:32am

If French is one of the best players in the world, why hasn't any of the current 18 NRL teams looked at bringing him back?

Also, to be overrated, you have to be rated. I doubt we are rated.
- Muttman > LB March 23, 2026 at 10:45am
  
  A few commentators had us Top 4
  - LB > Muttman March 23, 2026 at 11:02am
    
    A few experts had Dragons beating us yesterday. After Melbourne we were brought down massively and rightfully so.
- Poppa > LB March 23, 2026 at 10:53am
  
  We rate ourselves LB, is just a case of how you approach it, when you get older and a little wiser you will realise that everyone gets rated.
  
  Yes I believe French has proven that and knowing the way he was treated in the NRL, why would he want to come back (Cappy's point). Also how do you know 18 NRL teams are not looking to bring him back!
  
  In my "punt" I was hoping he may like to say " prove I can do it"
  
  Make your point by the way....are you supporting the persistence of Pezet or do you "rate him"?
  - Clintorian > Poppa March 23, 2026 at 11:19am
    
    I just remember French getting absolutely ragdolled in defence out on the wing. Imagine how he's going to be defending in the middle.
  - LB > Poppa March 23, 2026 at 11:22am
    
    Poppa can you please stop with this older wiser crap. You have a lot of times said some dumb you know what, that is not wise. Who was the one after we got hammered by Canberra in Darwin going on a rant on how bad Ryles is and he is a nobody and will not be good etc. Then proceeded to delete it and act like it didn't happen. Didn't seem wise to write that Poppa's corner didn't?
    
    As for French, if he is the best and has been great in SL for over 5 years why hasn't one club tried to get him back? You say how the NRL treated him, please if a Melbourne came calling for good money he takes it. How do i know? The fact he is still in SL since 2019. He ain't getting younger either. Dolphins came in looking for talent, didn't go for him. Perth havent gone for him it seems. He said early last year his goal is to get back to the NRL, yet nobody is interested it seems.
    
    I am realistic in that Pezet is here and will play a lot this year. Do i support it? No, i have always said i found the deal odd. But i will support him to do what's best for this club and hope it allows Lorenzo time to develop further before being thrown in. If i was going to market, i would do with Clintorian said and go for Purdue.
    
    I don't rate Pezet, i think he will be a servicable Halfback in the league. He will play over 100-150 NRL games.
Nightmare Off-Season March 23, 2026 at 10:47am

Great blog, Pops. Some really good points here, and the posts as well, we have some very intelligent minds on this site.

Most fans will admit to often getting recruitment wrong, there is so much about a player we aren't privy too, and so need to trust 'the process' from those behind closed doors.

I look at Sean Russel, this is a player I would've happily seen leave in 2024, now, wish he was staying long term - couldn't be happier to be wrong, he's always seemed a likeable person.

But, we did we get this one wrong?

Many of us said losing DB & it will cost us years, we'd already lost Blaize, targeted a disinterested Jaydon Campbell, and missed a sliding doors moment with Galvin where all the stars aligned, and this is where we land.

If Pezet was a generational talent, a Kotoa type, for 12 months you take him, why not. He's not in the same stratosphere.

Joash, even if not a natural 5/8th, is committed, a team-first (Eels first) player, and he brings energy, and he is no further behind Pezet in development, who is also not a 5/8th, so to your point, what is the point?

Pezet had to hit the ground running at 5/8th to make this work, at a minimum he had to hold up defensively, he's not & it was never really possible for a kid of 20 odd games. A back up 7 makes sense, though. Moses will miss games.

Like Bluey, its not Pezet in particular that bothers me, its everything that's happened (and hasn't changed) to see us taking a 4th/5th preferred option as our 5/8th for 2026, with no guarantees beyond this season either.

As Cap said, until we are ready to be more honest with ourselves & where the issues are clearly sitting, we will continue to see the same short comings roster-wise & in turn what we are seeing on the field.

Its not about personal vendettas or finger pointing, signs of a weak organisation, it might just be more clarity around roles & investing in a new recruitment system.

Ryes & the club have come so far in so many areas, and have actually now gone backwards in one area.

Coryn mentioned a line through us in 2026, but honestly, I can't see how we genuinely compete until 2028, unless we sign 2/3 elite talents in needed positions, or, our juniors have a storm-in-a-teacup Panthers style development incoming.

Just my opinion, and of course, hope to be wrong.
Angry Eel March 23, 2026 at 10:55am

I think some of us are massively overreacting. St George are always going to be a tough team to put away. Melbourne and Bulldogs both struggled to put them away and everyone is expecting those teams to be top 4. It's early in the season and we have heaps of improvement in us not to mention I think most teams are adjusting to the way the referees are controlling the games and how teams use their interchange benches moving forward to combat/exploit fatigue. I suspect we still have a lot of tinkering to do with our starting lineup/bench rotation. The form lines read Melbourne beat us, we beat Brisbane, Brisbane beat Melbourne. This weekend says a lot about where we are. Penreff have been the standout team so far. If we are close to a result (even if we lose but lose a tight one) 2/4 with one of the worst possible draws to start the season becomes a pretty good result. 3/4 is phenomenal with improvement still left in us. Whilst our pack you can argue has been dominated so far to start the year, last year we were able to combat that with fantastic ball movement which we will get better at as the year goes on. Yes Pezet's defence hasn't been good at all but he's had some nice touches in attack. We are not the complete package yet but there's heaps of improvement in us and yet we are 2/3. Absolutely no need to overreact right now, just like there was no need to compare Ryles to Kearney 2 weeks ago.

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