Why Brown must honour longest deal in Eels history

Parramatta want a decision on Dylan Brown’s contract situation soon, and it should be a no-brainer. The club have stood by him, and it’s time for him to repay the faith, writes ADAM MOBBS.

Parramatta want a decision on Dylan Brown’s contract situation before the start of the NRL season.

It should be a no-brainer.

The Eels have invested heavily in Brown, and sacrificed a lot to make him a “franchise player” — a term his management, ironically, are now using to shop him around to rival clubs.

It’s time for Brown to repay that faith.

Brown has been at Parramatta since he was 16 and has developed into one of the most talented five-eighths in the game.

Now 24, the Eels are paying him close to $1 million a season, and have shown their commitment to him becoming the cornerstone of the team into the next decade by signing him to the longest deal in the club’s history.

The Eels have invested heavily in Dylan Brown, and its time for him to repay the faith. Picture: Getty Images

In December 2022, Brown signed an eight-year extension. Because of the length of the contract, and the fact he was still just 22 at the time, the Eels agreed to two clauses that would give Brown some flexibility.

You can argue the folly of the number of player options in Parramatta player’s contract, but this wasn’t the spirit in which those clauses were inserted for Brown.

He has options, for the 2026 and 2028 seasons, to opt out of his deal if his situation changed.

And change it has.

Six months after signing his contract extension, Brown pleaded guilty to groping a young woman at a pub in Sydney’s east.

It came at a bad time for the Eels, the 2022 grand finalists, who had only just clawed their way into the top eight after a shocking start to the season.

Dylan Brown plead guilty to touching a woman’s breasts without her consent in June 2023. Picture: Adam Yip

The Eels stood by Brown, who was suspended for seven games and watched on from the sideline as Parramatta’s resurrection faltered and they crashed out of finals contention.

That failure, no doubt, played a part in coach Brad Arthur’s sacking last year.

The Eels continue to stand by Brown. Their long-term commitment to him and Mitchell Moses cost the Eels two of their brightest young talents, Blaize Talagi and Ethan Sanders.

The pair helped lead Parramatta’s SG Ball team to the 2023 premiership, earmarking themselves as future first graders.

Both Talagi and Sanders have eyes on securing an NRL starting halves role.

But, with Brown and Moses Parramatta’s preferred five-eighth/halfback combination, the pair left the club this off-season.

If Brown follows them out the door a year later, although it’s his right, it should leave a sour taste in Eels fans’ mouths.

Brown suffered a partial ACL tear in the last game of the 2024 season. Picture: NRL Images

His management have a responsibility to explore the contract options in his favour, but you’d think by now they would know who would be interested in their star client.

The New Zealand Warriors have money following Tohu Harris’ shock retirement. The Sydney Roosters have been linked given they lost Luke Keary. Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans is turning 36 and in the final year of his current deal.

The timing of his management’s call out to rival clubs could be an indication Brown wants to make a decision sooner rather than later.

Eels’ head of football, Mark O’Neill says Brown is “happy at the club … and we are confident he is going to stay”.

The sooner it’s put to bed, the sooner Brown can continue focusing on becoming a matchwinner. He’s undeniably talented but there haven’t been enough occasions where he’s grabbed games by the scruff of the neck and dominated for Parramatta. Especially last season when Moses was injured.

That’s the expectation for a franchise player on almost $1 million a season.