Jason Ryles has certainly exceeded my expectations from the get go. Having a strong view on what it takes to win and how he wants to win. Nothing appears to stand in his way at the moment in his crusade to end our title drought. Reputations and contracts have gone by the way side. Ryles seems like a can do man. I'm liking it so far. This article sets our position right now. We are doing it the Ryles Way !

Ryles’ way: New Parra coach has ‘clear plan’ and won’t shirk tough calls as roster takes shape

Mark St John from Fox Sports

New Eels coach Jason Ryles has come to the club tasked with ending the longest title drought in the NRL, but in order to get them back to the top he is not afraid to make the tough decisions.

The Eels made a Grand Final just two years ago, but are now in the midst of a rebuild under Ryles after a number of big recruitment and retention decisions.

Since that Grand Final loss to the Panthers, the Eels have finished 10th and third last in the last two years and the longest title drought in the NRL stretching nearly 40 years looks like extending for a few seasons yet.

However, Ryles has come to the club with a clear mandate to win a premiership.

Former Broncos premiership winner Corey Parker has backed Ryles’ decision to make some brutal recruitment calls so early in his Eels tenure because it shows he doesn’t want to waste time in turning the club around.

Ultimately Ryles is the head coach and he’s obviously had some ideas around how he wants the team to play,” Parker told foxsports.com.au.

“What sort of style that looks like, who’s taking up money in the cap? He’s made some calls pretty much immediately and as a result there has been some players let go.

“It’s a bit of a juggling act when you take on a new roster because you weren’t there when the deals were done.

“For example the Reagan Campbell-Gillard’s deal still had some time to run. Clint Gutherson is the same.

“If they’re taking up a large chunk of your roster and you don’t have the same view, you’ve got to make some plans.

“From what I’ve seen from Ryles, it’s good to see that he’s got a clear plan in his head and he’s moving forward with it.”

After his 248 game NRL career came to an end in 2013 after stints at the Dragons, Roosters and Storm, Ryles has spent the best part of the last decade as an assistant coach.

With stints under Craig Bellamy at the Storm and Trent Robinson at the Roosters, there is arguably no better apprenticeship for a prospective NRL head coach.

Ryles has also spent time under Eddie Jones at England and the Wallabies in rugby union, gaining experience in a number of professional sporting organisations.

Given his long apprenticeship under Bellamy and Robinson, it is fair to assume Ryles would follow their recruitment playbook to get the Eels in a position to win the premiership.

Parker believes Ryles knows what makes successful teams click and commended him for not shying away from making the tough calls.

“He’s got his own views and he has been an assistant coach for a long period of time,” Parker said.

“He has got his own ideas in where and what and how he builds this roster and he has made some immediate change.

“Sure it’s going to disgruntle a few people along the way, but they needed some change didn’t they? They need some new personnel.

“They’ve done that in the way of a coach and now the coach has made some change in some of the personnel in terms of players that they’ve got. I’m not surprised by that.”

Given that they were one win away from a premiership just two seasons ago, it is hard to see how it all went so wrong so quickly for the Eels.

But a closer look at their recruitment and retention decisions, shows the Eels made a number of blunders in their bid to keep the team contending for a title.

The first was letting Reed Mahoney leave the club without bringing in a like for like replacement at hooker.

The Bulldogs out-bidded the Eels for Mahoney’s services after they prioritised re-signing their other spine members in Mitchell Moses, Dylan Brown and Gutherson.

In hindsight the Eels probably underestimated how important Mahoney was to their team and how much pressure he took off his halves in Moses and Brown.

Josh Hodgson was a stopgap solution that turned into a disaster when he was medically retired after just 12 games for the club.

Incumbents Brendan Hands (38 games) and Joey Lussick (25) have shown glimpses of promise after sharing the role the last two seasons, but neither has cemented the No.9 jersey as their own.

Ryles has admitted hooker is an area the team needs to address, with Knights hooker Jayden Brailey on their radar.

Parker admits that replacing Mahoney has proven difficult for the Eels and if they can land a player like Brailey, it could have a big impact in terms of improving the team’s performance.

“It’s one of the key areas they need to improve,” Parker said.

It’s an area they are a little deficient in. If you look at their squad moving forward they have got Dylan Brown and Mitchell Moses and Zac Lomax and they have got some quality younger outside backs.

“But they have failed or struggled to replace that Reed Mahoney style player.

“Again, you need to find what style of football you want to play with. There’s no use getting a hooker that doesn’t suit your style. I’m sure that’s where Ryles has been looking in that regard.”

The club has also struggled to replace the impact of Isaiah Papali’i on both sides of the ball on the edge, as their attack and defence both suffered when he joined the Tigers.

Papali’i was a point of difference, putting on some massive shots in defence and running some brilliant lines off Moses and Brown in attack.

J’maine Hopgood and Kelma Tuilagi have been solid signings, but neither has had quite the same type of impact as Papali’i.

Since signing with the Eels in July on a four-year deal, Ryles has shown his intentions to shake up the club’s unbalanced roster, to get them competing for the premiership as soon as possible.

Ryles has already made some huge calls since taking over the direction of recruitment and retention at the club.

Firstly, he let prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard leave to join the Gold Coast Titans, which freed up valuable salary cap space, but also left the Eels short a class front-rower.

He then let veteran winger Maika Sivo leave to join the Super League, despite having two years left on his contract, which freed up more salary cap space.

Sivo has been a potent try-scorer, but his best years are behind and he became a defensive liability at times late in his Eels career.

Arguably Ryles’ biggest call was to let captain Clint Gutherson explore his options, after hinting at playing him at dummyhalf in 2025.

Gutherson is reportedly set to sign a three-year deal with the Dragons, which would free up $800,000 from the Eels’ salary cap in 2025.

These three retention decisions could give the Eels as much as $3 million to play with on the open market over the next couple of seasons.

Zac Lomax was signed on a four-year deal, before Ryles took over, but that looks set to be a masterstroke, with him coming off his best NRL season to date.

Lomax has debuted for the Blues in Origin and for the Kangaroos in the Pacific Championships and Ryles’ only dilemma is whether to keep him on the wing or move him to centre where he wants to play.

In order to restock his outside backs with some firepower after letting Sivo leave, Ryles has been quick to take advantage of the Bulldogs’ sacking of Josh Addo-Carr.

Ryles and Addo-Carr have a relationship from their time at the Storm as player and assistant coach and that could put the Eels in the box seat to snare his signature.

Parker believes Addo-Carr deserves a second chance and would be motivated to make amends for his old mentor in Ryles.

“Addo-Carr has worked under Ryles at Melbourne, so they would have a relationship there themselves,” Parker said.

Addo-Carr is 29 years old. He has made a mistake there is no two ways about that.

“But he can play, so providing the deal is not one that puts you in a high risk bracket, absolutely he is a good signing.

He’s got a lot of good football left in him and if they had Addo-Carr and Lomax on the wing, it’s a pretty fair wing pair for a brand new combination.

“It’s unfortunate for the Bulldogs obviously, but Addo-Carr has made a huge mistake and I’m sure he will want to make amends for that, so you’ll get the best out of him.”

In August the Eels signed Isaiah Iongi from the Panthers in what became a straight swap for young gun Blaize Talagi, who went the other way.

The 21-year-old debuted for the Panthers last season and is expected to be the Eels fullback in Round 1 with just one game of NRL experience.

Despite being at the very start of his NRL career, Iongi is highly regarded and expected to have a big future and could have played more first grade by now, had he not been stuck behind the Australian fullback in Dylan Edwards at Penrith.

The Eels have also brought promising fullback Joash Papalii, who provides more depth in the No.1 jersey and outside back Jordan Samrani from arch rivals the Bulldogs.

It is no coincidence the Eels’ 2024 season nosedived when Mitchell Moses went down injured and Ryles has moved to sure up his halves depth by bringing in Dean Hawkins.

Hawkins was signed in late September on a two-year deal after playing 14 games for the Rabbitohs and while he might not be a regular starter, he is an excellent fill-in should injuries strike in the halves or during the Origin period when Moses will likely be with the Blues.

If the Eels can land Brailey and Addo-Carr by Round 1, all of a sudden their starting team is looking very solid for a push back into top eight contention.

Turning this team into one capable of lifting the trophy for the first time in 39 years may take Ryles a little longer.

But they are heading in the right direction and there is method to his madness.

POTENTIAL EELS ROUND 1 TEAM

1. Isaiah Iongi 2. Bailey Simonsson 3. Viliami Penisini 4. Zac Lomax 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Dylan Brown 7. Mitchell Moses 8. Joe Ofahengaue 9. Jayden Brailey 10. Junior Paulo 11. Shaun Lane 12. Ryan Matterson 13. J’maine Hopgood 14. Joey Lussick 15. Bryce Cartwright 16. Wiremu Greig 17. Kelma Tuilagi

2025 gains: Zac Lomax (Dragons), Isaiah Iongi (Panthers), Dean Hawkins (Rabbitohs), Joash Papalii (Bulldogs), Jordan Samrani (Bulldogs)

2025 losses: Ethan Sanders (Raiders), Blaize Talagi (Panthers), Reagan Campbell-Gillard (Gold Coast Titans), Maika Sivo (Super League), Clint Gutherson (TBC)

2025 SQUAD

Bailey Simonsson (2027), Brendan Hands (2025), Bryce Cartwright (2025), Dylan Brown (2025, PO until 2031), Haze Dunster (MO 2025), J’maine Hopgood (2027), Isaiah Iongi (2027), Joash Papalii (2026), Joey Lussick (2025), Joe Ofahengaue (2025), Jordan Samrani (2026), Junior Paulo (2026), Kelma Tuilagi (2025), Luca Moretti (2025), Matt Doorey (2026), Mitchell Moses (2026, PO 2029), Ryan Matterson (2025, PO 2026), Sam Tuivaiti (2025), Sean Russell (2025), Shaun Lane (2025, MO 2026), Toni Mataele (2025), Will Penisini (2025, PO 2026), Wiremu Greig (2025), Zac Lomax (2028)

Development players: Charlie Guymer (2025, 2026 NRL), Richard Penisini (2025, 2026 NRL), Saxon Pryke (2025)

Coach: Jason Ryles (2028)