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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Randy Handlinger replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Official Club Statement: Parramatta Eels commence legal proceedings against Zac Lomax
"That would put Melb in a dicey spot...but they will give no fucks as the NRL gives them a free pass"
6 minutes ago
macybrown replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Official Club Statement: Parramatta Eels commence legal proceedings against Zac Lomax
"Puts Clint in a dicey posi if we are to believe V’landys call on that tho. No way would his manager not have something lined up to ask for release waaay back in July. And that wouldn't be ideal for Clint to be shown to having sorted either. wouldn't…"
16 minutes ago
macybrown replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Official Club Statement: Parramatta Eels commence legal proceedings against Zac Lomax
"Tough, he took the chance and if he was asking for a release back in July R360 "mirage" was more uncertain for him than months later. Still despite terms he continued on with his release request. Just wanted out of his contract no matter what by…"
22 minutes ago
Randy Handlinger replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Official Club Statement: Parramatta Eels commence legal proceedings against Zac Lomax
"nrl have stated any manager dealing with R360 is shown the door....just more Vlandys blather"
22 minutes ago
Strange-eel replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Official Club Statement: Parramatta Eels commence legal proceedings against Zac Lomax
"What was the suspension for?
 "
30 minutes ago
macybrown replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Official Club Statement: Parramatta Eels commence legal proceedings against Zac Lomax
"Thanks all!
was just a bit concerned that according to this article, that's the basis of his argument.
love Moses' word used that him wanting to re-enter the nrl under the circumstances appears to be bit of a 'mirage', guess we can go about showing…"
38 minutes ago
Randy Handlinger replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Official Club Statement: Parramatta Eels commence legal proceedings against Zac Lomax
"Stop it...I'm getting a chubby"
50 minutes ago
The Badger replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Official Club Statement: Parramatta Eels commence legal proceedings against Zac Lomax
"Please mythical sky fairy, let there be clear evidence of player tampering etc from these subpoenas. Something exposing collusion between Storm and NRLHQ about the whole thing would also be great."
55 minutes ago
Perpetual Motion replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Official Club Statement: Parramatta Eels commence legal proceedings against Zac Lomax
"If he lied and planned to join Melbourne all along he should be excluded from the NRL for the next 3 years."
1 hour ago
Perpetual Motion replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Official Club Statement: Parramatta Eels commence legal proceedings against Zac Lomax
"From what Ive read it only hit 450k with an ARU top up and they refused to come to the party. The average SR player earns significantly less then the equivalent NRL player in Australia."
1 hour ago
mongolian trotting duck replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Official Club Statement: Parramatta Eels commence legal proceedings against Zac Lomax
"one would not think so as he clearly understood the terms of release"
1 hour ago
Muttman replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Official Club Statement: Parramatta Eels commence legal proceedings against Zac Lomax
"No, I think his argument for restraint of trade is extremly weak."
1 hour ago
Randy Handlinger replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Official Club Statement: Parramatta Eels commence legal proceedings against Zac Lomax
"Of course it is Civil, but depending what has transpired it is possible that new matters come to light that change that. We are going hard at this. Who knows where it ends?"
1 hour ago
LB replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Official Club Statement: Parramatta Eels commence legal proceedings against Zac Lomax
"So we got voted in top 4 of clubs want to play for. Yet cannot sign players to save our lives haha."
1 hour ago
Randy Handlinger replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Official Club Statement: Parramatta Eels commence legal proceedings against Zac Lomax
"Looks like our club knows what happened. They just have to prove it was organised. Not easy, but Zac may have left a trail. text kills
 "
1 hour ago
Adam Magrath replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Official Club Statement: Parramatta Eels commence legal proceedings against Zac Lomax
"To my thinking, simply adhering to your contract is a restraint of trade. That's sort of the idea. By releasing him we afforded him more freedom than what he had before, the only proviso being he couldn't join one of our competitors."
1 hour 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: 1958

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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Views: 262

 

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