Parramatta Eels Update

Proposed Centre of Excellence development

Parramatta Eels – Centre of Excellence

Ensuring the future strength of the Parramatta Eels on and off the field continues to be a key focus for the organisation. In partnership with the Hills Shire Council and the Federal Government, the Eels are currently building Australia’s largest community Rugby League facility at Kellyville Park in North Western Sydney. This facility will provide state of the art facilities for all forms of the game for men and women at the community and elite level and enhances the Eel’s commitment to grow participation in Rugby League. The Eels have continued to make progress throughout 2021, with two new dedicated playing fields being completed to ensure that the Club and community has 5 high quality Rugby League fields ready for 2022. Extensive design and planning has taken place with the aim to start construction of the Community Centre which will also include the match venue for our NSW Cup and Elite Pathways by mid-2022.

The 2021 season saw a second consecutive year of disruption and significant challenges for the NRL competition and its Clubs. While the Rugby League season started positively the COVID outbreak throughout NSW and Victoria in June 2021 saw the competition relocated to South East Queensland. With limited notice, a group of 41 of our players and staff together with their families were relocated north to ensure the competition could continue while the rest of the Club remained in Sydney and continued to provide support remotely. Our team started the regular season strongly, winning 13 of our first 17 games. A difficult period followed at the back end of the season, however the team responded well, including a memorable win to end the Melbourne Storm’s record equalling unbeaten streak. Our final regular season record of 15 wins and 9 losses resulted in a 6th placed finish. Following a strong win against Newcastle in the first week of the finals, the team delivered one of its most spirited finals performances in recent years, unfortunately going down in a courageous loss in the second week of the finals to eventual premiers Penrith. Despite the disappointment of falling short of our goal of winning a premiership, the Club has qualified for the finals in three successive years which is an achievement worth recognising and reflects the quality and consistency that has been embedded within our football program. We thank our Head Coach Brad Arthur, GM of Football Mark O’Neill, our captain Clint Gutherson, and our team of staff and players, as well as their families for their dedication to the Club during what has been another challenging year. From an individual achievement perspective, both Junior Paulo and Mitchell Moses were selected for State of Origin honours with Clint Gutherson joining the NSW squad for Game 3, while Reed Mahoney was also selected in the Queensland Origin squad. Isaiah Papali’i had a career best year taking out the Ken Thornett Medal, Nathan Hindmarsh players’ player award and making the Dally M team of the year. Eels Head Coach Brad Arthur also coached his 200th game making him the Club’s second longest serving Coach behind Brian Smith. From a whole of Club perspective one of the highlights of this season was the emergence of new talent across the Club. Seven players made their NRL debut including 4 local juniors in Will Penisini, Jake Arthur, Sean Russell and Samuel Loizou. This was the first time since 2013 that 4 local Juniors made their debut in the one season. The strong connection between our elite pathways and our NRL squad shows that the development Club philosophy is being put in place which is critical for the long-term success of the Club. Our Harold Matthews Cup team reached the grand final this season and our Knock on Effect Cup (2nd grade) team was in 3rd place when the competition ceased in July. The selection of 5 Eels players in the 2021 Emerging Blues squad and the addition of Simon Woolford, Michael Ennis and Paul McGregor to our coaching and development staff demonstrates the importance the Club is placing on player development and the commitment to ensure that our best young talent represents the Blue and Gold at the NRL level. This year also saw the departure of a number of players who have represented the Blue and Gold with pride. The Club extends its thanks to Blake Ferguson, Will Smith, Keegan Hipgrave, Joey Lussick, Michael Oldfield and Sam Hughes for their contribution and commitment throughout their time with the Eels. All of these players leave the Club with our best wishes for the next phase of their careers and with their contributions noted in our history. In what is an important milestone for the Club, in 2021 the Australian Rugby League Commission (ALRC) granted a license for the Eels to enter a team in the NRLW competition. The Club’s participation in the NRLW competition is directly linked to our commitment to growing the women’s game at all levels and the objective of providing world class facilities for women’s Rugby League within the Kellyville project. Our key signings in Simaima Taufa, Bo Vette-Welsh, Tiana Penitani, Kennedy Cherrington and Filomina Hanisi, shows how committed we are to being successful from our inaugural season. Eels old boy Dean Widders has been appointed as our first NRLW Head Coach with Andrew Patmore appointed to head up the women’s program. An advisory committee was also established to support our NRLW program’s mantra of creating memories and connection being brought to life. We look forward to their inaugural season in early 2022 with great excitement and anticipation. Finally, the Parramatta Eels NRL squad and staff would like to acknowledge and thank the Club’s corporate partners, members and fans for the amazing support received during the 2021 season as we look forward to a bigger and better 2022.