The deal is done. At first glance, it seems to be a bad idea. Real bad. Weird too. Like we’ve betrayed the Future Is Now mantra and sold out the Parra Badge for a short-term fling with the future Broncos bride walking down the aisle in 2027. How could we help the Broncos? Like they need our help. It almost feels like we’ve been, well, done over. Cuckolded. But then I stopped to think. To consider the idea further. It made sense. Still, the continued fan backlash intrigued me. Some supporters have gone personal, calling Ryles a liar or a con man of sorts. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised? Social media mob mentality, mixed with forty years of galvanised cynicism with that old loser-victim complex forty-year-title-drought albatross we wear, created the perfect storm. I’ve worn the cynic badge plenty of times. We all have. And it usually ends in muddied swamp lands if not gutter trash. Even TCT and 1EE were Siamese Twins for once: united in a majority vote against the idea.
But that’s only because it hangs on three naughty assumptions.
One, Papali’i is the future, right now.
Two, New faces on short-term deals can’t fight for the badge; sending mixed messages that might compromise culture.
Three, Ryles is the sort of coach who rigidly sticks to treasured fan ideologies set in stone over winning.
The Future is Now, It really Is
Let’s start with Papali’i. He has shown passion and defensive application, no doubt, but he’s still only played four NRL games at six. That’s not exactly “case closed.” If he goes down, or form drops, who’s next? Lorenzo isn’t ready. What happens if Moses goes down? Hawkins did not leave because of Pezet. He left because his path was blocked by Moses, Papali’i, Lorenzo and Lincoln (the future), well before Pezet came into the equation. So Pezet gives us something the spreadsheet currently doesn’t: depth and competition. That aids winning possibilities, not undermines them.
Fighting for The Badge
And this old chestnut about “outsiders not fighting for the badge”? It’s fiction. Passion isn’t linked to postcode or contract tenure. Matto’s long-term. How is that working out? Lane had two years left on his contract before he realised he was burnt out. Meanwhile, the new kids on the block either juniors or developed elsewhere — Iongi, Lomax, Walker, Williams, Fox, Kautoga, Papali’i, Samrani, TDS, Ryley — breathed new life into the joint. Moses, our most important players, was developed at first grade by the Tigers. If we’re only signing players we developed, or naive enough to believe some of our juniors won't leave, we’re on a one-way trip to Spoonsville. Permanently. Players come and go. Ryles’ job isn’t to run a finishing school. It’s to build a squad that performs.
Ryles clearly rates Pezet’s character and competitiveness, saying he "gravitated" towards him, and that matters more than where he did his juniors or where he is going next.
Competition in Pathways
Which brings me to “competition”. Did anyone have an issue when Hawkins was pushing Papali’i for the six? No. Papali’i won that battle. So why the meltdown now that Pezet’s arrived to do the same? That’s sport. It’ll test Papali’i. Maybe sharpen him. Competitive people get jealous. They respond. If you’ve ever played chess, you’ll know you only get better by playing stronger opponents. Papali’i might just pick up a few tricks from Pezet and become our permanent six solution, which is still up for grabs.
Cuckolded
Now, about this so-called "we lost the deal" to the Broncos. The cuckold theory. If it were judged purely on optics, sure, it holds. But Reality Check: we couldn’t offer Pezet the long-term future he wanted.
Pezet wants seven. Ryles knew it. The Club knew it. He wasn’t going to wait four years behind Moses, or Hughes at Melbourne for that matter. It’s why he had that PO get-out clause at the Storm in the first place. What does that tell us about those yelling “good clubs” like the Storm, not losing promising juniors and players through POs or the front office? Ponisini is highly respected.
Long-term vs Short-term: which camp?
As for Ryles, I used to wonder which camp he’d fall into when backed into a corner: the culture-first, long-term ideology guy, or the winning pragmatist?
Turns out he’s gone the way that keeps head coaches as in the game: the winning way. Sure, he wants to rebuild the Parra culture with Parra people who fight for the badge. But he's also got to build a squad, right now, that has the most potential to win right now. And sure, there are a few holes to sort out, like the long-term six.
And honestly? Thank God. Ideologues don’t last in first grade. He will be judged on wins, not how the pathways might look in ten years or how Pezet might be temporarily on the nose for some. We have others working full-time on that. He can’t juggle both simultaneously nor please everyone. Not really. If the first-grade team wins a spoon next two years? Bennett said it best in the documentary The Rise of the Dolphins: “I’m in the performance business.”
So no, signing Pezet isn’t a betrayal. Sure, Pezet could flop and be the next Brody Croft and struggle. Time will tell. But either way, it’s a reminder that the badge is earned, not inherited. Depth isn’t betrayal. It’s survival of the fittest. Adapting. And if a few temporary outsiders help us climb further, I’m all for it.
Fox: Ryles on Pezet: A Win-Win All Round
Who could forget the start of the season when we lost five on the trot? Ryles was criticised and people questioned his 'rebuild' for going too far, and for letting go of Gutho, RCG, and what was happening with the likes of Matto and Carty.
Optical illusions: Which square is darker, one or two? If you're "sure" it's one, you're not alone. That's what I thought when I first looked at it. But reality, the truth, tells a different story.
Replies
One thing I want to mention and highlight, is that Ryles and other members of the club have mentioned on multiple occasions the use of bridging players.
De Belin is one example, now Pezet is another. They're both seen has filling a specific role for a season (maybe 2 in JDB's case) to allow for either juniors to come through or to recruit a full time replacement.
Melbourne, for 2 decades, have shown how to bring guys seamlessly into first grade. Harry Grant is a perfect example. Most watchers would have said he was first grade ready in 2018. He made his debut that year. But he spent the rest of that year and 2019 in reserve grade. Then in 2020 he was loaned to the Tigers and in 2021 he was the first string hooker and has barely missed a beat. Now, of course it's easier to do that when you have Cam Smith as your hooker. But it's the same process they have used for many players.
We've seen it ourselves with Iongi looking NRL ready from the moment he took the field for us. Ryley Smith too. You take guys with 30, 40, 50, 60 reserve grade matches and then promote them to the NRL and they're much better prepared for the weekly grind than a teenager just thrust into the fray as soon as possible.
And that's what I see Ryles doing with Pezet. We have Lorenzo and Fletcher but I doubt we want them anywhere near regular NRL football next year. Pezet for a year gives us a chance to give Lorenzo a big crack in the lower grades while Joash also gets development time. By the end of 2026 either reserve grade produces us a 5/8, or we know we're hitting the market and as some have already mentioned, the 2026/27 player market is looking a lot more open than the current market.
Agreed Super, and the Reserve grade team needs to be the the place to generate NRL ready players. Too often in the past this team has been filled with older players in poor form. They don't offer much for the development of younger players. R&R just needs to get smarter with offloading players before they lose it completely and are no longer NRL standard players.
Agree totally on this Finny, your second grade team needs to be top 2 to justify a premiership coming!
We were heading there this year for a while but the depth after injury stuffed us.
Longfin, Pops, Super — good posts, thank you, gents.
Super — the "bridging player" idea is an excellent description. It slipped my mind, but I will probably add that in later giving you credit.
I just want to say, if the fans have been cuckolded, at least we'll have a front row seat for '26. Isn't that a win win
A man whose wife or partner is sexually unfaithful, and who is typically regarded as an object of derision.
Do you want a front row seat?
Front row? I’m the one filming the documentary. And poopa will be in the isles selling popcorn 🍿 making a quick buck as usual
HOE, great write up, as per usual you've given a great deal of thought & identified plenty strong positives.
As always, you’ve brought some balance to the force.
My only question here is, with either 1 or 2 being the darker square, what does the apple represent?
Because to me, it represents a Premiership… look at that shadow, looks like it's been developing for a while…?
ChatGPT - The last time a team won the premiership with a five-eighth who had played fewer than 50 first-grade games appears to be 1963, when St George Dragons defeated Western Suburbs Magpies. Bruce Pollard was the five-eighth for St George in that Grand Final.
Is Pezet better than Brucey Pollard? He BETTER be.
In all seriousness though HOE-Man, and as you have mentioned, I love that Ryles is willing to break rules & experiment, he has made taken some risks that could have cost him his future as a coach, and he nailed them.
Ryles achieved so much last season, the least we can do is trust him.
It’s not specifically this Pezet deal for me, it’s that we’ve landed with our preferred Option C in all this (Ryles 3rd choice).
A left, B followed his creepy high school coach, and here we are at C.
You don’t win Premierships with C, and Moses clock continues to tick in the background.
Pezet buys some time, strengthens our depth, but to me, thats all it is, it’s reactionary to failing at A & B - if I was Ryles, I’d do the same thing.
But, this is where we are so I will shut up and support the decision, if you are in, I am in.
But, if our 5/8th strategy hasn't evolved 12 months from now, forget square 1 or 2 HOE, that apple is going to be the size of a watermelon.
Great read as always, bring on 2026.
Dally Cherry Evan's won a premiership in his first season as a halfback in 2011, Steve Morris did the same in 1979.
Not 5/8's but Pezet isn't exactly a defined 5/8 either he is a halfback by nature.
'Still few and far between.
Bluey, was that supposed to give more confidence or less?
Either way, I appreciate the effort. There's always hope, you are right, elite sport has proved to us many times that strange things happen.
Premierships aside, it is exciting to see what Ryles can do in his 2nd year, but feel 2027 might be the year we take shape. You feeling confident about the season ahead?
Hope you are well, Bluey.
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