Rumours and Stuff

[Gazzamatta]

No no. We only signed him as depth on min wage

$500K per year. Chump change for BA who took $10 million outta the place.

 

[Legal Eel]

Actually, anyone with two legs and a heartbeat is qualified to give an opinion on the decision.

But luckily for us, your particular opinion can be easily disregarded based on the massive weight of evidence.

This post is needlessly discriminatory and I apologise -the only prerequisite for an opinion is a heartbeat

 

[hindy111]

I can tell you Ryle got Williams for a reason. The same way a Manu Mau, Beau Scott etc existed. Someone that’s a hard merkin who’ve looking over his shoulder to see who’s with him and calling out those who aren’t.
I’m also curious to see our pack makeup round 1 as we all WANT to see a different pack.
Imagine BA still here it would be Lane Matto Cartwright again.

We miss a KE type of grub imo

 

[lucablight]

We miss a KE type of grub imo

“Grub” and “mongrel” are two of the most overrated descriptors in rugby league. We had Darcy Lussick who filled that role and it didn’t do him any good. We just need good players.

 

[hindy111]

“Grub” and “mongrel” are two of the most overrated descriptors in rugby league. We had Darcy Lussick who filled that role and it didn’t do him any good. We just need good players.

I'd love a Nelson, JWH or Mahoney type.
You're right it isn't necessary. Panthers don't really have one but it helps if do.

 

[Avenger]

I'd love a Nelson, JWH or Mahoney type.
You're right it isn't necessary. Panthers don't really have one but it helps if do.

I think you will have that Riley Smith has a bit of merkin in him which we need.

 

[lucablight]

You've missed my point. You (and I) wouldn't know whether these decisions are any good, even in hindsight, because you don't know whether the club calculated the risks correctly. We also don't know how many of these decisions, in isolation, were impacted by randomness (luck), whether good or bad.

We could only get an idea of the quality of decision making in aggregate, by looking at onfield results (e.g. wins) over time. Even then we don't know the relative resource constraints our club is operating under relative to the rest of the competition.

As for our results over time, the current regime has been in charge since 2019 and we have won 55% of games since then. It's better than most teams have won in that period. How can you claim they a poor decision makers?

So how do you tell if the people in charge of an organisation have done a good or a bad job?

 

[Zoso]

Reminds me a bit of Beau Scott.

I think something just stirred in my loins. Bring it on!

 

[Legal Eel]

So how do you tell if the people in charge of an organisation have done a good or a bad job?

That’s simple.

Always good….no bad jobs or decisions, just dumb bogan fans

 

[Matty Bhoy]

He was a quality player before he came to our club. Bennett rated him, Souths wanted to keep him. He had a great running game, and was the best in the NRL at 40/20s. He was a massive talent and worth the risk for a club like ours.

There wasn’t a single Eels fan or footy fan that I spoke to that believed he was the right fit for the club. It turns out they were entirely spot on.

 

[Incorrect]

There wasn’t a single Eels fan or footy fan that I spoke to that believed he was the right fit for the club. It turns out they were entirely spot on.

You should have spoken to Pou ....

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Great post and Murchie was good at Raiders and Warriors playing backrow...the coach killed his value. We also had enough middles instead of trying to turn every forward into bash and barge...

Who was playing bash and barge? Lighter, more mobile middles are what we needed.

And Murchie’s best position might’ve been edge forward but we still had Lane at the club, who helped get us into the grand final the year before, as well as Cartwright and Doorey who were both preferred to Murchie out wide. Murchie’s NRL opportunities with us were as a backup, either middle or edge. If he wanted to be a princess and only play out wide he should’ve said so. Maybe he did and that’s why we let him go.

 

[T.S Quint]

There wasn’t a single Eels fan or footy fan that I spoke to that believed he was the right fit for the club. It turns out they were entirely spot on.

There were heaps of people on here who were excited about his signing.
I remember because I was not one of them and I thought they were all crazy.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

This confirms what I have heard as well. I know for a fact that at least one senior player that was close with Brad has confirmed that he didn’t realise how much better things would be under a different coach and how much better the systems are…and this player was previously adamant that Brad was the guy to turn things around.

I can see how this also sounds like confirmation bias, in that this player just supports the system he is in, but for what it’s worth I have heard the player talk about this himself and he cited specific systems, methods, attitudes and drills…and he said the entire squad is noticing the improvements.

Lets hope it reflects on field, but even if it doesn’t immediately translate, this is the reason I believe we are in for longer term sustained success under Ryles.

Sounds like this player is having the toughest preseason ever.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Final comment. Being 30 this year he'd want a 3 year contract to secure his future. In fact he got a 1 year contract with the club determining his future for a second year. If in such demand he'd go to a club that offered more, much more.

Why would they have had to offer "much more"? He is a high risk of being unavailable throughout the season, based on his past two years and his age. Every club would've thought he was a risk. If they were competing for his signature it would be based on price more than duration.

Like other 30 year olds, Gutho and RCG who signed 3 year contracts. In fact we were the only interested party so his contract value plummeted and we were the ONLY lifeline for him to accept.

Or were we the only ones that were able to clear enough cap space for him? What do you think we did with the money we cleared by releasing Gutherson? The only player we signed after letting him go was JAC.

Contemplating - actually Ryles said we only signed him because he had worked with him before.

I doubt Ryles would've said that. That might be the only reason Ryles wanted him, but the club doesn't just sign players because the coach likes them. They do their due diligence and manage the identified risks. This is true at every club, including any other clubs that might've had room for JAC.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Its amazing how most of us fans could see how stale the joint was 18 months ago and repeated it on here & have unfortunately been proven correct.

We could all see the injury toll 18 months ago. Our senior players were dropping like flies and it got worse in 2024.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

why would you sign 2 blokes in their early to mid 20's on a top 30 deal when no other wanted them? ...

Exactly. You're better off not filling the top 30 and seeing if someone comes available than just bringing more nuffies into the top 30 for the sake of it.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

No Jane Evans was one of the worse - about 2 years past his use by date when we got him.

And only 26 years old, the poor bastard

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Looking at just his recruitment, which is a revaluation, when compared with BA's. Now have very few nuffies in our top 27. Think we'll go very well this year.

Half of them are still nuffies:

Teams

View all the players in the 2024 Parramatta Eels NRL Telstra Premiership squad.

www.parraeels.com.au

 

[Poupou Escobar]

No no. We only signed him as depth on min wage

Depth signing according to the club:

“We’re excited to add more depth to our forward pack"

Parramatta Eels sign Roosters prop Kane Evans

Kane Evans to join Parramatta next year on a three-year contract.

www.parraeels.com.au

Depth doesn't mean minimum wage though. Minimum salary players are backups, not depth players. Minimum salary backups might only play a game or two (or zero) throughout the season. Depth players are competing (with other depth players) for a spot in the 17. They might only play half a dozen games or they might play most games in a season.