Ryles: Eels' performance 'not good enough to beat a park football team'
Quick Look
- Parramatta Eels coach Jason Ryles heavily criticized his team's 32-12 loss to the South Sydney Rabbitohs, stating their performance was not even good enough for 'park football'.
- The Eels made numerous errors despite Mitchell Moses' 250th NRL game, while the Rabbitohs secured a comfortable win despite mid-game injuries forcing a debut for 18-year-old Dayne Jennings.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The Parramatta Eels suffered a significant 32-12 loss to the South Sydney Rabbitohs, marked by numerous self-inflicted errors and a poor completion rate, despite the return of star halfback Mitchell Moses for his 250th NRL game. The Rabbitohs secured the win despite losing two players to injury mid-game, which led to the unexpected NRL debut of 18-year-old Dayne Jennings.
Parramatta coach Jason Ryles has said his side's performance on Thursday night was not good enough to "beat a park football", going down 32-12 to the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Ryles bashed his walkie-talkie into the desk before smashing his fist through a wall in the box midway through the first half.
"She's pretty hot up there (in the box) sometimes," Ryles said.
Mitchell Moses returned to the Eels side for the first time since round 11, with the star halfback playing his 250th NRL match.
But the Eels were unable to celebrate their captain's milestone with a litany of errors costing them dearly at Western Sydney Stadium.
The Eels completed just 27 of their 41 sets, gave up two intercepts when attacking the goal-line which led to tries up the other end, and missed 41 tackles.
A very disappointed Ryles said the performance was not up to standard during his post-match press conference.
"Probably don't have the vocabulary to articulate how I actually feel. Disappointing is probably one way to put it," he said.
"Self-inflicted. They (Souths) didn't have to earn a whole heap of what they did tonight.
"They made their one-on-one tackles on the tryline; we didn't.
"We completed at 38 per cent in the second half, with 40 per cent possession.
"You won't beat a park football team doing that."
The Eels were down by 12 points early, but levelled the score early in the second half.
Repeated errors allowed the Rabbitohs to score four second half tries to win by a comfortable margin.
"Our good's good, and our bad is just nowhere near good enough," Ryles said.
Meanwhile, Souths will need to do a retrospective jersey presentation after 18-year-old Dayne Jennings was thrust onto the field for his NRL debut.
Leading 26-12 midway through the second half, Souths lost right winger Edward Kosi (leg) and fullback Jye Gray (HIA) within a couple of minutes of each other.
The double-blow forced Latrell Siegwalt, who was in the side for the injured Latrell Mitchell, from centre to fullback and captain Cameron Murray from lock to centre.
Jennings moved onto Kosi's right wing, earning a debut that Bennett said was not intended.
"That's why we bought Dayne in, in case we have those problems", Bennett said.
"We haven't done a jersey presentation for him yet because it wasn't my intention to play him unless we absolutely had to.
"But we absolutely had to tonight and he did a good job for us."
Speaking with ABC Sport after the 20-point win, Murray praised the versatility of his teammates for being willing to play multiple positions.
"No matter where anyone gets put, they just do a job for us," he said.
"It's a good mentality to have, it's what you need in today's game.
"We've got a bunch of footy players here who just love turning up and love playing footy."
Open Questions
- What is the exact prognosis for Edward Kosi's leg injury and Jye Gray's HIA?
- How will Parramatta Eels address their performance issues and high error rate?
- What are the long-term plans for Dayne Jennings in the Rabbitohs squad?
