{"id":190294,"date":"2025-12-18T17:03:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T17:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/190294\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T17:03:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T17:03:20","slug":"former-blues-forward-to-reignite-spark-with-eels-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/190294\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Blues forward to reignite spark with Eels &#8211; NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">Ryan Matterson&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/nrl\/teams\/parramatta-eels\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Parramatta Eels<\/a> career appeared all but over just five months ago, but the experienced forward is now firmly back in the frame for a major role in 2026 after repairing his relationship with the club.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Matterson was granted an immediate release in late July and linked up with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/super-league\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Super League<\/a> outfit Warrington, seemingly bringing a premature end to his time in blue and gold.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">However, following a heart-to-heart discussion with new Eels coach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/coaches\/jason-ryles\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jason Ryles<\/a>, the 31-year-old has returned to the Eels and impressed during the early stages of pre-season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The back-rower made just four appearances off the bench during Ryles&#8217; maiden season in charge last year, but those close to the club believe Matterson is now \u201ca man reborn\u201d after committing himself fully to the program.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cThey mended fences and agreed to start afresh,\u201d an Eels source told Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-219888\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" alt=\"Parramatta Eels Training\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" data-lazy- data-lazy- data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AB3I7356_e-scaled.jpg.webp.webp\"\/>Ryan Matterson. (Photo by Joshua Davis\/Zero Digital Sports)<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Ryles has since backed Matterson to play a leadership role within the squad, with the former Origin forward understood to be standing out at training and embracing a renewed senior presence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cRyan is a senior player now and still has a lot of good footy in him,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cHe is set for a big season.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">An Eels junior, Matterson captained the club&#8217;s NYC side in 2014 before stints with the Roosters and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/nrl\/teams\/wests-tigers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wests Tigers<\/a>, returning to Parramatta in 2020.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">He went on to represent New South Wales in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/state-of-origin\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">State of Origin<\/a> two years later, cementing himself as one of the competition&#8217;s premier edge forwards.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">With Parramatta losing experienced players in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/players\/shaun-lane\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Shaun Lane<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/players\/brendan-hands\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Brendan Hands<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/players\/wiremu-greig\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wiremu Greig<\/a>, Matterson&#8217;s return from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/super-league\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Super League<\/a> looms as a timely boost for the club as they reshape their pack for 2026.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">If his early pre-season form is any indication, the Eels may yet reap the rewards of a reunion that once looked impossible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ryan Matterson&#8217;s Parramatta Eels career appeared all but over just five months ago, but the experienced forward is&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190295,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":{"0":"post-190294","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-newzealand","10":"tag-nz","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}