Currently the Eels sit in 14th position but could have been higher if they would have beaten the Bunnies. Last year they finished in 15th position. There are 3 more rounds left and they play Roosters at home, Warriors away and lastly Knights at home. I honestly can only see them winning 1 of them. This would put them on 22 Points. The teams below them are:
Rabbits: play Dragons, Bye, Roosters
Knights: play Broncos, Sharks, Eels
Titans: play Warriors, Dolphins, Raiders
I reckon the Eels will finish in 14th spot which is one better than last year. Nothing to get excited about
Replies
Isn't the question to ask here: where is the improvement for the Eels?
The Eels have rejuvenated their pack. We are definitely seeing our backrowers be involved in more tackle breaks and line breaks on the edges. And there is a clear plan to use interchange passing in the middle to move the opposition around. But the Eels' support play and finishing from middle/edge breaks is poor. What if support play + finishing improves? Better conversion of chances to points?
The Eels have ditched the up-and-in of BA and operate with a flatter defence. Less running around the Eels has resulted. But the team struggles to defend in their red zone and are often breached in either the centrres or the very middle. What if that improves? Better able to absorb pressure and concede less points? Joining the finishing and defending points, do the Eels lack strike centres? Would strike centres fix both problems?
The Eels are error prone. What if they improved that? Better completion rates and better territory? Stay in the grind longer, especially against top teams (faded in final 30 multiple times in 2025)?
Arguably the the Eels have improved their spine at hooker and fullback. Nothing against Gutho but Iongi has been mostly good, and Ryley Smith has been excellent. Add Moses and the Eels look OK going forward in the spine. But losing an international 5/8 is still a loss, no matter how much it remains true brown never really 'stood up' as he promised. Papalii at #6 does not (currently) dig into the line enough, defenders slide out, and Papalii is sending hospital cut out passes. Oppositions will note this and plan accordingly. What if Papalii improves? No Top 8 team has a #6 that is a 'weak link', so Papalii has to improve enough to the point where he is commanding the spot? Can that happen? Or do the Eels need to keep searching? For how long can they afford to keep searching?
Brilliant, Daz.
It’s a weak-list sport and cohesion is a major weakness for newly built teams. Another off-season together should improve some fundamentals like ball control & support play.
Sorting the six is critical. Even once that’s done, combinations will still take time to develop.
Other Fundamentals need work. First, kick chases. They’re better than they used to be (less staggered) but still too often on autopilot, giving the opposition an extra 10-20m of yardage. Second, slowing the ruck and wrestling. At their peak, the Panthers were masters here. They’d pin sides in their red zone, hold up and push back runners, slow the ball, the attack, and reset their defence. Winning those moments build pressure, and pressure wins games.
A bit more punch in the pack would help too. JDB and a fitter, improving Big Sam are positives, but I still think we need another middle and backrower. Guymer offers great depth and can play in the middle. Tuilagi has some skills and can play with gusto at times, but he’s error-prone, drifts in and out of games, and has defensive frailties. Either Latu steps up, or we recruit a more reliable backrower to fix the now.
We’ll have plenty of cap space by 2027. Once Matto, Lane, Hands, and Simmo’s money (and any freight) clears. I reckon we’re about $3m behind atm. Ryles and the club have essentially admitted there are roster holes.
Given all the changes and band-aids Ryles has ripped off at Formula-one-speeds, it’s a minor miracle we aren’t dead last.
Pleasingly, Ryles has kept the side up for long stretches after a disastrous start. That's something BA’s Jeckyll-Hyde teams never managed where we’d perform well for a week or two and then get belted. It was a theme.
Yes, last week, Souths wanted it more and won the loose ball. We were mentally down. But overall resilience is there. Without resilience, the team is doomed. With it, there’s hope. It’s early days, I'm no fortune teller and there are holes to plug, but the foundation and culture is being laid.
The average improvement for a new coach in their first season in the NRL era is 1 win compared to the previous season. There's every chance we end up with 2 more wins to finish the year which would put us slightly ahead of the curve.
Nah, we'll finish maybe 1 spot better than Trent Barrett and a sacked coach did. I think we are just better off letting sleeping dogs lie as it's no great feat to improve on lol.
Forget the comparisons and pretend this year or last year ever happened.
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
of 4 Next