Jason Demetriou and Michael Cheika out of Parramatta Eels’ head coaching race, Josh Hannay and Jason Ryles top candidates

Josh Hannay and Jason Ryles are the frontrunners for Parramatta’s head coaching role after moving to the next stage of interviews with club heavyweights.

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The battle between Jason Ryles and Josh Hannay for the Parramatta head coaching job has intensified after the pair made the final cut in the race to replace Brad Arthur.

Ryles and Hannay were widely regarded as the favourites to fight out the Eels job and nothing has changed after the interviews with the short-listed candidates, which also included former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika, ex-South Sydney mentor Jason Demetriou and interim coach Trent Barrett.

Demetriou confirmed on Monday on Triple M’s Monday Scrum that he had missed out on the final stage while it is understood Cheika has also been overlooked.

Josh Hannay is currently with the Maroons squad.

While it is unclear how many coaches are still in the mix after interviews were conducted with chair Sean McElduff, chief executive Jim Sarantinos and head of football Mark O’Neill, what is known is that Ryles and Hannay remain the leading contenders as Eels officials prepare to conduct a second round of interviews before announcing their new coach, most likely in the middle of July.

It is understood a number of the initial interviews were held at Sarantinos’ house as the club looked to keep their search for a new head coach out of the public eye.

Ryles has a contract in place at Melbourne but it is understood the Storm have been kept abreast of his talks with Parramatta and will not stand in his way if he is offered the job.

Sharks officials are also supportive of Hannay’s quest to land the Eels job.

Barrett, who stepped into the job when Brad Arthur was sacked, has had mixed success since taking over and it is believed his public campaign to become head coach hasn’t helped him in his bid to replace Arthur.

Jason Ryles is an assistant at the Storm.

A number of senior players including captain Clint Gutherson and halfback Mitchell Moses spoke out in support of Barrett but the club is expected to head in a different direction as they decided to look outside the club for Arthur’s successor.

Ryles has been knocking on the door of head coaching for some time, having been an assistant at the Storm and Sydney Roosters as well as with Eddie Jones with English rugby union.

He returned to Melbourne late last year in a move which many believed gave him the inside running to replace Craig Bellamy when eventually decided to step aside. When Bellamy decided to continue coaching next year, the Eels job offered Ryles an opportunity to move into head coaching elsewhere and he is now close to achieving that goal as he finds himself locked in a battle with Hannay to take over the Parramatta job.

Originally published as Jason Demetriou and Michael Cheika out of Parramatta Eels’ head coaching race, Josh Hannay and Jason Ryles top candidates