Parramatta Eels 2025 NRL season scouting report: Best 17, every player’s contract status, rookie watch
Rookie coach Jason Ryles has taken over the most daunting job in the NRL. ADAM MOBBS rates the Eels’ free agency dealings and reveals the young stars in line to debut in 2025.
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Rookie coach Jason Ryles has taken over the most daunting job in the NRL, trying to end the longest active premiership drought in the competition which dates back to 1986.
But between solving the contract clause chaos gripping the Eels and fixing the club’s spine, Ryles will be in for a hard slog in 2025.
ADAM MOBBS analyses Parramatta’s free agency dealings, which rising stars in line to debut, and the burning issues facing the club in 2025.
Free agency wrap
A free agency window where you lose two Origin-calibre veterans and three outstanding rookies would normally be an automatic fail.
The arrival of new coach Jason Ryles was always going to mean a roster shake-up, and while Sanders and Arthur were already out the door before he joined, he was unable to convince Talagi to stay.
Ryles then made two massive calls, allowing former Origin players Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Clint Gutherson early releases from their contracts.
But this is a team that finished 10th and 15th in the two seasons following their 2022 grand final appearance, which gives Ryles the freedom to overhaul what is still a talented roster.
The Eels have recruited well by signing backs Zac Lomax and Josh Addo-Carr, while they have a big opinion of former Penrith fullback Isaiah Iongi, who Ryles has earmarked to replace Gutherson.
Ryles wants speed and mobility, and gets that with former Shark Jack Williams.
The acquisitions of Jordan Samrani and Joash Papalii are interesting after the pair were squeezed out at the Bulldogs. Papalii is an electric outside back who could bring an x-factor to the Eels and emerge as a utility option off the bench.
RATING: B
Coach status and safety rating
Rookie coach Jason Ryles has taken over the most daunting job in the NRL, trying to end the longest active premiership drought in the competition, which now stretches into its 39th season.
A four-year deal gives Ryles the security, and time, to implement his vision, which he wasted little time in executing after releasing inspirational captain Clint Gutherson and prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard.
Ryles has been an understudy to Craig Bellamy, Trent Robinson and Eddie Jones, and picked the brains of the likes of Warren Ryan as he begins his NRL coaching career.
He’s also well supported with his assistants. Nathan Brown has 475 games of first-grade coaching experience, Scott Wisemantel is an accomplished rugby coach, Sam Moa was the defence coach for Catalans and will strengthen the link with the club’s Polynesian players.
Most rookie coaches come in when a team is at its lowest. But Ryles inherits a solid, albeit underperforming, roster, at a club with a growing investment in its junior nursery and a $70 million centre of excellence that is due to open its doors in April.
The question remains over what type of coach Ryles will be, given he has exclusively been an assistant while serving his apprenticeship and is yet to run a football program at any level.
Safety rating: A
Likely debutant(s)
Joash Papalii. An underrated signing who could emerge as the Eels’ utility option off the bench in 2025. The sizzling fullback was squeezed out at Canterbury and Parramatta pounced on the boyhood Eels fan.
While Isaiah Iongi will get first shot at the vacant No.1 jersey, Papalii also offers competition at fullback. But it could be the utility role where Jason Ryles deploys him where, last season they went with a Brendan Hands-Joey Lussick dual hooker combination.
Two seasons of NSW Cup with the Bulldogs has him ready to take the step up to NRL level.
Toni Mataele. He’s been close to an NRL debut, but a hamstring injury limited him to just nine NSW Cup games in 2024. He had a breakout 80-minute performance against the Panthers late in the season, in a glimpse of his potential. Ryles has had the edge forward training as a middle in the pre-season to provide the Eels more versatility. Ryles wants his pack more mobile and Mataele fits the mould.
Saxon Pryke. There may be a few more senior players ahead of him, but Pryke is a talented forward with a big future ahead of him. A member of the 2023 SG Ball-winning side, Pryke was the Eels’ Jersey Flegg player of the year after a standout 2024 season, in which he also made a handful of NSW Cup appearances off the bench. While he’s expected to spend time in reserve grade, his speed and work rate fit what Ryles is looking for to rejuvenate Parramatta’s pack.
Exciting forward Sam Tuivaiti has been elevated into the Eels’ top-30 squad. Another member of the 2023 SG Ball premiership-winning side, the talented prop will likely spend time in NSW Cup but is a future NRL player.
Who takes the next step
Jason Ryles wants more speed and mobility in his forwards and inherits that with rookie Charlie Guymer. The back-rower from Temora is aggressive, hardworking and proved he belonged on the NRL stage with two encouraging appearances last season before injury struck.
The Eels have an established pack so competition for places will be intense. But Ryles has already shown he isn’t afraid to shake up the roster, with Reagan Campbell-Gillard already a casualty. That gives the likes of Guymer and fellow rookie Sam Tuivaiti an opportunity to push for a call-up.
THREE BURNING ISSUES
Unfinished spinal surgery
How do Parramatta move on from Clint Gutherson? New recruit Isaiah Iongi has massive fullback shoes to fill after coach Jason Ryles made the call to replace Gutherson in the No.1 jumper. Gutherson’s work rate and organisational skills have been the heart and soul of the Eels.
In Iongi, the Eels get a burgeoning talent who, although he’s unknown at NRL level, has had two full seasons in Penrith’s NSW Cup side honing his skills. The Panthers were fully aware of his potential but allowed him to leave given he was stuck behind Dylan Edwards.
The Eels’ other positional question mark is at hooker. They were interested in Jayden Brailey but have been unable to prise him out of Newcastle. Joey Lussick and Brendan Hands shared the hooking duties last season, with neither able to lock down the No.9 jersey.
Hands recently extended his contract until the end of 2026, but you get the feeling the Eels are still open to bringing in a top-shelf rake if one became available.
Contract option chaos
The ominous shadow of the contract option that allowed local junior Blaize Talagi to opt out of his 2025 deal and join bitter rivals Penrith threatens to continue haunting Parramatta.
Mitchell Moses, Dylan Brown, Will Penisini and Ryan Matterson all have player options in their favour, which could bring premature ends to their current contracts.
The club is working to remove Moses’ options for 2027 and 2028, which will likely cost them a bump up in the halfback’s already seven-figure salary.
Brown has until May to decide whether to take up the first of two player options inserted into his contract, which runs until the end of 2031 but has exit clauses in 2026 and 2028.
Losing the 24-year-old five-eighth would be a blue-and-gold disaster, especially since rookie half Ethan Sanders has joined Canberra for this season, having seen his NRL path at Parramatta blocked by Brown and Moses.
The frenzied free agency chase for Ben Hunt proved how in-demand halves are, and Brown would be a marquee free agent.
Penisini’s player option for 2026 is also worrying, given his development as a strike centre, and his rugby union roots, which include his close friend Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii crossing codes and walking straight into a Wallabies jumper.
A 2027 Rugby World Cup on Australian soil would be some carrot for Rugby Australia to dangle in front of the 22-year-old.
Production line patience: Can Eels hold their nerve?
Hitting the free agency market or holding your nerve for your junior talent to emerge as NRL-ready players is a conundrum for the Eels, who have invested significantly in becoming an elite development club.
Losing more junior talent following the high-profile departures of Blaize Talagi, Ethan Sanders and Matt Arthur would be a PR nightmare for Parramatta.
It’s hard to argue with the signings of Origin-calibre backs Zac Lomax and Josh Addo-Carr, both of whom instantly improve the squad.
But the Eels risk losing talent if they sign established players over the top of the next wave of talent coming through their pathways. Parramatta have NRL players of the future in back-rowers Charlie Guymer and Saxon Pryke, prop Sam Tuivaiti and centre Richard Penisini.
Coach Jason Ryles needs to show faith in these players to earn their spots, even if it means short-term pain on the field.
Crystal ball
Jason Ryles doesn’t have a ground-up overhaul like most first-year coaches thrust into the NRL furnace. Sure, the Eels needed a final-round win over Wests Tigers to avoid the wooden spoon, but a deeper look shows things aren’t as grim. Parramatta gave up leads in 10 games last season. Winning half of those would have had them knocking on the door of the top eight.
They’ve let captain Clint Gutherson and Reagan Campbell-Gillard leave but have signed Zac Lomax and Josh Addo-Carr, and halfback Mitchell Moses is in the prime of his career. If fullback Isaiah Iongi can prove an astute buy and some of their young talent can challenge for first-grade spots, a top-eight return isn’t out of the question and would signal a successful first season for Ryles.
2025 odds
Winners: $34
Minor premiership: $23
Top 4: $5
Top 8: $2.25
Most losses: $12
*Odds courtesy of TAB
Originally published as Parramatta Eels 2025 NRL season scouting report: Best 17, every player’s contract status, rookie watch
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