Updated ,first published
Jason Ryles concedes Parramatta fans “are well within their right” to boo his beleaguered side after the worst performance of his Eels coaching tenure and their worst loss on home soil in 31 years.
Sunday’s 52-10 thrashing from the Gold Coast was Parramatta’s heaviest defeat at home since the bad old days of the mid-1990s, when Broncos icon Darren Lockyer made his debut in a famous 60-14 trouncing of the Eels in 1995.
Ryles and captain Mitchell Moses cast despondent figures after leaking nine tries to an improving Titans outfit and the 220 points conceded by Parramatta in six outings (at almost 38 points a game) ranks as the third-most at this point in a season in the NRL era.
The Eels coach is quite literally hamstrung on some personnel fronts by a bulging casualty ward as he lamented the defensive frailties that drew jeers and boos by full-time at CommBank Stadium.
“We just got 50 put on us at our home ground, so the fans are well within their right to be doing that,” Ryles said. “They’re a huge part of what we’re doing and it’s disappointing that we performed like that in front of them.
“I’m not going to blame the injuries. Teams go through those periods in seasons … but right across the board, we just need to get to the bottom of why we lacked that desire today, which I’ve not seen at all from this group in the 18 months that I’ve been here. Not for one second. So that was probably the most disappointing part.”
Interchange forward Sam Tuivaiti will join the likes Jonah Pezet, Isaiah Iongi, J’maine Hopgood, Bailey Simonsson and several others on the sidelines when they play host to Canterbury next Sunday after he suffered a heavy concussion in defence.
Back-rower Kelma Tuilagi was also ruled out by a category one HIA, though Ryles hinted the club may push for a review pending his recovery this week.
The Eels also have room to potentially fit incoming Dragons veteran Jaydn Su’A for the rest of 2026 as well before he takes up a three-year Parramatta deal for next season, though no approach has been made to St George Illawarra yet.
With only outside back Sean Russell returning from injury next week though, Ryles said the fact Parramatta have a third of their top 30 sidelined puts the onus on his senior players rather than the club’s latest batch of promising juniors.
“I’m not going to put young guys in and jeopardise their future,” he said.
“It’s really important they get the reps in at the right level, then make their way through to us… Whoever does come in for those guys that are injured, it’s really important they understand that NRL is a tough business and if you’re not ready to go right from the start, today happens.”
Most galling in the Eels slump to second-last on the ladder were several glaring defensive lapses, none more so than the non-existent kick chase that allowed Gold Coast livewire Keano Kini to engineer a length of the field try just 15 minutes into the contest.
Kini’s five-star showing was just reward for the Kiwi international and coach Josh Hannay, who has nursed him through a crisis of confidence in recent weeks.
“I said this to the kid during the week, I hate to tell this to you bud, but you’re gonna have more bad days in front of you,” Hannay said of the 21-year-old’s outlook on the game.
“It’s all in front of him, you know? So what he’s going through at the moment, he’s had a couple of games where he wasn’t at his absolute best, but his [bounce back] doesn’t surprise us.”
Hannay also noted the Titans growing defensive grit as he bids to turn around almost two decades of mediocrity on the Glitter Strip.
“I think the 50 [points scored], people would associate 50 with this team and not 10 against with this team,” he said.
“But we’re changing our stripes and we’re becoming a grittier defensive footy side.”
