After the departure of Blaize Talagi there are growing fears in the Parramatta football department of another Isaac Moses takeover of the Eels.
Talagi is a client of the powerful manager, and the exit of a junior who was the next big hope for the club has hurt the Eels more than they will admit. Parramatta threw an impressive offer at Talagi, but he told the club on Wednesday he was leaving. He is poised to join Penrith.
Eels rookie Blaize Talagi is set to join Penrith next season.Credit: NRL Photos
The Eels were prepared to look after his rising star brother, Ryda, as part of a deal to keep them both.
The Eels provided Blaize with a significant pathway, and incoming coach Jason Ryles gave his best pitch to the family about his future. Whether the Eels had a real chance is something only Talagi, his family and Moses will know.
What is also concerning the Eels is that Moses not only manages Talagi but has signed a significant number of the next crop of young guns in Parramatta’s juniors.
No one from the Eels will say exactly what percentage of their players Moses has on his books, but sources with knowledge of the situation have told me it is well more than 50 per cent of the best young talent. Moses’ son plays in the Eels junior system, which gives the manager even more access to that playing group.
About a decade ago, Moses had significant power at the Eels because he managed so many of their players. With Talagi leaving the club at the end of the year, the Eels would probably rather give Moses the cold shoulder, but he has so much power when it comes to Parramatta’s future, and the club can’t afford to ignore him.
I have been told Moses wants all these rising stars to stay in the Eels system through to NRL level to develop because in the past 10 years the Eels are second only to Penrith in terms of premierships and results in the junior ranks.
The problem for the Eels is that traditionally Moses has operated in the south-west section of their juniors, but he is slowly creeping into the north-west as well, giving him greater dominance. It is worth noting that the Eels will open the largest centre of excellence and academy in the NRL in April, a $75 million facility in Kellyville.
The issue is agents are happy for their young players to stay in Parramatta’s development system because it is so good – then they shop them around to other clubs.
With more teams set to be added to the NRL, holding onto rising stars could become more difficult for a club that is trying to re-establish itself in the competition – and end its 38-year premiership drought.
Panthers To’o quick to jump wrong conclusions
The Brian To’o situation at Penrith has wrongly been described as rumours, but the club now knows exactly what was troubling their superstar winger, and the issue has been resolved — for now.
On Monday, I posted on social media that people associated with To’o were reaching out to rival clubs.
Superstar Panthers winger Brian To’o.Credit: Getty
To’o has concerns about his future at the club — and it is a storyline that has surprisingly exposed another unjustified narrative that angers the Panthers.
The To’o situation took the club by complete surprise. They saw no reason for him to be restless. But he has been.
There is no rift between him and any players at the club, but his best mates have all left or are about to leave. The issue bubbled up when To’o reunited with those players during the Blues’ State of Origin camps, and he had a great time in their presence.
To’o has seen there is life outside Penrith. He has seen some of his teammates thrive, especially Stephen Crichton at Canterbury.
In many ways, Penrith’s current group will never be the same once Jarome Luai joins Wests Tigers at the end of the season, leaving To’o without any of his “brothers” by his side at the foot of the mountains.
As a result, some subtle inquiries were made by those who know what is going on in his life to see whether he could find a home at another club.
The story took another interesting turn when the club claimed I was trying to spin the narrative that Pasifika players did not want to play for the Panthers. This is something the club has been dealing with from some sections of the rugby league world, and it is false. It is a narrative that was put to me by the Panthers when I first reported that To’o felt uneasy at the club, but it is not something that has ever crossed my mind.
When you consider some of the superstars who have left the club, you can perhaps understand why Penrith are fearful or angry about a storyline questioning the departures of Pasifika players Api Koroisau (Tigers), Viliame Kikau (Bulldogs), Sunia Turuva (Tigers), Crichton and Luai.
The way I see it, there are other Panthers stars – not of a Pasifika background – who have left the club in recent years, including Matt Burton (Bulldogs), Jaeman Salmon (Bulldogs) and J’maine Hopgood (Eels).
The club also re-signed Izack Tago and were set to bank on Taylan May long term, before the latter was released from his contract in July. The Panthers don’t want To’o to leave, or even Luai for that matter.
The To’o news triggered a reaction from the Panthers, who jumped to a conclusion.
Those who understand the inner workings at Penrith say that there has been some discontent in the playing group since Crichton’s exit. The feeling was he was disrespected by the offer Penrith made to a player who did not want to leave.
The departures of Koroisau and Kikau showed others the club is a business and not the family they maybe thought it was. They felt dispensable. That’s fair enough. This is a business and 18 of the last 26 players to have left Penrith have signed the biggest deals of their careers.
Return of the King
Parramatta are going to have to lean on the heart and soul of the club, captain Clint Gutherson, once again.
Before Blaize Talagi’s decision to leave the club, the Eels were thinking about moving Gutherson from fullback to play lock, or even potentially hooker, next season to allow the talented young gun to take his No.1 jersey. Gutherson’s jumper was being offered to Talagi as a carrot to keep him at the Eels.
When Gutherson felt Talagi was up to speed and ready to play fullback in first grade, he was happy to move aside. Now the Eels will have to look at “King Gutho” as a fullback again, unless they can pluck a player out of a rival club such as Melbourne, who have Ryan Papenhuyzen in the No.1 jersey but rising star Sualauvi Fa’alogo waiting in the wings.
Eels fullback Clint Gutherson scores against the Warriors on Friday.Credit: Getty
Gutherson seems to be more loved outside of Parramatta than inside the club. Jason Ryles was prepared to move him to another position but, incredibly, there has been speculation about Gutherson losing the captaincy as well.
While on Talagi, it’s another big miss for the Dragons, as he will join Penrith. The Dragons even have a coach who is managed by Isaac Moses in Shane Flanagan and he could not cash in on that link. It makes their pursuit of Valentine Holmes more important.
Bunny business
There has been plenty of speculation about Wayne Bennett coaching two teams in the NRL at once: his current club, the Dolphins, and next club, South Sydney.
Now, that is disrespectful to rising coach Ben Hornby, who has achieved some success in his interim role at the Rabbitohs.
Wayne Bennett and Cameron Murray.
However, anyone who thinks Bennett is not in some way putting his stamp on the Rabbitohs is delusional. And here is the first-hand proof of Bennett having contact with Rabbitohs players. This photo (right) has emerged from the NSW State of Origin camp when Bennett was in the team hotel on the day of the 2024 series decider.
Those who saw the encounter say Bennett had a brief chat with Rabbitohs captain Cameron Murray and did so in full view of plenty of people. Whether the meeting was by design or coincidence is unknown, as Bennett was also seen having breakfast with ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys.
Bennett and V’landys have a strong relationship and the chairman often seeks the coach’s counsel. It’s a wise move from V’landys but may get him some criticism because there are some in the game who don’t want Bennett having a voice.
To V’landys’ credit, though, he will take counsel from many of the best minds in rugby league, including Bulldogs general manager Phil Gould and veteran Raiders coach Ricky Stuart. V’landys isn’t naive to the fact that NRL head office is not dripping with league experience, and hearing from those who know the game inside out can only benefit the code.
All quiet at Fox
Fox Sports continues to treat its viewers poorly, but the selective reporting hit a new low during the week. “Mr Two Hats”, as he is now known by his agent rivals – player manager and Fox League host Braith Anasta – sat in judgment of various managers in the game, which has been noted by a number of agents who are unhappy about it.
Worse than that conflict of interest, Anasta the journalist told viewers NRL360 broke the Brian To’o story. There is evidence across my social media and on Nine News this is not the case.
Of more concern are the stories they are ignoring. The Fox crew head up the Selwyn Cobbo cheer squad. They were very quiet during the week at a time when the Broncos star had to answer questions from the police about his domestic situation. Those who know Cobbo and his situation are aware he has not had football at the front of his mind for some time now.
The Cobbo issue is worth monitoring, and I’m being critical of those who have been spinning the “nothing to see here” narrative. It was claimed by Fox that News Corp did a deep dive into Cobbo’s situation during the Origin series. If they did, they would have uncovered that surely?