The Eels have struggled to hang onto their juniors in recent years.
The Parramatta Eels have faced criticism for failing to retain rising standout Blaize Talagi. On Wednesday, the Eels announced that the 19-year-old will leave the club at the end of the NRL season and sign a three-year contract with the Panthers.
The teenage phenom debuted with a barnstorming performance in the Eels’ tight Round 3 victory over the Sea Eagles earlier this year. Talagi’s excellent debut performance, including a thumping try over Manly great Tom Trbojevic, drew notice to his immense potential in the NRL.
Parramatta pushed him to exercise his contract extension option. Despite the fact that numerous clubs expressed interest in signing him, the 19-year-old declined the opportunity. Talagi, the Eels’ long-term fullback, was a priority retention target, and the club was hopeful of a new agreement after hiring Jason Ryles as coach for the upcoming season. And the fact that he has still chosen to depart has been interpreted as a big failure on Parramatta’s behalf.
On Wednesday night’s NRL 360, Fox League’s James Hooper called the Eels’ failure to retain Talagi as a “shocking case of mismanagement”. Hooper was particularly critical of Parramatta’s choice to include player options in the contracts of elite players including Talagi, Dylan Brown, Mitchell Moses, and Will Penisini. The clause states that the player has until a specific round to exercise an option for the following year – in Talagi’s instance, Round 11 – and that if they do not, they are free to leave.
“For whatever reason they’ve allowed them to put these clauses in their contract and it’s bitten Parramatta where it hurts,” Hooper told the media. “I’ll tell you what, this is only the beginning of how bad things could get in Parramatta.”
“Mitchell Moses has a clause for 2027.” I believe he’ll be gone. Dylan Brown has the same clause (for 2026), as does Will Penisini. What Blaize Talagi’s story demonstrates is a lack of rugby league IQ at the very top of Parramatta.”
Braith Anasta agreed with Hooper, describing Paramattta’s recent inability to keep Talagi and juniors Greg Marzhew, Stefano Utoikamanu, Jaeman Salmon, Oregon Kaufusi, and Sam Hughes as “a disgrace”. “They can’t control or keep players at the club, so they include terms in their contracts that allow them to go. If I’m a Parramatta supporter, I’m filthy,” Anasta admitted.
Clint Gutherson backs Jason Ryles to shake things up
Parramatta fullback Clint Gutherson expects new coach Jason Ryles to make significant changes next season.Former Eels coach Brad Arthur favored a power approach that relied on forwards creating massive metres through the middle, then giving it over to players like Gutherson, Moses, and Brown to produce something close to the line.
However, with Arthur gone and the Eels lacking a particular style, Gutherson feels Ryles will mix things up and modernize their brand of football. “I believe we need to modernise. We missed the finals last year, and we’re on the wrong end again this year,” Gutherson explained. “The results definitely speak for themselves: we need to adapt our style since we haven’t been playing finals football.
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