Parramatta’s loss to the Wests Tigers in a spoonbowl replay from 2024 is the worst possible result for a team that was optimistically looking forward to starting the 2025 season. With the unexpected injury news ruling out their captain Mitch Moses and then announcement of Dylan Browns departure at the end of the current season, the news off the field couldn’t have gotten much worse. However, it has been the way the Eels have performed in their two games so far that is of real concern to fans.

Parramatta were looking for something different to spark their fortunes when they appointed Jason Ryles as their head coach for 2025 and beyond. Ryles is undoubtedly a talented coach and is highly regarded across the game, but as we have seen so many times before that doesn’t mean it will be an easy transition to becoming a head coach. Having made some bold calls in the off-season, notably to move on the clubs captain and fullback Clint Gutherson, it seemed that Ryles had a plan to make an instant impact at the club. Yet, two rounds into the start of the season and he might be starting to regret some of his decisions.

Of course, Ryles shouldn’t take the brunt of the blame for the situation the Parramatta Eels find themselves in and obviously injuries are out of his control. But he is the man with the responsibility to get them out of this slump and build them into premiership contenders once again. But, if the opening two rounds are anything to go by, they are a long way from being in contention. Conceding 56 to the Storm in the opening round was a tough start, but not completely unexpected given Craig Bellamy’s record in round one of the NRL, but being defensively weak to the Tigers is a much bigger red flag. Good defence wins you premierships, but bad defence wins you the wooden spoon.

The trouble is that it’s really hard to see how the Eels get better. Apart from Mitch Moses the only other player of note that is due to return from injury is Josh Addo-Carr who is unlikely to turn the team’s fortunes around on his own. The Eels are stuck with the players they have and they need some master coaching to be able to turn around their poor start to the season. It’s a tough initiation for a rookie coach, if Ryles can’t get a win in the next couple of games then the pressure is only going to ramp up. Regardless of being in rebuild mode, the Eels are a massive club that demands the best from their players and coaching staff. If they are in the mix for the wooden spoon once again this year then Jason Ryles might not be there in 2026.