Jason Ryles can only hope that’s as bad as it gets after copping a 56-18 hammering from Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park on Sunday in his debut as Parramatta’s head NRL coach.
Ryles was shown no sympathy by his former mentor, Storm maestro Craig Bellamy, who extended his extraordinary unbeaten record in round-one matches to 23-0.
Ryles spent a number of years in the Melbourne system – first as a player, and then as an assistant to Bellamy – and had a fair idea what to expect first-up against the defending minor premiers, in prime condition after the pre-season and hungry to make amends for their grand final defeat to Penrith last year.
“They’re not the premiership favourites for no reason … they went within a shandy of winning the premiership last season, and they’ve strengthened their list,” Ryles said afterwards. “It’s just a reflection of where we’re at, right at the minute, but we’ll improve.”
Ryles said the Storm “made us pay for our little errors” but was confident his young tyros would learn from the experience.
“The reality of it is they need to play more footy, and the only way they’re going to play more footy is if we put them out on the field with these [senior] guys,” Ryles said.
Ryan Papenhuyzen celebrates a try against Parramatta.Credit: Getty Images
“And I know that they’re not going to be flash-in-the-pan players. They’re going to be around for a number of years.”
On paper, Sunday’s clash appeared a likely mismatch before a ball had been kicked. The Storm were almost at full strength, with new signing Stefano Utoikamanu slotting neatly into the front row for the suspended Nelson Asofa-Solomona.
Parramatta’s line-up, meanwhile, was missing big names Mitchell Moses, Josh Addo-Carr, Shaun Lane, Ryan Matterson and Bryce Cartwright.
Ryles instead deployed a new-look squad including six players – Isaiah Iongi, Zac Lomax, Ronald Volkman, Jack Williams, Ryley Smith and Sam Tuivaiti – who were making their debuts for the club.
“I couldn’t be too critical.”
Storm coach Craig Bellamy after his side’s 56-18 victory
What ensued was the baptism of fire Ryles had no doubt been hoping to avoid.
The Storm led 46-6 at half-time after a scoring spree that delivered eight tries for the home team. Parramatta at least regrouped to outscore the home side 12-10 in the second half, but Bellamy felt the match “fizzled out”, largely because it kicked off in 34-degree heat.
“I couldn’t be too critical,” Bellamy said. “I thought our first half was, we started exactly the way that we wanted to start, and then we just continued on with that for the rest of the 40 minutes.
“It was always going to be tough for both teams, with conditions that hot.”
The procession started in the sixth minute, when Ryan Papenhuyzen scored rather fortuitously after he attempted to pass and it was batted down by Volkman, only for the Melbourne fullback to regain the ball and dive over.
Six minutes later, the floodgates burst open when Storm five-eighth Cameron Munster slipped a short ball and prop Josh King charged through the centre of the ruck to score.
Ryan Papenhuzen goes over for a try.Credit: NRL Photos
By half-time, a cricket score appeared on the cards. Papenhuyzen already had two tries to his name, as did winger Xavier Coates.
Parramatta’s plight was succinctly summed up a loose pass in the 35th minute, when they had a rare attacking opportunity. The ball bounced up opportunely for Storm centre Nick Meaney to race 87 metres and score untouched.
The only respite for the Eels in the first half came in the 38th minute, when five-eighth Dylan Brown chip-kicked and centre Jake Tago caught it cleanly to score.
Normal service resumed two minutes later, when Melbourne worked a set play from a scrum win and Papenhuyzen streaked away to score.
To their credit, Parramatta showed some character after Ryles’ first half-time address as a head coach.
They kept the Storm scoreless for the first 15 minutes of the second stanza, and actually dominated for a period before finally conceding when Storm winger Will Warbrick latched onto an intercept and raced 90 metres to score, in his 50th NRL game.
That brought up Melbourne’s half-century, and two minutes later Storm half Jahrome Hughes backed up centre Jack Howarth to score his team’s 10th try of the game.
A Will Penisini try in the 69th minute stemmed the one-way traffic and also ensured the Eels would avoid an unwanted record – the heaviest round-one defeat in rugby league history.
That page in the game’s annals remains the property of the now-defunct University club, who copped a 63-0 drubbing from South Sydney back in 1937, in the days of three-point tries.
An Iongi try in the 78th minute provided some consolation for the Eels, ensuring they “won” the second half 12-10. Not that they have any competition points to show for it.
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