Eels Blogs

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  Nightmare Off-Season June 18, 2025 at 10:13am

  

  Thanks for posting Yehez, some very positive aspects to that.

  Great to hear about the juniors & work in development. Love hearing this... and sounds like as EA / PT have alluded us too, there is some serious first grade optimism there.

   

  Would love to hear more around our processes of ‘courting’ players too though.

   

  Are the Eels processes for signing players being reviewed? Are we going over the correspondence & pitching with a fine tooth comb, and ensuring we are giving ourselves the best opportunity to sign players also?

   

  Are we personalising that experience through experience with the COE, as opposed to sending emails / making phone calls?

   

  Are we delivering on post-football opportunities for players?

   

  Maybe we are doing all we can & we simply need success to start being a more attractive destination, but, if any reports are true (take with a grain of salt of course), we aren’t.

   

  Building from within is fantastic, we have seen the results with the Panthers of this approach. But even through their golden period, they did purchase players from the outside to fill holes. The Dogs also, plenty of external purchases.

   

  No club can fill an entire first grade roster with juniors & be successful.

   

  Concerns remain about our ability to sign external (in-demand) players. Missing Galvin was not a good look for this club, and not a good luck for the next potential player we try and buy.

   

  Ryles wanted Dylan Brown, he then wanted Galvin, if he believes we still need to purchase a 5/8th externally, its pretty imperative the club gives him his 3rd choice option.
  

   

  While the development from within plan is awesome, and the work being done here inspiring, we have essentially paid Mitch Moses a motza to now see us through a rebuilding phase. Maybe, inevitably?

   

  No matter your perspective on this, it doesn’t really read like great foresight.

   

  As Coryn mentioned, with this plan of development in place, I hope the club do consider going all in on Kotoa with the vision that Moses will not see us through to a Premiership - especially playing limited games per year.

   

  And continuing to develop a 5/8th internally, along with Iongi & Smith, and the great forwards we have coming through.

   

  Premierships require elite spines, it’s undeniable, and we are still going to need a genuinely elite halfback to get back in that premiership conversation when our juniors are ready.

   

  Just opinion, and some real positives here, great to see.
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    Poppa > Nightmare Off-Season June 18, 2025 at 11:04am

    

    I like where your coming from NOS, its a thoughtful and balanced approach recognising the issues confronting us.

    I think personally that Campbell from the Titans is very gettable and a perfect collection for the 5/8 spot, not to mention his portability anywhere in the backline. In saying that I think we have to offer 5/8 outright because that portability is making him unsettled where he is. Whilst we and everybody would like Kotoa, I cannot see Dolphins letting him out of their sight.

    The other things are two good forwards, but at a better than average status. Unfortunately not sure who they are?

    I especially like your references to the COE and after career type positions. I notice Reynolds from Bronco's is staying there because he has been offered post playing career options.

    I would like to see us doing a deal with some one like Kings School  offering scholarships paid for by the club for the educational future of players children. Education via private schooling is now unbelievable expensive and offers of this nature would make for a great attraction to families with young children.

    This can apply to Child minding, pre school and primary with future promises of secondary schooling, given most kids will be too young at such a stage of their parent's careers.

    Even offers of this sort of support can be enhancing from a club culture point of view. Adult education also could be looked at for players and partners. God only knows some of them could do with it. Including our juniors.

    Imagine if we could of started a programme in public speaking for Jarryd Hayne, Dyllon Brown etc. I bet you Nathan Hindmarsh would have liked something like that given his now public persona and his prior poker machine problem.

    Many of these kids and players are impressionable, no reason why we cannot be the "Academic Club"

    Great post NOS, certainly got me thinking of some of these avenues.

     
• Coryn Hughes June 18, 2025 at 11:40am

  This model there using is the same model I was brought through in club rugby here in NZ back in the 80-90s.It's seamless when you move up in to the next grade in your process and the learnings are universal.

  I still think the club is missing a trick in recruitment they need to spread the net a lot wider.I mean as an example Melbourne stole NAS away from a super rugby franchise the hurricanes all while he was still at school.The Dogs have academy partnerships with a club in Fiji and Christchurch here in NZ as examples.

  Its great the club finally have a organised structure in place just need to see if whose been selected bares fruit down the track that's the key identification and transference if we don't get that it's back to the drawing board around the mentioned and the talent scouts identifying these youngsters.Development should be accelerated with the facility Parramatta have now to.If done right we could well be seeing a start to a golden run of junior talent.Another thing is we need to be identifying and getting these kids entrenched at our club at a young age teach them the history what they are representing so they understand what it is to play for the parramatta eels.Personalise it make it become there second home then they'll never leave.
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  Darren Munro June 18, 2025 at 10:38pm

  Hopefully a few signings before june 30th.