NRL grand final 2022: Eels v Panthers latest news ahead of Sunday
Will grand final forward Isaiah Papali’i renege on his Wests Tigers deal to stay at the Parramatta Eels in 2023? We take you inside the negotiations.
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In just over six days, Wests Tigers fans will learn if star recruit Isaiah Papali’i will report for pre-season at Concord in November.
The Parramatta star told News Corp about a self imposed deadline to make a call on his future as soon as Sunday’s grand final against Penrith is over.
“(Waiting to make a call) has worked for us. I’m definitely going to have to stick that,” Papali’i said.
“We are just focused on this year. I don’t want to be worrying about that in the biggest week of my career to date.
“But as soon as Sunday rolls over, I’m sure me and my agent will touch base as soon we can. So we can stop all the questions.”
Ten months ago, Papali’i agreed to join the Wests Tigers from season 2023 on a three-year deal worth around $2 million.
But it’s believed the backrower has had a change of heart and is open to staying put at the Eels.
Rumours about whether Papali’i would fulfil his Tigers deal only intensified when Michael Maguire was sacked as coach back in June.
Papali’i voiced concerns to senior Tigers officials about the direction of the club.
Housemate Dylan Brown has been doing his best to convince Papali’i to stick with the Eels.
“I barely see him at home actually, he’s pretty chill. He is always out and about with his friends,” Papali’i said.
“But it’s been a bit of banter from him and all my other teammates having a laugh really. We see stuff the stuff the media have been putting out about it and they kind of give it to me.”
The 24-year-old joined the Eels back in 2021 on a bargain deal after struggling to establish himself at the New Zealand Warriors.
Stuck in isolation during Covid, coach Brad Arthur offered Papali’i an Eels contract via Zoom.
GALLEN: ‘PAIN IN THE ARSE’ OF GRAND FINAL WEEK
Paul Gallen has given insight into the extreme toll Grand Final week has on players and the real “pain in the arse” issue no one tells you about.
As Eels and Panthers players prepare for one of the biggest weeks of their lives, the former Sharks and NSW Blues captain has given some words of warning about the “hangers on” that will make contact with them.
“You don’t understand how many people pop out of the woodwork wanting tickets,” Gallen wrote in his column for WWOS.
“Every family member and friend and their dog wants a ticket to the game and players get hassled. You haven’t heard from some of these relatives for three or four years and suddenly they’re ringing you for tickets. That can be a pain in the arse.
“You don’t want to be letting anyone down, so you’ve got to have a good support system around you, that’s really important for the players.”
Gallen said he felt a particular affinity with the Eels players this week with the club looking to end years of struggle and reward their fans much like the Sharks did in 2016.
“The Sharks were in a similar boat to the Eels, our club had been starved of success for a long time, but because I’d been around for so long and played Origins and Test matches, my family and friends weren’t too full on with the ticket requests.
“I do know that with some players we’re talking 20-plus requests and that can really take over your week if you don’t manage it properly. That sort of stuff can become an issue.”
HEARTBREAK BEHIND CLEARY GESTURE
Nathan Cleary will look to the heavens when running out for Sunday night’s grand final hoping for a guiding hand from much loved grandfather, Tim Stuart.
“I’m looking at Grandad,” Nathan told family members.
Tim, a league fanatic, treasured his young grandson and Nathan adored his pop.
Just days before Nathan played an Australian Schoolboys match against New Zealand in Brisbane during 2015, Tim passed away.
It crushed the young kid who vowed he would remember Tim before every game. And Cleary has been true to his word.
Even family members initially didn’t know what Nathan’s tribute was related to.
“We thought he might have been religious before someone hit him up and Nathan said he was looking at grandad.
“He does it for Tim. Nathan and his grandad were really close.
“It’s a topic of conversation whenever we have family occasions. It’s like: ‘Grandad would be so proud of Nathan’. It’s just sad he never got to watch Nathan play first grade.
“Tim also had all the old video tapes of Josh’s games.”
WHY PANTHERS ‘MUST LOSE TWO STARS A SEASON’
Three down, one to go – history awaits the mighty Panthers – but it comes at a cost.
Losing two stars a season is what it will take to continue the current run of success the club is enjoying, according to club CEO Brian Fletcher.
But he’s prepared to accept that price.
“We’re in a situation everyone would like to be,” he said.
“This strategic plan at the moment doesn’t need to change, we can’t be first in anything else.
“We’re accustomed to losing two good players every year so we have to have two coming up.
“Last year we lost Capewell and Burton but Tago and May come up. This year we lose Api and Kikau so we have a couple to come up. We’re prepared for that.
“The halfback here was on $75k and the Dolphins offered him $250k, that’s the disappointing part when you have done all the hard work, but that’s part of football.
“We cannot complain because we’re leading all the competitions so we must have something that keeps us rising.”
A premiership double on Sunday has Penrith now primed to claim four grand finals wins in one season across NSWRL and NRL competitions – a feat never achieved in Australian rugby league’s 114-year history.
Penrith beat Newcastle 19-18 in golden point in the Jersey Flegg (under-21s) grand final at CommBank Stadium, before the Panthers claimed NSW Cup glory with a 29-22 victory over Canterbury.
The Panthers had already won this year’s SG Ball (under-19s) competition with a 22-20 win over Sydney Roosters in April, after trailing 20-0 at halftime.
They became the second team to win three competitions in one season, matching Balmain’s effort in 1982.
Just one match now stands between the club and a place in history – the NRL grand final against Parramatta at Accor Stadium next Sunday night.
“I feel a bit under pressure now for next weekend,” Panthers coach Ivan Cleary joked.
“As a head coach that’s my job to set the vision and create a good environment for the club and the players to excel.”
EELS FANS SHOW OUT FOR TEAM
– Michael Carayannis
Parramatta fans have flocked to Eels training at Kellyville on Monday after 5000 members registered to watch the grand finalists go through their paces ahead of Sunday’s decider against Penrith.
Among the supporters is Parramatta superfan Laiakini Tikoibau, who rocked up in his Eels Ford Mustang to watch Brad Arthur’s side gear up for the battle of the west against the Panthers, when the blue and gold army hope to celebrate the club’s first premiership since 1986.
THE FOUR EELS SEEKING ULTIMATE REVENGE
– Brent Read and Michael Carayannis
This could be Reagan Campbell-Gillard’s ultimate revenge. So too Waqa Blake. And let’s not forget Bryce Cartwright and Maika Svo. All four Parramatta stars have extra motivation to topple Penrith in Sunday night’s ‘Battle of the West’, having been forsaken by the Panthers in recent years.
For Campbell-Gillard, it came at the end of 2019 when he was granted a release by Penrith to join Parramatta, having earlier signed a mammoth six-year deal with the Panthers that was due to expire at the end of 2024.
Blake was shown the door midway through 2019 after signing a contract with Penrith that was due to run out at the end of this year. The Panthers cut him loose at the time so they could sign Tyrone Peachey.
Remarkably, Penrith are still contributing to the wages of Campbell-Gillard and Blake, meaning they will supplement the salaries of two players who will be trying to knock them off on Sunday night.
Ever since Campbell-Gillard left Penrith there has been speculation about his relationship with his former teammates. Some would have you believe it cost him a place in the NSW side this year, the claim that some of the Panthers players weren’t in his corner.
One player who has no issue with Campbell-Gillard is Penrith co-captain Isaah Yeo. He and Campbell-Gillard are best mates and the pair have a strict rule that they don’t speak in the lead-up to matches when their side’s clash.
At Accor Stadium on Sunday night, they will meet for the fourth time this year.
“We don’t talk before the games,” Yeo said.
“One of us will be happy after it one of us won’t be. But we will chat after the game. It shows how strong western Sydney is.
“It’s funny how things like this work out. Fourth time we’ve played each other. It will be physical. They have strike on the edges. ”
Campbell-Gillard was outstanding in the Eels’ preliminary final win over North Queensland in Townsville, scoring two tries and running for more than 130 metres. He saved his best for the biggest night of Parramatta’s season.
Blake was less effective and showed some vulnerabilities again under the high ball. He was tormented by the Panthers on the opening weekend of the finals and he can expect another aerial assault on Sunday night.
Chances are the Panthers will go after Sivo as well, a player they also know well. After playing his junior rugby league for the Gundagai Tigers, he moved to St Mary’s in the Ron Massey Cup. He then signed with Mounties in the NSW Cup and scored 35 tries.
After signing with Penrith until the end of the 2018 – scoring 12 tries in his first season with the club – Parramatta swooped with a two-year deal.
Sivo hasn’t looked back, scoring 67 tries in 82 games for the Eels. Four of those have come in his seven games against his former club.
As for Bryce Cartwright, arguably no surname is more linked with Penrith. Cartwright was born in Penrith, played his junior rugby league for St Mary’s and attended Patrician Brothers College, Blacktown.
He played for their under 20s and made his first grade debut for the club in 2014. He was tipped for big things but it never happened at Penrith – he was granted a release from his contact at the start of 2018 to join Gold Coast, having endured some personal issues that the club helped him resolve with the aid of long-time Panthers supporter and former player Lew Zivanovic.
There is no love lost between the two juggernauts in western Sydney. The presence of four former Panthers stars only adds to the animosity.
“We expect them to come out firing,” Kikau said.
“They always play well against us.”
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