Rd1: 405pm Parra v Storm GAME DAY THREAD in Melbourne 9/3/25

[hindy111]

The possitives for me -

I estimate we have about 1.2mill under cap.
Think about it -

Lomax was signed in March and fitted under cap.
We also offered Blaize 500k so had that money. Let's say that cancels out Iongi.
Sivo cancels JAC.

We then released RCG and Gutherson. And only signed Williams.

We had missing Moses,Lane,Matto,JAC,Simmonson
That's 3 million

Throw in the dead wood of Lussick,Bryce and Dunster and that's another 750k.

Almost 5 million of cap space didn't play yesterday.

2026 we will have some money to spend.

 

[Wally21]

Volkman can’t tackle. No wonder nobody else wanted him. Brown is fkn lazy. A couple of times the big boys made breaks up the middle or on his side and he was nowhere to be seen. All good halves are good support players, he barely ever rocks up on the end of that which is criminal considering his speed and strength.

it’s going to be another season of everyone making up the numbers until Melbourne and Penrith meet in the gf again.

it’s getting boring

I agree that the NRL has a big issue on its hands with a two tier comp. Introducing more teams is only going to make that worse. Let’s be honest outside of Penrith, Melbourne and perhaps Brisbane, will anyone else win? Absolutely not

 

[Lemon Squash]

Volkman can’t tackle. No wonder nobody else wanted him. Brown is fkn lazy. A couple of times the big boys made breaks up the middle or on his side and he was nowhere to be seen. All good halves are good support players, he barely ever rocks up on the end of that which is criminal considering his speed and strength.

it’s going to be another season of everyone making up the numbers until Melbourne and Penrith meet in the gf again.

it’s getting boring

We had 17 blokes who couldn't tackle yesterday. Volkman hasn't played any footy (at any level) for 18 months and they put him next to Tuilagi who legitimately is not up to it defensively as Ryles quickly learned yesterday.

Dylan was atrocious yesterday not defending him whatsoever, but I've watched him play a lot of footy since he was a 17 year old and he's definitely not lazy. I've seen him make more cover tackles for anyone at Parra since Hindy was around.

Joey Johns wouldn't of saved us yesterday.

Let's see how we go against the Tigers next week before we truly wave the white flag. If we get dusted in a close game and Dylbags doesn't fire a shot then he deserves all the criticism in the world.

I agree though its Penrith/Melbourne, daylight then the rest of us.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

asks why Manly and now the Dogs build competitive teams and that’s not mentioning the Storm.

Manly and the Dogs have both recently spent consecutive years out of the finals. Why should we be exempt from that?

 

[the phantom menace]

As for this only-genuine-halfbacks-are-worth-big-money narrative, it's bullshit. Other high involvement players can have just as big an impact on the game.

I think the first paragraph you wrote before this explained and proved why Brown is not a high involvement player. Hence, Dylan not being worth the big money in excess of what his current offer from the club is....

 

[Incorrect]

it’s going to be another season of everyone making up the numbers until Melbourne and Penrith meet in the gf again.

it’s getting boring

What about another Spoonbowl face off between us and the Knights in Round 27??!! That could make things more exciting!!!!!

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Is Dylan a great kicker though.

His defence is elite despite some of the shocking attempts yesterday.

His running game is a bit overrated for mine how much space does he create for the players around him with it.

He has 53 try assists since 2022. By comparison the game's top halves have this many in that time:

55 Cherry-Evans
55 Cleary
42 Moses

Yes Moses has missed some games but availability is part of a player's value.

He had 3 kicks yesterday. He rarely kicks us out of trouble in our back half.

Which is why we signed backups who can kick. Volkman has a kicking game. He was just overwhelmed yesterday, playing behind a beaten pack.

How haven't we developed a long kicking game with him in the past 5 years as an insurance policy to supplement Moses in both scenarios when Moses is playing and when he isnt.

Goes back to the lack of development in certain aspects of some players games.

If it was that easy to teach merkins to kick, clubs wouldn't pay so much for elite kickers.

Every half should have at least a decent long kicking game.

I think he does have a decent long kicking game, but it isn't elite like we get from Moses. So he obviously looks poor by comparison.

Dylan is on what 800-900k a year for us. Tell me how we are getting any value for money for that contract atm since he signed it after the 2022 GF.

We don't know how much he's on, but you're off your head if you think he hasn't been one of our best players since 2022. We haven't fallen off a cliff because of Dylan Brown, and even the best halves struggle to carry weak squads. If Drown wasn't worth big money he wouldn't be getting big money offers. There's a good chance the figures thrown around in the media are bullshit, but I have no doubt the Knights offer is big, and it's big for a reason. He is one of the best running/tackling halves in the NRL. If he was also a great kicker he would be worth as much as Cleary.

 

[Soren Lorenson]

I honestly believe he should take the Newcastle money, before they pull the offer

There is no official offer, it’s the only explanation as to why he hasn’t signed yet.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I’d play Twidle or Josh Lynn there whilst we wait for them in 2027.

Only if you're happy to concede 50+ every week.

It's cool that Ryles is sticking with youth but results like yesterday's are the cost of developing youngsters. It's no coincidence that 2024 was our most inexperienced squad in years (three teenagers got a run last year) and also gave us the worst record since 2018.

 

[Avenger]

Only if you're happy to concede 50+ every week.

It's cool that Ryles is sticking with youth but results like yesterday's are the cost of developing youngsters. It's no coincidence that 2024 was our most inexperienced squad in years (three teenagers got a run last year) and also gave us the worst record since 2018.

What about putting Iongi at 6 and buying Papenhuyzen?

 

[hindy111]

Only if you're happy to concede 50+ every week.

It's cool that Ryles is sticking with youth but results like yesterday's are the cost of developing youngsters. It's no coincidence that 2024 was our most inexperienced squad in years (three teenagers got a run last year) and also gave us the worst record since 2018.

Lane,Matto,Lussick,Dunster,Jnr,Bryce is 3mill of poor cap space.
Imagine adding Moses + JAC and spending that 3 million elsewhere. There is our issue.

 

[hindy111]

He has 53 try assists since 2022. By comparison the game's top halves have this many in that time:

55 Cherry-Evans
55 Cleary
42 Moses

Yes Moses has missed some games but availability is part of a player's value.

Which is why we signed backups who can kick. Volkman has a kicking game. He was just overwhelmed yesterday, playing behind a beaten pack.

If it was that easy to teach merkins to kick, clubs wouldn't pay so much for elite kickers.

I think he does have a decent long kicking game, but it isn't elite like we get from Moses. So he obviously looks poor by comparison.

We don't know how much he's on, but you're off your head if you think he hasn't been one of our best players since 2022. We haven't fallen off a cliff because of Dylan Brown, and even the best halves struggle to carry weak squads. If Drown wasn't worth big money he wouldn't be getting big money offers. There's a good chance the figures thrown around in the media are bullshit, but I have no doubt the Knights offer is big, and it's big for a reason. He is one of the best running/tackling halves in the NRL. If he was also a great kicker he would be worth as much as Cleary.

But is he clutch? Can Dylan get his side up when 14 down? I've never really seen him step up and own a game. He contributes but I can't think of to many MOM performances.
Very good player yes. Not yet elite. Maybe he will be but times ticking

 

[King-Gutho94]

We don't know how much he's on, but you're off your head if you think he hasn't been one of our best players since 2022.

His been average by his standards since he signed his last contract.

Ill give you the hot tip he hasn't been on anything under 800k a season since he signed that last contract so don't give me that rubbish just to argue for the sake of it we don't know what he is on.

The SMH even said a month or so ago he was set to be on 900k this year with it to increase gradually until 2031.

I reckon his best season was 2022

Just because his stats may look like he is producing a lot of work doesn't mean its quality.

2023 he missed a third of the season on the sideline and i reckon that whole season the Souths victory at Allianz was probably the only game that stood out where he was great.

Did he take a game by the scruff of the neck last year.

We won just 7 games and how many of those did Dylan contribute heavily in. I would argue Asi played better in a couple there at the backend of the year

Plus there were a chunk of close losses where Dylan didn't close out.

If your paying a bloke more then 800k he needs to be changing games more then what Dylan does.

 

[Soren Lorenson]

What about putting Iongi at 6 and buying Papenhuyzen?

I honestly think they'd rather lose the youngster than Paps now. But they probably will keep them both. On unders.

 

[Avenger]

His been average by his standards since he signed his last contract.

Ill give you the hot tip he hasn't been on anything under 800k a season since he signed that last contract so don't give me that rubbish just to argue for the sake of it we don't know what he is on.

The SMH even said a month or so ago he was set to be on 900k this year with it to increase gradually until 2031.

I reckon his best season was 2022

Just because his stats may look like he is producing a lot of work doesn't mean its quality.

2023 he missed a third of the season on the sideline and i reckon that whole season the Souths victory at Allianz was probably the only game that stood out where he was great.

Did he take a game by the scruff of the neck last year.

We won just 7 games and how many of those did Dylan contribute heavily in. I would argue Asi played better in a couple there at the backend of the year

Plus there were a chunk of close losses where Dylan didn't close out.

If your paying a bloke more then 800k he needs to be changing games more then what Dylan does.

@Poupou Escobar is just playing devils advocate trolling in his own forum again. Deep down he also wants him gone. He said it a few months ago or was it that he couldn’t be f**ked either way, yet he will still argue one side just to piss people off.

Is that the MO?

 

[Zoso]

Some of these are quite funny

Post Game Grades - Round 1 vs Storm

The Cumberland Throw's patented, award winning post game grades for the Parramatta Eels' round 1 2024 clash with the Melbourne Storm.

thecumberlandthrow.com

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He doesn’t sound enthused about our prospects!

 

[Zoso]

The fact Ryles hooked a few blokes early on was a nice positive sign he wasn't letting things drift during a game.

Did it make a difference no but it showed a bit of pro-activeness in the coaching box that has been lacking for a while then the standard 20-25 mins for first change.

Unfortantely the HIA to Williams meant he had to push Kelma back out there 5 mins later after getting hooked.

I think in a way say a lot about Ryles stands for with standards if Kelma is playing this week. As much as some other players didnt offer much.

Kelma's efforts in the first 15 mins were disgraceful and shouldn't be accepted.

I dont care how Cartwright is on the nose. You just can't cop what Kelma dished up yesterday at the start of the game and accept that as a FG Coach.

I’ve been off Kelma since last year when he did a charge down on the 5th when we had a team pinned in their 20.
He must be a great trainer because I don’t see much in him on game days.

 

[Chipmunk]

He has 53 try assists since 2022. By comparison the game's top halves have this many in that time:

Brown had 3 Try Assists yesterday. I suggest that if Daejarn Asi was still here and played instead, he would've also had the exact same 3 Try Assists yesterday. Was Brown's involvement in each of the tries instrumental in the try actually being scored? I suggest no.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I think the first paragraph you wrote before this explained and proved why Brown is not a high involvement player. Hence, Dylan not being worth the big money in excess of what his current offer from the club is....

He is definitely a high involvement player. Yesterday was the anomaly.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Lane,Matto,Lussick,Dunster,Jnr,Bryce is 3mill of poor cap space.
Imagine adding Moses + JAC and spending that 3 million elsewhere. There is our issue.

You don't get to just reallocate cap space when you decide a player is no longer worth it. The length of a contract is part of his cost/risk to the club. How well do you think recruitment/retention would go if you just offered everyone one year deals tAkE iT oR lEaVe It!!!