New Eels coach Jason Ryles has broken his silence on the Parramatta squad following the departure of 11 players, including Reagan Campbell-Gillard, and suspicions over the future of Clint Gutherson.
Ryles has wasted no time in overhauling the squad that finished third in 2024, with Campbell-Gillard departing along with 10 other players.
“It’s exciting, obviously we’ve got some top players in some of our key positions, which is exciting for me,” Ryles said in his first interview as Eels coach on Parraeels.com.au.
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“I’m fortunate to work with these guys and I think I can help them with their football as well as our coaches.
“We’ve got a really good mix of experience there and youth as well, so there’s a few guys there just under the surface that I think are ready to start their NRL journey and then continue their journey as well.
“I’m very excited about where our roster is at the moment. We still have some work to do with filling some spots and things like that in the future.
“But it is something we will be very strategic about. But we also have to make sure that we have that connection with our pathways and just transition those guys into first grade, whether they come this year or the next couple of years.
“It’s a pretty broad scope, but I’m really excited about some of the players we have here.”
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The Eels will welcome Zac Lomax and Isaiah Iongi next season and Ryles is looking forward to what they will bring to the club and the star players he already has on his books.
“We still have a few spots to fill, but Isaiah and Zac are really exciting candidates for us,” Ryles said.
“They’ll make us a little faster around the field. And then Zac adds a little bit of that X-factor as well.
“I’m really excited to get to work with him and obviously Mitchell Moses and Dylan Brown and those guys speak for themselves. It is an exciting challenge that I am looking forward to.”
However, one former representative star who won’t be with the Eels in 2025 is Campbell-Gillard. Ryles explained his reasons for letting him go despite having one year left on his contract.
“I think this was just an opportunity for both sides,” Ryles said.
“There we came to an agreement where it was best for both of us. I couldn’t guarantee what the team would look like after 2025 and then he now had the chance to extend his career.
“So I didn’t want to get in the way of him doing that and ultimately decisions have to be made and that’s just part of the game and what we sign up for.
“It’s nothing personal. I thought that in the future I would want to do what was best for him. Then make a decision for our club for the future.”
Ryles joins the Eels after stints at the Roosters and Storm, both of whom have signed halfbacks in Sam Walker and Jahrome Hughes.
So he knows how important it is to have a permanent number 7 and most important playmaker in Mitchell Moses.
“I’m excited to be working with Moses, I was really happy to have Mitchell watching Origin,” said Ryles.
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“Obviously I’m a New South Welshman and he dominated those two games and was a big part of the reason why New South Wales won the series.
“So it’s very exciting, both as his future coach and then also as a supporter of the Blues and to see him in person perform the way he did on such a big stage. So it’s another exciting opportunity to work with him.”
There are some suspicions surrounding Eels skipper Clint Gutherson’s future at the club amid links with the Dragons.
Ryles gave a telling answer when asked whether Gutherson, who is out of contract at the end of 2025 and free to negotiate with rivals from November 1, is in his long-term plans.
“Yeah, he’s a big part of the plans right away, you know,” Ryles said.
“Obviously he is one of the highest effort players in the entire league. I’ve been a bit of an admirer of his for a long time.”
However, Ryles’ first focus is to have his coaching team put a preseason plan in place so that when the players return to training, they are ready to go from day one.
“Just to make sure we get our preseason right and we started planning for that,” Ryles said.
“We want to base our game on effort, on consistency and then also make sure that we work very hard on our culture and our connection with each other.
“And then also our community, our fans and our members, so that’s a huge priority for me going forward. And that is something we have already started working on.”
