Good morning all. So much negativity around, I just want to say how excited I am, and I'm an old man, in the direction that our club is headed. Since Ryles has entered the room we seem to be so much more professional. The leaks have stopped from the front office, hell this season we have signed 2 players.. Walker and Jack DB and nobody had any idea about it. Usually there is speculation about players for months before happening.
Ryles retention and recruitment has been unbelievable. Everyone he signed is upward spiraling and as much as it hurts many on here, his letting go of players has been justified. Too many got in a BA comfort zone and we needed change.
RCG isn't performing at Gold Coast and despite a few sensational games The King is on tired legs and got his golden pay day at the dragons. The Jack DB contract is an example of Ryles leadership..$350k is a steal compared to the money some of our players were on and a club option on the second year is the right thing to do. Jack will help Tuivati transition to a full time front rower at NRL level.
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Agreed on all points.
YEP
If all the players continue to grow I dont see a need for further recruitment outside of a star that comes on the market like Hass or Tino in the front row. Our other players are growing and linking well. Moretti and Tuivati have been revalations on the bench. JDB and Junior will hold down the starting roles, Walker is the best 14 in the comp in my opinion, and Samrani will develop into a good utility forward/ centre or De Silva if we get him. As for the starting squad, we are still yet to see Iongi, Fox, Simionson, Penisini and Lomax in the same game. Joash can develop into a good 6, we dont need a million dollar 6 as Mitch runs the squad and is the last tackle option 9 times out of 10. Joash can be a good ball runner and set up space through passes. Kautoga and Williams will be our edges with Hopgood looking like he will play himself into some form the back end of this year. Things are looking positive and although we arent the threat we would all like the eels to be this year, next year, with a good draw and healthy squad, we will be a formitable threat and genuine top 8 team.
Spot on
Yes i like the way we are shaping up just need 1 or 2 props centre 5,8
Our centres are rubbish...and we need a quality rep quality middle then I think we are in the frame.....if Moses can play more then 3 origins a year and 2 club games......we stilll have a very very long way to go
Re: Excitement for Ryles’ Direction? The Eels Are Still a Disgrace
The optimism about Jason Ryles and the Parramatta Eels’ direction is utterly misplaced. This club is a sinking ship, and pinning hopes on Ryles as some kind of savior is ignoring the brutal reality. The 2025 season is a disaster, and no amount of “professional” spin can hide it. While the decision to sack Clint Gutherson has merit, the club’s failures under Ryles are glaring, and the South Sydney thrashing is just the tip of the iceberg.
Professionalism? It’s a Mirage.
The claim that Ryles has brought professionalism because leaks have stopped and signings like Dylan Walker and Jack de Belin were kept under wraps is laughable. Keeping secrets doesn’t win premierships. The Eels are a shambles in 2025—3 wins from 10 games, including a pathetic 38-12 loss to South Sydney in Round 12 at CommBank Stadium, where Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker tore through a spineless defense for six tries. The team’s leaking 28 points per game on average. A quiet front office means nothing when the on-field product is this embarrassing. Professionalism is about results, not silence.
Recruitment and Retention?
Ryles’ signings are being overhyped as game-changers when they’re anything but. Dylan Walker? A past-his-prime utility player signed for depth, not impact. Jack de Belin at $350k with a club option? A budget deal for a 34-year-old who’s injury-prone and hasn’t been elite since 2018. These are stopgap moves, not a blueprint for success. Sacking Gutho was the right call—his $900k salary at 31 was unsustainable, and his 2024 output (12 try assists, 8 tries in 24 games) didn’t justify it. Moving him to the Dragons for 2025 freed up cap space, but replacing him with untested players like Tuivati, who’s far from NRL-ready, is a reckless bet. Letting Reagan Campbell-Gillard go was another blunder—his struggles at Gold Coast don’t erase his 200+ games of service. Ryles dismantled the spine for cheap experiments, and it’s failing miserably. This isn’t progress; it’s a roster in freefall.
BA Comfort Zone? Ryles Hasn’t Changed a Thing.
The “comfort zone” under Brad Arthur is rightly called out, and Gutho was part of that stagnant culture. But Ryles hasn’t fixed it—he’s just reshuffled the deck with the same losing hand. The roster, outside of Lomax and Moses, is woefully inadequate. The Eels rank 14th in the NRL for points scored (18.2 per game) and 15th for tackles broken (22.1 per game). The laziness and lack of fight from the BA era? It’s still there, screaming in that Souths drubbing where the team collapsed like a house of cards. Ryles’ so-called leadership has the Eels rotting in 13th place, with finals a distant fantasy by Round 10. This isn’t a new era; it’s the same old Parramatta failure.
The Bigger Picture: 39 Years of Futility.
The excitement over Ryles ignores the club’s 39-year premiership drought since 1986—a shameful record. Even with bold moves like cutting Gutho, Ryles hasn’t shifted the needle. The board is a mess, fans are desensitized to defeats, and legends like Sterlo and Kenny are nowhere to be found. The Souths loss in Round 12 was bad, but the season’s biggest humiliation—56-18 to Melbourne in Round 1, a 38-point annihilation where the Eels trailed 46-6 at halftime—sets the tone for Ryles’ tenure. Jack de Belin’s contract isn’t a sign of progress; it’s a desperate distraction from a club with no heart, no plan, and no hope.
Sacking Gutho was a necessary evil, but Ryles’ vision is crashing and burning. The Eels aren’t on an upward trajectory—they’re plummeting into irrelevance. That 38-12 Souths loss and the Melbourne massacre prove it: this club is lightyears from a premiership. It’s time to demand real answers, not cling to empty promises.