7 from of the Eels last 11 fg standard signings have been nothing short of embarrassing. We're either signing over the hill players ( 29 - 30 you +), players with commitment issues, or players with zero upside unwanted by previous clubs
- Mitch Rein — 31–32 (Titans)
- Josh Hodgson — 32–33 (Raiders)
- J’maine Hopgood — 23–24 (Panthers system)
- Joe Ofahengaue — 28 (Wests Tigers, mid-season)
- Kelma Tuilagi — 24–25 (Wests Tigers)
- Zac Lomax — 24–25 (Dragons)
- Josh Addo-Carr — 29–30 (Bulldogs)
- Jack de Belin — 33–34 (Dragons)
- Isaiah Iongi — 20–21 (Panthers system)
- Jonah Pezet — 21–22 (Storm)
- Brian Kelly —30
In contrast Penrith haven't signed any player over the age of 28, signed players
- Heavy focus on:
- Undervalued forwards (Capewell, Sorensen, Garner, Papali’i)
- System fits over stars
- Young upside (Alamoti, Talagi)
- Young players with great potential Blaze, Alamoti
👉 Average signing age sits roughly 24–26
- Kurt Capewell — 25 (Sharks)
- Moses Leota — 24 (Warriors pathway → NRL squad)
- Spencer Leniu — 20–21 (Roosters system)
- Scott Sorensen — 28 (Sharks)
- Chris Smith — 22–23 (Bulldogs)
- Luke Garner — 27–28 (Wests Tigers)
- Zac Hosking — 26 (Broncos)
- Jack Cogger — 25–26 (Knights)
- Paul Alamoti — 20–21 (Bulldogs)
- Daine Laurie — 24 (Wests Tigers)
- Isaiah Papali’i — 27–28 (Wests Tigers)
- Blaize Talagi — 19–20 (Eels)
- Tom Ale — 26 (Warriors)
So who's responsible for this recruitment debacle. When brad Arthur was sacked Jim Sarantinos came out and blamed brad and said the buck stops with the head coach on recruitment and retention, whilst Mark O’Neill and the recruitment team weren't held accountable.
Now its happening again with Brian Kelly, Jack Debelin and Jonah Pezet looking like being the worst 3 signings in Parramatta’s recent history.
Is Ryles going to be made the next scapegoat, whilst Sarantinos and O’Neill line their pockets with membership dollars - you be the judge.
Replies
The fact MO didn't beat St George to the punch with Keon is the biggest loss in recent years. We have no senior forwards for 2027, there is no guarantee Junior will go on another year, looks like his body just can't keep up anymore. We are a sinking ship and if MO needed to commit another year to land him and pay overs then he should've. I no longer agree that we cant pay overs, where we are is a club that needs to pay overs to be competitive and hope the juniors coming through can be locked up on longer Dev deals or smaller contracts to bridge the gap.
You can add our new Head of Performance to the list, no wonder we look so unfit this year
Morgan Harper......
I don't think it's an age thing - I think it's more of an overall quality thing (of which age is a component).
Here are our full signings and promotions for the last 3 years:
That's a total of 9 failures, 5 mixed and 6 successes in recruitment and retention over the last 3 years.
That's a 30% success rate in recruitment and promotion. If anyone else was doing their job at a 30% success rate I'd wager they'd be promptly fired.
Seriously...what are we doing??
Kelma is Mixed at best. He is more rocks than diamonds.
This ...he would be a back up at other clubs. After all, we plucked him from reserve grade (Manly) and that's where he should be most weeks.
Ths is just alarming. Our club is run by amatuers
Mark O'Neil needs to duck off far far away from parra.
Yep. Its time
Our signings 2019-2022 were amazing (Papalii, RCG, Sivo, Cartwright, Simonsson, Opacic) those are were good, exceeded expectations or were downright excellent. Those were also MON/Sarantinos involved, no?
The likes of De Belin, Kelly, MOrgan Harper are depth signings. If you bring them as players who play every week then you're in trouble. How De Belin is currently used is completely OK, not a failure.
Pezet has been disappointing, only one I think we maybe should've just gave Joash the reigns.
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