Eels Blogs

Now we are nearly half way through the season what do people think of Ryles and who is willing to admit they thought Madge was what the club needed and there were many here who did.

Ryles has the eels playing a better style of football then we have played for years despite our average players.  We have some good players but the quality of our side vs competition heavyweights is still a big mismatch. We can see some of what Ryles has put in place and some players just aren't good enough, but are the young kids we have going to grow into the players Ryles needs them to be.  Another positive is the defensive systems have clearly changed and the team is buying in with our defence the past month amongst the competition best. 

The next hurdle for Ryles is how to attract top quality talent to the club.  This is something not helped by our front office so he has gone down the youth road finding good young players to develop and can play his style.  We probably still need to add quality in the centres and forwards but considering our recruitment issues for years I don't see who we can get.

Would anyone want Billy Slater now we have seen what Ryles offers and considering how poor the Qld side played.  I admit I thought Slater would be good coach but don't think he will ever take up head coaching.  I have since changed my mind on his coaching after he was out coached by Laurie Daley in game 1.  There was some who wanted to throw everything at Slater and appointed him the next super coach.

If we threw everything at him like we have done to potential star players in the past, it could have been a long few years.  He was out coached by Laurie who targeted Harry Grant and the small qld small pack.  The side didn't seem to have direction or a plan B, so was it coaching or the players.  He may succeed as a head coach as it is different to rep coaching but the lack of direction and energy was a major concern.  If NSW win this series with an easy win in either game 2 or 3, I think it will show how over hyped Slater was on 1 origin series.

How about Madge, many said we needed the hard nose approach but I think the player clear out and push for young players from Ryles will work out better than trying to keep what we had and get the best out of aging players through a discipline approach.  The broncos have not improved and by all accounts have no salary cap space to add players and Madge doesn't seem to know what to do other than yell louder and work harder.  The broncos are not playing to potential but Ryles is getting the best out of players at Parra, even Sean Russell who we all thought had no place in first grade.  We still need better centre than him but with his improvement in such a small period, it makes you wonder what he would be as a player if we had a coach similar to Ryles 5years ago instead of BA.  He would be the type of back up player you can rely on who doesn't take much cap space.

Ryles has also transformed Junior who looks like a new player despite nearing retirement, and we haven't had as many players debut in 1 year for a long time.  I am excited for the future but realistically think we miss the 8 this year.  We might scrape into the 8 next year but if Ryles can land a big signing or a young player can really step up we may be amongst the contenders in 2027.  It will need the front office to improve and better recruitment, but I think the improvement and level of change in 6 months ths is more impressive than what Ciraldo managed over his first year