{"id":921173,"date":"2026-10-08T23:26:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T23:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/921173\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T23:26:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T23:26:16","slug":"eels-land-big-fish-hours-after-prized-signing-upton-creates-broncos-history-daily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/921173\/","title":{"rendered":"Eels land big fish hours after prized signing; Upton creates Broncos history \u2014 Daily"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Just hours after a significant player signing, the Parramatta Eels have announced a key off-field addition to the club with new CEO Mike Rush landing the top job.<\/p>\n<p>Watch Australia\u2019s Tour of South Africa Live &amp; Exclusive on Fox Cricket, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/en-AU\/welcome\/cricket?extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkcricket-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-cri-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Rush was the former boss at English Super League giants St Helens and he\u2019s replaced Jim Sarantinos at the Eels, who was the club\u2019s chief executive for 10 years before stepping down at the end of the 2026 season. <\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791501976_298_poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>WHAT&#8217;S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n<p>It comes after the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-spencer-leniu-released-by-sydney-roosters-to-sign-with-parramatta-eels-new-contract-details\/news-story\/362076a5cd714f749f7fcbaa56bed762\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Eels secured four-time premiership winner Spencer Leniu who announced a four-year deal at the club <\/a>just days after winning the Grand Final with the Roosters on Sunday. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to have Spencer join the Parramatta Eels and become part of what we\u2019re building at this club. He\u2019s one of the elite middle forwards in the game and has consistently performed on the biggest stages throughout his career,\u201d Eels general manager of football Mark O\u2019Neill said via the club-issued statement.<\/p>\n<p>V&#8217;landys vows to protect PNG Chiefs | 00:46<\/p>\n<p>The Eels had tried to lure Penrith chief executive back to the club but were unsuccessful and they\u2019re also trying to convince Knights head of recruitment Peter O\u2019Sullivan to join the club.<\/p>\n<p>Before Rush stepped down as boss at St Helens in February after 13 years in the role, he oversaw five premierships, including four in a row between 2019 and 2002 when Justin Holbrook and Kristian Woolf were head coaches. <\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s no doubt Rush and Eels coach Jason Ryles will get along.<\/p>\n<p>Rush was once keen to get Ryles to St Helens to coach the side.<\/p>\n<p>Rush faces one of the biggest jobs in Australian sport.<\/p>\n<p>The Eels haven\u2019t won a first grade title since 1986 and have been down and out since losing the 2022 Grand Final to bitter rivals Penrith.<\/p>\n<p>Watson&#8217;s premiership ring disaster | 00:25<\/p>\n<p>Securing the services of O\u2019Sullivan would also be a massive boost for the club.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s recognised as the best recruitment guru in the game and the Eels have one of the biggest junior leagues in the world, but have lost plenty of local talent over the years. <\/p>\n<p>The Eels are in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-brisbane-broncos-consider-surprise-captaincy-replacement-for-adam-reynolds-rocco-berry-signs-new-deal-with-warriors\/news-story\/6e64b62678bfe1239fbe4d9950da4846\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">a battle with the Knights and Broncos<\/a> to get their man. <\/p>\n<p>UPTON MAKES HISTORY<\/p>\n<p>Brisbane Broncos fullback Tamika Upton has become the first player to claim back-to-back Broncos NRLW Player of the Year honours.<\/p>\n<p>The 29-year-old capped another outstanding campaign by securing the club\u2019s highest individual NRLW honour while also claiming the Players\u2019 Player and Best Back awards.<\/p>\n<p>Chelsea Lenarduzzi was named Best Forward, while Lauren Dam received the Most Consistent award and Georgia Bartlett was recognised as Rookie of the Year.<\/p>\n<p>The evening also featured a special announcement honouring inaugural Broncos NRLW captain Ali Brigginshaw, with the Broncos announcing the NRLW Player of the Year award will be named the Ali Brigginshaw Medal from 2027.<\/p>\n<p>The retiring Brigginshaw also received the Broncos Community Service Award in recognition of her contribution off the field.<\/p>\n<p>Tedesco, Walsh battle for fullback | 02:00<\/p>\n<p>2026 Brisbane Broncos NRLW award winners:<\/p>\n<p>Player of the Year: Tamika Upton<\/p>\n<p>Players\u2019 Player: Tamika Upton<\/p>\n<p>Best Back: Tamika Upton<\/p>\n<p>Best Forward: Chelsea Lenarduzzi<\/p>\n<p>Most Consistent: Lauren Dam<\/p>\n<p>Rookie of the Year: Georgia Bartlett<\/p>\n<p>Play of the Year: Tamika Upton and Chelsea Lenarduzzi \u2013 Round 3 tap-back try<\/p>\n<p>Broncos Community Service Award: Ali Brigginshaw<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just hours after a significant player signing, the Parramatta Eels have announced a key off-field addition to the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":921174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-921173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921173","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=921173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/921174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=921173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=921173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=921173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}