Rumours and Stuff

[Eelementary]

By the way, guys - I apologise if it seems like I am dismissing your concerns.

I am not trying to do that - you are right to be concerned.

I think 2026 might be a tough year, but I still think we can scrape into the 8.

But O'Neill, and his team, need to pull their heads out, and move heaven, and earth, to give Ryles the team he wants.

 

[AnonymousLurker]

In my humble opinion, we haven't had a coach with a clear vision for the club since the Brian Smith days.

Arthur did a good job of steadying the ship, but his game plans quickly became outdated.

Kearney...I won't go into that debacle.

Anderson didn't get enough time.

Stuart never gave a shit about us.

Hagan...only won a Premiership because he had the GOAT at 7 at Newey. He single-handedly set back our junior programmes years.

For the first time in almost 2 decades, we have a coach with a clear vision.

I'm willing to give the guy time.

I personally agree with you and I feel how the club is moving forward and operating is through his influence .

I think the whinging is getting overboard and I believe the club is really drilling down the exact type of player for each position they want to recruit externally which may delay in recruiting outside backs.

Takes a while to fix up organisations doesn’t happen overnight plus we are competing against 17 other clubs who have NOT had an administrator appointed. I think to this day it affects how our club operates and what actions they take

 

[JokerEel]

I don't think it's THE reason, but I surely suspect it is A reason - I would think a number of players would rather go play under Bellamy, Bennett, Flanagan, Cleary, etc., over a coach with fewer than 30 games of experience under his belt.

I doubt the media will criticise Ryles until he either screws up majorly, or has more experience under his belt.

Player managers will never criticise a coach - it's bad business to criticise a potential landing destination for your client.

I think Ryles' resume speaks for itself, and he is highly-regarded by many people - but he hasn't achieved anything meaningful as a coach as yet.

I have no doubt that the office is an issue, and needs a change, but I'm sure that once Ryles shows the world that he is a very good coach, all of a sudden, the calibre of players that want to join us will increase.

Who wouldn't want to get coached by them though.
Flanno isn't a coach players would take a pay cut to play for. KK would be on more than the 1.1 to leave Souths to play for him..

 

[Eelementary]

I personally agree with you and I feel how the club is moving forward and operating is through his influence .

I think the whinging is getting overboard and I believe the club is really drilling down the exact type of player for each position they want to recruit externally which may delay in recruiting outside backs.

Takes a while to fix up organisations doesn’t happen overnight plus we are competing against 17 other clubs who have NOT had an administrator appointed. I think to this day it affects how our club operates and what actions the take

Phil Gould famously once said that rebuilding a club takes at least 4 years.

We spent almost a decade cleaning up the mess after Hagan destroyed our juniors.

We have to give Ryles time.

I think he showed in 2025 that he can coach - we looked really sharp, and we weren't lacking in effort.

 

[Eelementary]

Who wouldn't want to get coached by them though.
Flanno isn't a coach players would take a pay cut to play for. KK would be on more than the 1.1 to leave Souths to play for him..

Good points.

I couldn't think of other, more experienced coaches off the top of my head.

I think that with Ryles being an unknown quality, and established player may see joining him as more of a risk, thank joining an established coach.

 

[Lemon Squash]

How does a club our size and financially strong, end up with Tago as next man up. To be honest the fans that provide support to the club must shake their heads at the GM and List Manager that they weren’t on the front foot even for backs with Lomax under contract. That was discussed across this site numerous times and yet nothing, then the club releases the only rep quality outside back.

Sure we signed a few players that got coached up, but for a professional rugby league club, we seem impotent to get rep level players. Until the media or interviewers actually ask the questions and get answers that seem obvious, then more of the same .

100% it shouldn’t have come to this.

We had to let Lomax go, there was no point keeping him around if he didn’t want to be here BUT there should have been a specific plan in place to cover him.

It’s left us desperate in a position we were already short in. We buy Kelly and yes he adds to depth but I don’t think he’s any better that what we already have.

 

[Eelementary]

100% it shouldn’t have come to this.

We had to let Lomax go, there was no point keeping him around if he didn’t want to be here BUT there should have been a specific plan in place to cover him.

It’s left us desperate in a position we were already short in. We buy Kelly and yes he adds to depth but I don’t think he’s any better that what we already have.

I think the big thing with Kelly is that, unlike Richard Penisini, Araz Nanva, and Jordan Samrani, Kelly has experience, so he's a "safer" player to run in the team.

Jake Tago has huge flaws in his game, but one thing he does well is returning the ball - but I would still hate to have him as our starting winger.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I doubt we have anyone at the club that is anywhere near a Folau. Not even close to John...

I would be less annoyed at our recruitment if we had 2-3 outside backs in Flegg this year but we don't.

How many quality outside backs play more than a handful of games in Flegg? The best ones are at least playing reserve grade while still eligible for SG Ball. For context, Renisini and Nanva were both eligible for Flegg this year, but were far too good (9 games for 7 tries between them). Instead they combined for 34 reserve grade games. Richard Penisini is eligible for Flegg again next year.

If you're looking for quality outside backs in Flegg, you need to look for the very young ones who haven't yet filled out enough to play against grown men. Lorima Rokosuka is 18 this year (so eligible for SG Ball again in 2026) and scored 6 tries in 6 Flegg games. Otherwise look at Harold Matts. The best outside backs there are 17 and could be playing NRL next year. As an extreme example, Sua’ali’i last played Harold Matts as a 16 year old then made his NRL debut two years later.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

That's just a lazy excuse

Yeah we risked getting caught for dodgy TPAs for the fun of it, not because they offered any benefit.

 

[Noise]

If we are pinning our outside back hopes on Renisini and Nanva then we are in even more dire straits then I thought. It’s embarrassing

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Phil Gould famously once said that rebuilding a club takes at least 4 years.

We spent almost a decade cleaning up the mess after Hagan destroyed our juniors.

We have to give Ryles time.

I think he showed in 2025 that he can coach - we looked really sharp, and we weren't lacking in effort.

We've had a full football staff since 2019, precisely so we don't have to rely on an overworked head coach to run everything. Our pathways are in great shape, as evidenced by all the hysteria over losing quality youngsters in recent years. If the pathways weren't working, we wouldn't be losing anyone we gave a shit about. Ryles has good support from the front office. He just needs to focus on the NRL team.

 

[Eelementary]

If we are pinning our outside back hopes on Renisini and Nanva then we are in even more dire straits then I thought. It’s embarrassing

For a year, or two, while a suitable replacement for Lomax is found, what is the harm, though?

Richard Penisini is not a generational talent, but his biggest issue has been that he's made of glass - he's not lacking in ability.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

100% it shouldn’t have come to this.

We had to let Lomax go, there was no point keeping him around if he didn’t want to be here BUT there should have been a specific plan in place to cover him.

It’s left us desperate in a position we were already short in. We buy Kelly and yes he adds to depth but I don’t think he’s any better that what we already have.

To get a Lomax-level outside back for 2026 would have required us to be in the market very early this year. As an example, we announced Lomax in April 2024. So, being in the market for a Lomax replacement would have required us to know he was leaving shortly after he started playing for us. It's an unrealistic expectation, and demanding a scapegoat is lazy and childish. The only one to blame here is Lomax, who made his position at the club untenable, long after we would have been able to sign a replacement.

 

[Soto]

Im more optimistic than most for 2026.
The way we finished gave me lots of hope.
There was buy in, there was connection, there was a tonne of improvement almost by everyone.
Players who hadn't even played 1 game of NRL.
We had shitloads of injuries, played alot of the season without Moses.
We had to develop and implement new styles, systems, techniques, combos and with alot of new players whilst washing out the bad from the previous regime...
I firmly believe Ryles knows what he's doing.
Im tipping us to be back in the semis.
If the above doesn't give you that hope then just wait and see us go in 26.
Happy new year all fellow eels die-hards.
Til next yr

 

[Noise]

For a year, or two, while a suitable replacement for Lomax is found, what is the harm, though?

Richard Penisini is not a generational talent, but his biggest issue has been that he's made of glass - he's not lacking in ability.

The harm is we are wasting time while we have a top level halfback who will start going further downhill with injuries as years go by

Also we are not exactly a desirable destination for top talent. Plugging our side with reserve graders will ensure we remain outside the 8 making it even harder to attract top talent.

 

[85 Baby]

If we are pinning our outside back hopes on Renisini and Nanva then we are in even more dire straits then I thought. It’s embarrassing

Do you think we could get money for nothing?

 

[Noise]

Do you think we could get money for nothing?

Not sure. But we are definitely so far away from a premiership

 

[Gary Gutful]

To get a Lomax-level outside back for 2026 would have required us to be in the market very early this year. As an example, we announced Lomax in April 2024. So, being in the market for a Lomax replacement would have required us to know he was leaving shortly after he started playing for us. It's an unrealistic expectation, and demanding a scapegoat is lazy and childish. The only one to blame here is Lomax, who made his position at the club untenable, long after we would have been able to sign a replacement.

Lomax would be better off doing MMA or boxing. He is too much of a selfish merkin to play a team sport.

 

[Gary Gutful]

If we are pinning our outside back hopes on Renisini and Nanva then we are in even more dire straits then I thought. It’s embarrassing

They are the sultans of wing.

 

[Eelementary]

The harm is we are wasting time while we have a top level halfback who will start going further downhill with injuries as years go by

Also we are not exactly a desirable destination for top talent. Plugging our side with reserve graders will ensure we remain outside the 8 making it even harder to attract top talent.

But what if we make the Finals with the reserve graders?

Won't that show that maybe it's not all bad at Parramatta?

I don't disagree that we need more better quality players.