Jonah Pezet declares bold plan to deliver premierships to Eels and Broncos
Former Storm star Jonah Pezet has outlined his unprecedented club-hopping strategy that could shatter Parramatta’s 40-year premiership drought before joining Brisbane.
Jonah Pezet has declared he is ready to be a dominant NRL playmaker as the former Storm whiz-kid outlined his vision to deliver premiership success to Parramatta and Brisbane.
In his first interview since quitting Melbourne, Pezet opened up about the unique playing contract that involves a 12-month cameo at the Eels this season before a more permanent move to the Broncos.
Rated one of the code’s finest emerging playmakers, Pezet spoke of his spate of goals over the next 12 to 18 months, including teaming with Eels wizard Mitchell Moses and eventually linking with Broncos premiership hero Reece Walsh.
There are concerns Pezet’s club-hopping deal could be a distraction and that the 23-year-old may struggle to mentally compartmentalise his demands at the Eels given his major move to the Broncos in 2027 on the horizon.
But Pezet insists his full focus is on the Eels and is hellbent on striking a lethal scrumbase strike force with Moses to break Parramatta’s 40-year premiership drought.
“I’m ready to take the next step in my career,” Pezet said.
The Eels are more than just a pit-stop for Pezet.
HOLY MOSES
Pezet is under no illusions about the gargantuan task ahead of him at Parramatta. The success-starved blue-and-gold army is as demanding as any supporter base in the league.
The Eels haven’t won a title since 1986 – the NRL’s longest active premiership drought – and Parramatta have burned through more than 20 halves pairings in search of the holy grail.
The Pezet-Moses combination could be the most promising fusion yet.
Moses’ class is undisputed, and Pezet said joining forces with the Eels No. 7 was a critical factor in his decision to test himself at the glamour western Sydney outfit.
“Working with Mitchell was a massive reason why I came here,” said Pezet, who will succeed Dylan Brown in the famous Eels No. 6 jumper.
“I know I want to be a first grader but I know I haven’t got all the tools and the assets yet to be a 10 out 10 NRL player or to be a rep or Origin player.
Jonah Pezet with new halves partner Mitchell Moses. Picture: Instagram
“That’s why I want to play with Mitchell.
“I want to learn from the best. I want to learn from him.
“He is right up there with the pinnacle playmakers.
“If he’s not the best halfback in the game, he is probably the second.”
Pezet said the opportunity to learn from Moses was too good to knock back.
“I know I’m not the finished product yet and I’ll be picking his brain around footy and the way he sees the game. He is very similar to me,” he said.
“We’ve had some great chats and he doesn’t feel he’s the finished product either, so we have a real motivation this year.”
THE R-EEL DEAL
The structure of Pezet’s NRL contract is a rarity.
He actually signed a three-year deal with the Broncos first, starting from 2027, before deciding on the Eels as a 12-month pit stop before he heads to the reigning NRL premiers for a new life in Queensland.
But Pezet assured Eels fans he is not treating Parramatta as a transit lounge. While insisting he will honour his Broncos deal regardless of what happens this season, Pezet is hungry for success and wants to play a leading role in engineering the Eels’ first title in four decades.
“I want to win a premiership for the Eels and that would be unreal,” said Pezet, whose father Troy played nine games for the Eels in 1998.
“The way I see it, Parra is my home right now and I’ve bought into the club totally.
“It’s nice to know my dad wore the blue and gold as well. When I signed the deal with Parra, I thought about the father-son links to the Eels and it will be special when I put the jersey on to know dad has played for this club and I’ll be doing it, too.
Jonah’s dad, Troy Pezet, played for the Eels in 1998.
“All the playing group has supported me, so there’s not too much chat about me only being here for 12 months and then leaving.
“Everyone knows the NRL is a professional game now, it’s a business.
”But I’ll be giving the Eels my all.”
Pezet knows he has to earn the respect of the playing group.
“There has been some outside noise [about my potential] but the main thing for me is earning the trust of the players. They have to trust me to go out there and do my job,” he said.
“I am trying not to worry too much about the expectation. I know I’m coming into a club with rich history and I am just trying to add value to the club and to the group.
“The end goal is the same for all the 17 teams.
“We all want to win a premiership. I haven’t experienced that myself or been a part of a club that has experienced that, so what we are building at Parra is pretty cool.
“The club is heading in the right direction under ‘Rylesy’ (Eels coach Jason Ryles), who I really respect, and I think the guys can build off what they did last year.”
STORM CLOUDS
Pezet admits leaving Melbourne was the toughest decision of his burgeoning career.
The Wyong and Valentine junior played 18 games since his NRL debut in 2023 and the Storm had big plans for Pezet to eventually be a franchise player in the No. 7 jumper.
But the succession plan took a messy twist last year when Pezet became confused about his future in Melbourne.
There were whispers about him succeeding Jahrome Hughes at halfback, but when the Dally M champion inked a four-year extension last July, the writing was on the wall.
With Queensland Origin skipper Cameron Munster also entrenched in the No. 6 jumper, Pezet had no guarantees of NRL action.
“Yeah, I didn’t want to get stuck there,” said Pezet, who played eight NRL games last season.
“If I didn’t do my ACL in 2024, I thought I may have been ready to play more NRL last year but going through that injury, I saw it as a positive in a way.”
He built his body and mind and feels ready to take the next step now.
“The only way to learn to play first grade is to be playing first grade,” Pezet said.
“And I’m at the point in my life where I want to test myself each and every week against the best of the best and that’s why I had to go.
“It’s the right time.”
Jonah Pezet impressed at Melbourne but was eventually forced to leave. Picture: NRL Photos
Still, the face-to-face conversations with coach Craig Bellamy, Munster and skipper Harry Grant were confronting.
“It was a hard call, definitely,” he said.
“For anyone leaving the Storm, it’s a hard decision because they are a great club, and I chose to leave a place where they turned me from a kid to a man.
“I went down there at 17 years old and they taught me everything on and off the field that I know now. I couldn’t be more grateful for everything the Storm has taught me.
“To have the opportunity that has arisen, it was a no-brainer for me and my family as well.”
But he had to take the next step in his career.
“I was stuck behind Cam (Munster) and Jahrome. I had a conversation with Cam and he said, ‘You have to do what’s best for you’. That gave me confidence to back myself,” Pezet said.
“It was a tough conversation with ‘Bellyache’. He has been a big supporter of mine and the work ethic he and the club instilled in me is why I felt comfortable enough to take this step.
That conversation wasn’t easy. But the toughest conversation was with Grant.
“He is the captain of the club and I have learnt a hell of a lot from him on and off the field around leadership and ways to lead a team,” he said.
“To tell him I was leaving was hard, but he understood.”
THE BRONCOS
Pezet makes it clear his total commitment is to the Eels this season, but his eventual move to the Broncos is one of the most significant signings in Brisbane’s 38-year history.
With skipper Adam Reynolds tipped to retire at season’s end, Pezet is slated to slot into the Broncos No. 7 jumper made famous by Allan Langer and spearhead a superb spine including Ezra Mam and fullback superstar Walsh.
Pezet says the prospect of teaming with ‘Reece Lightning’ was too good to refuse.
“The Broncos are a huge club,” Pezet said.
“The Broncos have an awesome spine and the opportunity to play with Ezra and Reece Walsh for a long time is massively exciting.
Walsh, Mam and Pezet are a dynasty-in-waiting. Pictures: Adam Head
“Ezra is my age and Reece is only a year older. Parra and Brisbane are massive clubs that want success and that’s what I want as a player as well.”
He described watching Walsh last year as incredible.
“He is the probably most exciting player in the league to watch when he’s on, he’s in the top three with Mitchell (Moses) and Nathan Cleary when they are fit and healthy,” he said.
“I haven’t talked to ‘Reyno’ at all, but I had a meeting with Madge and talked to him.
“I backed him in. He sees the Broncos going in a certain direction and I liked the things he said and his vision for the club.
“Playing with Reece was a big reason why I chose the Broncos, but my full focus right now is Parramatta and a premiership down here before I go.”
THE FUTURE
Pezet will be only 24 when he joins the Broncos next season.
By rights, he could easily dominate at the NRL scrumbase for another 10 to 12 years and enjoy a permanency in the Brisbane No. 7 jumper experienced by very few outside of Langer, regarded as the greatest Bronco of all.
The Eels will also have high expectations. They believe the Pezet-Moses alliance can turn the club into an instant genuine title contender after last season’s 11th-placed rebuild.
Such pressure could break some. But Pezet, who oozes a confidence and charisma on the field that suggests he belongs, is up for the fight.
“People say pressure is a privilege and that’s how I see it,” he said.
“If there’s a bit of expectation or pressure around you, then it means you have done it before, or you are capable of doing it.
“I would like to think that pressure comes with being in the NRL. At some point, everyone in the NRL feels pressure to perform and that’s why I love playing the game.”
Pezet is ready for the next step. Picture: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images
He knows it’s his job to perform, and embraces the expectations from fans.
“I would like to think I can be at the Broncos for the long term,” he said.
“I am setting myself up for a long future in the game but that has to be earned over the next three or four months at Parra and then going forward I will have to start again and earn that respect all over again.
“I loved watching Cooper Cronk and Johnathan Thurston growing up through my teenage years and I’m pinching myself at the moment spending every day at training with Mitchell Moses.
“I’ll 100 per cent back myself.
“I am ready to take on the game and be a first grader week in, week out.
“The big challenge now is to earn the respect of my teammates and if I build that trust with them, it will hold me in good stead.
“It’s a really exciting 12 months for me, I’m really pumped to show what I’ve got.”
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