Eels Blogs

 This week we learned a little more about Jason Ryles.

"I was like a duck. The feet were going under the water, that's for sure."

"My heart was going. Don't worry about that."

Jason Ryles admitted to Triple MMM he only looked calm when helping to rescue the young woman from the burning car.

He laughed about the now famous "walkie-talkie" incident, which police officers at the scene were curious about in the aftermath of the 32-12 loss to Souths.

No arrests were made. No charges were laid.

Deep breaths

"I just get really disappointed," Ryles told Nathan Hindmarsh and Wade Graham of Triple MMM.

"Because I'll see how hard the players are working and I'll see, the little things that they're doing really well,"

"And then we just self-inflict at times and they turn into big things really quickly."

"That's part of the journey we're on at the moment."

The Eels made 18 errors against South Sydney and have averaged around 15 errors a game over the past five weeks.

Even Penrith, a dynasty club, would struggle to win with those numbers. All three of their losses this season came when they made between 16 and 17 errors.

Ryles added that he calmed down pretty quickly. He had to. He had to go to the sheds at half-time.

The slow burn

"Where do you see yourself at with the club?" Wade Graham asked.

Ryles didn't pretend the rebuild has gone according to plan.

“We've got a young team.”

"They can get up for one or two games, but it's that consistency over a period of time."

“We've got a fair few injuries at the moment to have more experienced players which probably hasn't helped."

It’s forced the younger players into extended stretches of NRL football rather than get more reps in reggies.

"It's good to bring them in for one or two and then drop them back to Cup and keep them developing that way."

"But at the moment we're having to play them for big stretches."

"So they're learning their lessons in the NRL."

"It's a slow burn at the moment. It's hard yakka at times."

"But I can see the green shoots once we get through this."

It's another insight into how Ryles sees player development: deliberate, patient and structured. Injuries forced a painful acceleration.

Naturally, Hindmarsh turned the conversation to recruitment and boosting the roster.

Recruitment: Middles and Backs

Ryles confirmed he was targeting a quality centre and middle for the 2027 roster —with no talk of an external six.

"We've got Jadyn Su'a who's already signed."

"We've strengthened our edge and that'll probably be 2027 done after that."

"Then in 2028 we'll certainly be looking to add an outside back or another middle forward."

"There's certainly a plan there, but it's one thing having a plan and another being able to pivot pretty quickly when you don't come up with the player."

"At the moment it's probably the most congested the recruitment space has been with the two new teams coming into the competition."

"We have to make sure we're agile and keep moving if we don't pick up the players we have in front of us at the moment."

It's a reality that has frustrated plenty of Eels supporters.

It's also not the first time he's made that point. Recruitment is a recurring theme in his entire tenure.

And he doubled down on that.

Building From Within

"Rather than just going for a sugar hit and signing every Tom, Dick and Harry that comes off contract, we want to make sure it's strategic."

"Keep our young guys through our pathways as much as we can, but then just add quality talent in and around it."

Ultimately it's about building Parra DNA. Identity. Making success “sustainable once we get there” as Ryles put it.

Before the oak tree comes the sapling.

Whether you agree or not, we're seeing more of the man behind the coach.

He confronts shortcomings and challenges head-on. He's process driven. Measured. Honest. Strategic. Pragmatic. Passionate. Club-first. Committed to developing pathways and young players. Comfortable making difficult decisions. And, despite the pressure, still armed with a dry sense of humour.

The challenge now is turning philosophy into points and premierships.

England Coach and Titans assistant coach, Brian McDermott once observed in his Coaching The Coaches series that every rebuilding coach eventually reaches that crossroad.

"At some stage you have to fall on one side or the other. Which one are you? What type of coach are you? There's a danger, in my opinion, of going too far and thinking all about culture and environment because at some stage you are going to need to win," he concluded.

Many supporters are understandably craving sugar hits. Years of disappointment will do that.

But Ryles is playing the long-game to success. He and the club are wagering that shortcuts rarely produce lasting success.

Now comes the hard part. Proving it.

Many will lose faith. Many have. Some years ago. Some decades ago. But the club, the coaches and the players can't afford to.

These quotes from Ryles comes from this week's "Clubcast". The best of Triple M and Channel 7. Nathan Hindmarsh, Wade Graham and other media commentators ask Ryles about the burning car heroics, where he is at in the club, recruitment, the walkie talkie incident, Parra Proud in the dressing sheds, making success “sustainable once we get there” while not losing his down to earth sense of humour.