Ashes Third Test, Headingley

Australia lead the series 1-0 after winning the first Test at Edgbaston and drawing at Lord's.

The Aussies will be without former captain and the best batsman in the world after Steve Smith was ruled out with concussion following a Jofra Archer bouncer that struck him on the neck in his first innings at Lord's.

Marnus Labuschagne is expected to fill Smith's spot like he did at Lord's when he entered the fray as Test cricket's first ever concussion substitute where he scored an admirable 59 runs, helping to steer Australia to a draw on the final day.

It's expected that Peter Siddle will drop out of the side to allow for the return of James Pattinson who was rested for the second Test. Mitchell Starc seems destined to remain on drinks duty.

England meanwhile are expected to name an unchanged 11 although they may tinker with the make up of the batting order. Joe Root has struggled at first drop, while Jason Roy has failed to make the switch from opening in the ODI team to becoming a Test opener. Root is expected to move down to four with Joe Denly jumping into the number three position.

Many are talking about the effect of Jofra Archer's entry into Test cricket. Interestingly, his debut performance lands him as just the 312th best bowler on debut with overall figures of 5/91. He need only look across at his opponents in Pat Cummins (7/117) and Josh Hazlewood (7/142) who had better debut figures.

The Headingley pitch is rumoured to be a slow deck that will crumble and break up towards the end of the match. An interesting decision by the ground staff there given Australia's Nathan Lyon has been collecting wickets for fun and spun the English into knots in the first Test.

As always the toss will be important and Tim Paine will be hoping his luck continues. This will likely be a bat first pitch because no one will be looking to bat last on a decaying deck.

Play starts at 8pm AEST tonight so get your picture-in-picture going or set up a second screen to make sure you don't miss the first ball while watching the Eels belt the Dogs.

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The Captain replied to SuperEel 22's discussion Spagnolo launches another campaign to undermine the club
"A good and healthy club constitution allows all members (even stupid ones) to have a voice and a pathway to challenge the status quo.
Ironically these freedoms of good governance are what Spags wants to remove so he can more easily get control and…"
13 minutes ago
The Captain replied to SuperEel 22's discussion Spagnolo launches another campaign to undermine the club
"He has also shown he's perfectly okay with trying to rig and cheat things. We all need to treat every vote as stacked against us because he will stop at nothing to destroy the club out of revenge - he hates seeing it do well and in great financial…"
17 minutes ago
The Captain replied to SuperEel 22's discussion Spagnolo launches another campaign to undermine the club
"Roy is really trying to fill up his Wikipedia page with failure at a rapid rate.
Just in case anyone ever considers anything that Spags says, just remember this is a man who has had:

30 instances of alleged financial misconduct during his time at…"
20 minutes ago
The Captain replied to SuperEel 22's discussion Spagnolo launches another campaign to undermine the club
"Great that you've joined this year! Keep the membership up and you'll have voting rights in no time and can help us keep these morons at bay. 😁
The more members with brains and logic, the better! Thankfully all the recent votes show we have many…"
29 minutes ago
LB replied to EA's discussion Eels Announce Junior Teams
"And I think signing De Belin and Doorey again has led to the likes of Talagi, Funa-Iuta, Koina even Tuivaiti and Guymer to take their time to develop further, particularly the likes of the first two to have no rush in playing NRL anytime soon. For…"
1 hour ago
Bob Smith replied to Eli Stephens's discussion Update on Lomax situation
"This contravenes code of conduct number 5."
8 hours ago
Bob Smith replied to Eli Stephens's discussion Update on Lomax situation
"This contravenes Guideline 4: sexist. "
8 hours ago
Clintorian replied to Eli Stephens's discussion Update on Lomax situation
"No doubts about it. Hopefully this will make clubs second this before trying this with us again thinking we'll just rollover."
11 hours ago
Coryn Hughes replied to EA's discussion Eels Announce Junior Teams
"21-23 is the age I want to see if the club can retain the key to this crop of kids.
Thats for the most part where the bell toll's mentally and physically for these kids.
We just have to keep stacking the talent and identifying the next group…"
12 hours ago
Randy Handlinger replied to Eli Stephens's discussion Update on Lomax situation
"2 more, better articles.
This one highlights the potholes we face.
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/zac-lomax-and-parramatta-are-headi...
This one from an HR perspective, with better framing for us…"
13 hours ago
The Badger replied to EA's discussion Eels Announce Junior Teams
"Thanks for that."
13 hours ago
EA replied to EA's discussion Eels Announce Junior Teams
"Talagi is the only player their with NSW Cup experience and he also had the NRL pre-season this year but I believe our forward depth is too strong right now (in Cup and Flegg) anyway so I doubt he would be needed. So that would rule out the full…"
13 hours ago
EA replied to EA's discussion Eels Announce Junior Teams
"He was very good at centre last year in HM."
14 hours ago
EA replied to EA's discussion Eels Announce Junior Teams
"I think so"
14 hours ago
Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐 replied to EA's discussion Eels Announce Junior Teams
"Vella, is he Michael Vella's son ?
 "
14 hours ago
The Badger replied to EA's discussion Eels Announce Junior Teams
"Looking forward to your in depth blog about these guys.
Quick question, are any of them good enough to skip a few grades and potentially be playing firsts towards end of year?"
14 hours ago
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Keaon done deal

As of Thursday, December 11, 2025, South Sydney Rabbitohs forwardKeaon Koloamatangi has reportedly agreed to a deal with the Parramatta Eels, but it is not yet officially announced by the clubs.  Soon to be announced.

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14 Replies · Reply by Poppa Jan 9
Views: 1999

ANY MORE SIGNINGS???

I've been frustrated recently about the work we have been doing in the open market. Jonah's alright for a year and JDB is solid but he's getting old. I feel we need more in the forwards and some a replacement outside back. All I have seen is links…

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0 Replies
Views: 281

 

Eels Announce Junior Teams

Harrold MatthewsAli SabraCaleb Leiataua Curtis BrownDanny AbuhamedDeon HayesDivine TaulafoElijah Al HazimFlynn Manu'aHayden BellJake CapovillaJayden TapuaiKhan JacksonLeonard SlaterLevi PerretLiam MartinLorima SeuseuNixon O'ConnorRiley PakiSala…

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9 Replies · Reply by LB 1 hour ago
Views: 559

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