Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/p>\nEels coach Jason Ryles is trying to turn around a brutal start, but now has a badly depleted roster.Source: The Courier Mail<\/p>\n
AN INSURMOUNTABLE INJURY WARD<\/p>\n
Never mind premierships; which for the Eels, has been a painful 40-year state of being. You need luck with injuries just to survive in the NRL, and Parramatta\u2019s luck has gone directly to hell this season.<\/p>\n
This is the current casualty ward.<\/p>\n
J\u2019maine Hopgood, ACL, next season; Matt Doorey, ACL, next season; Bailey Simonsson, ankle, TBC; Isaiah Iongi, syndesmosis, Round 13; Jonah Pezet, hamstring, Round 13; Apa Twidle, AC joint, Round 15; Jordan Samrani, knee, Round 13; Richard Penisini, knee, Round 8; Kitione Kautoga, MCL, Round 13; Sam Tuivaiti, HIA, TBC; Kelma Tuilagi, HIA, Round 8; Lincoln Fletcher, hamstring, Round 13.<\/p>\n
Half the forward pack, half the spine, and the bright new hope cruelly snuffed out in Apa Twidle.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s some glass-half-full situations, like more responsibility for young prop Luca Moretti, but plenty of others where the drinking vessel is three-quarters empty. No Eels fan was anticipating playing a Round 7 game with Joash Papalii at fullback and Ronald Volkman at five-eighth.<\/p>\n
Ryles isn\u2019t blaming injuries for the downturn but at the same time, he\u2019s addressed it as a glaring talking point. It\u2019s a slippery slope as to how much the players buy into the easy excuse.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what you don\u2019t want. You do not want players walking and having the excuse that you\u2019re down on troops,\u201d former premiership-winning half Chad Townsend said on SEN.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour season will quickly become a waste of time. There was so much work done over the summer with the new halves combination (Moses and Pezet) and the talk of Parramatta improving under a new coach. They are very deep into their roster at this early stage of the year (but) they can get their attitude right.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is where their leaders need to stand up. It will bring up the younger guys and build their confidence. When you get a win while you are down on troops, those are the best wins you can ever have.\u201d<\/p>\n
This Sunday brings a clash against the Bulldogs, who sit seventh but just stunned the seemingly invincible Penrith Panthers. If the Eels aren\u2019t careful, now that there are signs of life in Canterbury\u2019s Lachlan Galvin-led attack and with inspirational captain Stephen Crichton set to return, things may only get uglier.<\/p>\n
Isaiah Iongi is a huge injury absence for the Eels. Picture: NRL ImagerySource: Supplied<\/p>\n
THE AWKWARD PEZET SITUATION<\/p>\n
Signed from Melbourne for a single season with a three-year Broncos deal struck at the same time for 2027 onwards, Pezet was heralded as a terrific cameo recruit for the Eels in a unique win-win situation.<\/p>\n
He would get a full season as a starting half after playing back-up at the Storm, paving the way for his succession of Adam Reynolds\u2019 Brisbane No.7 jersey. Parramatta would get a sugar hit that might power them to a finals appearance, plus a stopgap while developing their younger halves.<\/p>\n
Pezet is now out until Round 13. It\u2019s a cruel blow for a wonderfully gifted player who was so patient in awaiting his opportunity at Melbourne before finally pulling the trigger on a club switch.<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old can play. He\u2019s already dominated a final game last year against the Bulldogs, then turned in a stunner as Parra beat reigning premiers Brisbane in Round 2; a game in which they still conceded 32 points but scored 40. Pezet had four try assists and scored one himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been up and down,\u201d Townsend said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought the match against the Broncos was the best game of his career. In the Melbourne Storm game in Round 1, he was targeted a lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere still needs to be more to play out for me to confidently answer that question (of whether his Eels signing has been a success).\u201d<\/p>\n
The problem is, it may be a moot point sooner rather than later. What do the Eels do if their season is completely shot by the time that Pezet returns from injury?<\/p>\n
Mitch Moses and Jonah Pezet had just one year to play together, and it\u2019s been cruelled by an early injury.Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n
That puts them in a situation akin to what happened with Brown; a young playmaker signed elsewhere, finals out of reach, and little to gain by continuing to play them.<\/p>\n
Brown, even as a New Zealand Test star and seven-year Eel, was moved to hooker then unceremoniously dumped to NSW Cup mid-season after signing with the Knights, though he was brought back for a final-round thumping of his new club.<\/p>\n
Ryles and Pezet have an existing relationship and the coach will want to do right by him, but will be well and truly eyeing survival if his second season in charge of Parramatta is also doomed to failure. The pragmatic call may well be to blood other players, those who will be around next season.<\/p>\n
Papalii was mentioned as a potential future No.6, though long-term plans are focused on Lorenzo Talataina, last season\u2019s SG Ball Player of the Year. The problem \u2014 and part of the reason Pezet was happily signed \u2014 is that Talataina is only 18, with just 12 NSW Cup appearances to his name. <\/p>\n
The Eels won\u2019t just throw him to the NRL wolves before he\u2019s ready. Ditto Lincoln Fletcher, last year\u2019s Eels SG Ball halfback as they reached the grand final, who hasn\u2019t yet played senior football and counts among the current walking wounded.<\/p>\n
That factor may keep Pezet in Ryles\u2019 NRL plans, even if this season becomes a write-off. But it is now unclear if the Broncos will receive him on his three-year deal as a fully-fledged first-grader, as was intended with the Parra pit-stop.<\/p>\n
And what of Moses in all this? <\/p>\n
Parramatta, after so many years of waiting, actually have their next Peter Sterling. Moses is a Test-calibre halfback of awesome match-winning capabilities who for all money is good enough to anchor a premiership team.<\/p>\n
But that won\u2019t happen if his team isn\u2019t any good.<\/p>\n
The Eels captain is contracted until the end of 2029, by which time he\u2019ll be 35. If he\u2019s creeping up on that age and isn\u2019t in any position to win a ring, he may get itchy feet<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From getting hammered 52-4 by Melbourne in Round 1 to copping an injury ward of horrific proportions, this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607629,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[295581,18743,240090,64,63,689,295574,295569,295567,295583,25907,47901,4579,48990,295571,295585,4603,295577,54323,295573,295572,4612,11288,84257,5330,155473,295568,295584,4449,4556,27285,295579,295565,22322,4466,22326,673,1736,677,9112,11396,4598,103825,4615,3752,295582,113642,85,183839,4546,295566,20428,295575,295576,40623,104568,295580,193758,295578,35829,295570],"class_list":{"0":"post-607628","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-acknowledged-defensive-guru","9":"tag-adam-reynolds","10":"tag-apa-twidle","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","14":"tag-awkward-problem","15":"tag-axe-reality","16":"tag-boom-halves-recruit","17":"tag-brilliant-one-year-cameo","18":"tag-canterbury","19":"tag-casualty-ward","20":"tag-chad-townsend","21":"tag-clint-gutherson","22":"tag-defensive-record","23":"tag-ditto-lincoln-fletcher","24":"tag-final-game","25":"tag-final-round-thumping","26":"tag-finals-appearance","27":"tag-glaring-talking-point","28":"tag-glass-half-full-situations","29":"tag-gold-coast-titans","30":"tag-grand-final","31":"tag-halves-combination","32":"tag-head-coach","33":"tag-injury-absence","34":"tag-injury-ward","35":"tag-insurmountable-injury-ward","36":"tag-jmaine","37":"tag-jason-ryles","38":"tag-jonah-pezet","39":"tag-leakiest-start","40":"tag-match-winning-capabilities","41":"tag-matt-doorey","42":"tag-melbourne-storm","43":"tag-mitchell-moses","44":"tag-new-south-wales","45":"tag-new-zealand","46":"tag-oceania","47":"tag-parramatta-eels","48":"tag-paul-crawley","49":"tag-penrith-panthers","50":"tag-premiership-team","51":"tag-ronald-volkman","52":"tag-rookie-season","53":"tag-rugby-league-insolvency","54":"tag-senior-football","55":"tag-sports","56":"tag-star-recruit","57":"tag-stephen-crichton","58":"tag-sugar-hit","59":"tag-superstar-halfback","60":"tag-third-most-points","61":"tag-three-quarters-empty","62":"tag-three-year-deal","63":"tag-tim-elbra","64":"tag-timeline-set","65":"tag-win-win-situation","66":"tag-worst-ever-defensive-season","67":"tag-young-playmaker","68":"tag-young-prop"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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