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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JC replied to Eli Stephens's discussion 3,2,1 😊😊
"Sorry but moses has been way below average this season. He won us the game in the end but we wete only in it because of volkman. "
1 hour ago
Perpetual Motion replied to Eli Stephens's discussion 3,2,1 😊😊
"The Ibis (249m)
The Volkinator
Mataele.
Kelly played his best game for us so far."
1 hour ago
Yehez replied to Eli Stephens's discussion 3,2,1 😊😊
"Might be overrating his performance but yeah 80 mins of consistency is quite impressive for me. "
1 hour ago
TolEllts replied to Eli Stephens's discussion 3,2,1 😊😊
"3 Samrani
2 Volkman
1 TDS, Fox, Kelly"
2 hours ago
KENDOZA replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R10 v Cowboys: The Townsville Graveyard (Eels upset Cows in 33-30 Golden Point Thriller)
"We look so much better with da silva starting more energy. Volkman its his 6 jersey until the end of the season. I certainly wasn't expecting this. Once longi comes back we will be even better, but rylesy will have to make some tough selection calls…"
2 hours ago
Michael W. replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R10 v Cowboys: The Townsville Graveyard (Eels upset Cows in 33-30 Golden Point Thriller)
"The most entertaining aspect of the game tonight was reading all the shit from the pre ejaculaters. They really make themselves look stupid. It looks like they don't realise a game goes for 80mins, not 20, 40 or 60. Calls to sack certain players,…"
2 hours ago
EA replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R10 v Cowboys: The Townsville Graveyard (Eels upset Cows in 33-30 Golden Point Thriller)
"thanks"
2 hours ago
Richard Jackson replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R10 v Cowboys: The Townsville Graveyard (Eels upset Cows in 33-30 Golden Point Thriller)
"Oh my beautiful boys. No one gave us a chance, and even when we won some said we only won because of the number of errors the Cows made. Bullshit the pressure we put on them caused them to drop the ball and made them very uncomfortable, creating…"
2 hours ago
LB replied to Eli Stephens's discussion 3,2,1 😊😊
"Da Silva did his job, first time he played 80mins in NRL. He was great to start, held back with fatigue then had a nice run with split markers that connected with Moses in the lead up to Samrani's try."
2 hours ago
LB replied to Eli Stephens's discussion 3,2,1 😊😊
"It seems him getting 2 more NRL games then going back to cup and dominating has raised his confidence."
2 hours ago
LB replied to Eli Stephens's discussion 3,2,1 😊😊
"3 - Ronald McDonald
2 - Samrani
1 - Mataele"
2 hours ago
Alfred Mateo replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R10 v Cowboys: The Townsville Graveyard (Eels upset Cows in 33-30 Golden Point Thriller)
"How good is the fox!! Not just a finisher-he is full of spirit and belief-as is Joash"
2 hours ago
Gucci replied to Eli Stephens's discussion 3,2,1 😊😊
"3. Moses - without him we don't win that game.
2. Volkman - just needs to be better in defence.
1. Mataele - this guy will only get better with more first grade. Bends the line. Finds his front. Heaps of post contact meters."
2 hours ago
Parra_Greg replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R10 v Cowboys: The Townsville Graveyard (Eels upset Cows in 33-30 Golden Point Thriller)
"well maybe a win for Chris Phelan....I met him on the hill at Penrith park when I was 11 ...he had a broken arm but still signed his name with his hand on a piece of paper for me .......rest well sir ........"
3 hours ago
Snottie Pimpin replied to Eli Stephens's discussion 3,2,1 😊😊
"Kelly looked much better defending without Villiami .
3- TDS
2- Samrani 
1- Junior "
3 hours ago
Richard Jackson replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R10 v Cowboys: The Townsville Graveyard (Eels upset Cows in 33-30 Golden Point Thriller)
"He's terrific macy"
3 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
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