Eels skipper Mitchell Moses hopes last week\u2019s thumping at the hands of the Storm was simply a \u201cblip on the radar\u201d, but concedes a few of his teammates may have gotten a bit ahead of themselves after a dominant pre-season.<\/p>\n
Parramatta had a similarly poor start in Melbourne last year under rookie coach Jason Ryles but won four of their final five matches and then claimed the pre-season trophy to make them the popular pick to shoot up the table.<\/p>\n
But the hype has come to a grinding halt after they lost 52-4 to a red-hot Storm side where they made 14 errors and missed 44 tackles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope it\u2019s a blip on the radar,\u201d Moses said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe a few of us got a bit ahead of ourselves so it was a bit of a reality check.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe set a high standard in the pre-season and we didn\u2019t follow that, so we need to fix it up.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is round one, but there were a things there that weren\u2019t up to our standard. We set a high standard for ourselves in the pre-season, and that wasn\u2019t up to standard (against Melbourne).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hurt ourselves on the weekend, we didn\u2019t complete high and we didn\u2019t get into the footy that we like to play. I think we did that for about five minutes in that game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a bit of a reality check for us. We\u2019ve got a young squad so we\u2019ve got to bounce back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moses said the shackles had been off at the back end of the 2025 campaign which allowed them to play so freely, but he reminded his team that stuff like that simply doesn\u2019t happen again and that they need to work even harder this year. <\/p>\n
They face a daunting trip to Brisbane to take on the defending premiers who are under the microscope after they were held scoreless against Penrith last week.<\/p>\n
Parramatta had a shock win over the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium last year with winger Zac Lomax scoring a double in the two-point victory.<\/p>\n
But he\u2019s no longer in the NRL after he signed with Super Rugby side the Western Force on Monday following a messy split from the Eels that saw his bid to join the Storm blocked in the Supreme Court last week.<\/p>\n
Eels coach Jason Ryles is glad the ordeal is over after Lomax was granted a release from his contract just 12 months into a four-year deal under the assumption that he would join rebel competition R360.<\/p>\n
But that competition has been pushed back to 2028 which resulted in the Storm going after him, but the Eels had all the power with Lomax agreeing to a clause in his release that blocked him from signing with a rival NRL club unless Parramatta gave him their consent. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe best thing is that there\u2019s been an outcome and he gets to play footy again,\u201d Ryles said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn behalf of the club, we wish him all the best. He\u2019s a good person and we only want to see what\u2019s best for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can all move on now.\u201d<\/p>\n