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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Johnny Suede replied to Blue Eel's discussion The last of the BA Era.
"Won't go to Melbourne but will end in Super League "
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Kenny Power replied to Comedian's discussion Great we won the battle but not the war
"Seriously where do people get these thoughts from. There would be criminal charges if they did such things .. with all the betting done on the game they would be goners "
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Rabz S replied to Comedian's discussion Great we won the battle but not the war
"We have enough dirt on the NRL that they would be stupid to retaliate against us now."
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The Badger replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Round 1 Team List v Melbourne Storm
"Debuted as winger last season. Not sure if he played more than off the bench though before moving to FB and 5/8."
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Pato replied to Muttman's discussion Eels win in the Supreme Court
"NRL360 suggested earlier that Melbourne offered Matterson two years with 2nd year as a club option but Matterson rejected and wanted 2 years guaranteed "
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Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐 replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Round 1 Team List v Melbourne Storm
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Joeyboyz replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Round 1 Team List v Melbourne Storm
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Blue Eel replied to Blue Eel's discussion The last of the BA Era.
"It's possible the way it's playing out. Only just turned 31 ish i think."
1 hour ago
LB replied to Blue Eel's discussion The last of the BA Era.
"He probably again feels he can get another 2-3 years of footy."
1 hour ago
Blue Eel replied to Blue Eel's discussion The last of the BA Era.
"LB, i was playing devils advocate and meant that Matterson may be thinking" I can't go medical retirement if i want another contract first". At the end of the day I dont know what he is thinking, the whole will he or won't he is bordering on…"
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Angry Eel replied to Muttman's discussion Eels win in the Supreme Court
"Don't splash the pot"
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LB replied to Blue Eel's discussion The last of the BA Era.
"Well obviously you can't medically retire if you want to play, Matto needs to agree to it. He might feel he has 2-3 years left and wants that salary."
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mongolian trotting duck replied to Blue Eel's discussion The last of the BA Era.
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macybrown replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Round 1 Team List v Melbourne Storm
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Nitram replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Round 1 Team List v Melbourne Storm
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I would have gone with samrani on the wing. Not so much because i…"
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EeLmatiC replied to Muttman's discussion Eels win in the Supreme Court
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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: 2149

 

The last of the BA Era.

 It has to be discussed dosnt it. Now that Zac can't play NRL for the next 2 years, unless the Eels are compensated, I'd like to move on and discuss the elephant in the room.By all accounts the Eels have tried just about everything in the last 2…

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16 Replies · Reply by Johnny Suede 2 minutes ago
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