$1.2m elephant in the room, key spine voids as Eels hit reset with ‘unbelievable’ Ryles revolution
Greg Alexander believes the Parramatta Eels can return to the finals in 2025, provided Dylan Brown can up his game and help fill the void left by Clint Gutherson’s departure as Jason Ryles’ revolution kicks off.
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The Eels have undergone plenty of changes in the off-season with rookie coach Ryles coming on board on a four-year deal.
In a massive shake-up 13 players left the squad from last season, including stars Gutherson, Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Maika Sivo and young guns Blaize Talagi and Ethan Sanders.
In their place the Eels have signed seven recruits, including Zac Lomax, Isaiah Iongi, Jack Williams and Kitione Kautoga.
Alexander believes the decision to part ways with skipper Clint Gutherson and how Iongi goes in replacing him will be a huge factor in the Eels’ bid to climb back from 15th into finals contention.
However, he believes new skipper Mitchell Moses can help fill the void after a breakout season in the representative arena, despite playing just eight games for the Eels due to injury in 2024.
“No Gutho is a big one and I guess Parramatta fans and everyone are wondering whether that’s going to be the right reign pulled,” Alexander told foxsports.com.au.
“But Mitch Moses and Dylan Brown certainly have the ability.
“Mitch had a great season last year, although not a lot of footy. But he produced in Origin, played good club footy when he was out there and then played for the Kangaroos in the Pacific Championships win.”
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Brown actually topped the Eels for try assists last season in Moses’ injury enforced absence with 21, to go with 5 tries, 9 linebreaks and 67 tackle busts.
However, second on the list was Gutherson with 17, so the onus will be on Brown to step up even more in the veteran fullback’s absence.
Alexander believes Brown was great at times last season in a tough year for the club, but the gap between his best and worst performance was still too great.
“Dylan was probably not as consistent as you’d want him to be, but Dylan’s an elite player,” Alexander said.
“If Dylan has a good season and if Mitch and Dylan combine well, that might be enough to get the Eels into the finals at least.”
The Eels went from a grand final in 2022 to the Spoon Bowl in two years, which saw Brad Arthur sacked mid-season and Ryles instated as their new coach.
Alexander has no doubt that the Eels needed a reset, just like the Broncos and the Rabbitohs, but believes there is a key difference between the three clubs.
“A reset might be what they need,” Alexander said.
“There’s been changes to coaches at the Broncos and Souths, but they’re experienced coaches. in Michael Maguire and Wayne Bennett.
“I guess Jason’s the one that is an unknown, but we will wait and see.”
