The Eels are living to regret letting Clint Gutherson leave to join the Dragons after Jason Ryles side lacked leadership and a defensive organiser in conceding 88 points in the first two rounds.
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The Eels let big money contracts in Gutherson and Reagan Campbell-Gillard leave the club to free up salary cap space to fast-track their rebuild, but their younger players are now looking to leaders that are no longer at the club.
Phil Rothfield believes the Eels could have done with Gutherson’s leadership and organisation at the back as they were pulled apart by the Tigers and the Storm in consecutive weeks.
“They’ve conceded more than 80 points in the first two games, and we can understand a touch-up against Melbourne, but that performance yesterday against West Tigers was really, really poor,” Rothfield said on NRL 360.
“I think they were a completely leaderless football club, while Mitchell Moses isn’t on the field.
“They let Gutherson go last year. They let their clubman of the year Reagan Campbell-Gillard go. There was no one to lead the team.
“I watched that game yesterday and I thought they were leaderless.
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“And when they’re in trouble against a side like the Wests Tigers, I think a great leader would have rallied the troops a little bit better than what was going on out there.”
However, Brent Read believes the Eels had enough senior players on the field against the Tigers but not in the right positions.
“Junior Paulo is a former captain of that footy club, so you can’t say Junior Paulo is not a leader,” Read said.
“I think they were rudderless, rather than leaderless.
“I think they had leaders, but they had no one to take control of the footy team. Paulo can’t do it, he is a front-rower.”
But Rothfield believes the Eels made a grave error in letting Gutherson leave while under contract and should have kept him to help usher in the new wave of talent at the club for 2025 at least.
“He was under contract to Paramatta,” Rothfield said.
“They did not have to let him go.”
However, Read believes the Eels allowed Gutherson to earn a long-term contract elsewhere due to his service to the club.
“They weren’t going to give him a three-year deal, so they did the right thing by him,” Read said.
But Rothfield believes the Eels should have held their ground and made a tough stance to not move on such an important player before their team was ready to lose him.
“But you’re talking about a footy department,” Rothfield said.
“Gutherson was the Dragons’ best player (in Round 2) and they’re going a lot better than Paramatta.
“That Paramatta football department has stuffed up for many years. They could have stood firm and said to Gutherson, you’re playing out your contract here. No, they let him go.
“You can’t be nice and just set people up. You’ve got to win football games.
“He was under contract to the club. They were in no position to allow him to leave. He was the heart and soul of that rugby league team. He was to Parramatta what Nathan Cleary is to Penrith.
“I’m not saying they would have won with Gutherson, but we are being asked to explain 88 points and nearly 80 missed tackles in two weeks.
“They’ve got a kid out the back, and you know how important fullbacks are in defence and keeping things organised, particularly in young football sides.”
Gorden Tallis believes Ryles is having a tough initiation to coaching after coming from such strong clubs like the Roosters and Storm, who were full of veteran leaders.
“I think he’s learning how to coach,” Tallis said.
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“Sitting at a couple of power clubs that he did, being an assistant with great players.
“I think the way Paramatta have cleaned out their ranks, they’ve got a really young side and watching them yesterday I didn’t know the answers.
“The way Paramatta were playing in attack and defence, they’re just young, they’re inexperienced.
“Jason Ryles is there to do a job and when Mitchell Moses comes back, there’s no doubt that they will be a better side, but the poor kids didn’t have too many answers yesterday.”
However, Tallis believes until Moses returns, Dylan Brown has to be the man to step up.
“They had a guy that’s just been offered $13 million that’s going to run a side that was there,” Tallis said.
“I think young kids bring you enthusiasm when you play and the old guys have got to bring you stability and the leadership and they give you a bit of calmness on the field.
“But the old blokes didn’t and if they keep on waiting for Mitchell Moses, he’s been injured the last couple of years, so someone needs to step up and for me it was Dylan Brown.
“There’s no one there to step up. The fans booed him. I thought that might have sparked him to get the ball and go, well I’ll show you that I’m going to be wearing the blue and gold for the next 20 games and leave on a good note.”
Read agreed Brown has to lift his game.
“He couldn’t do it yesterday,” Read said of Brown.
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“I don’t think it matters what number is on his back, he’s the senior half out of those two guys.”
Rothfield couldn’t work out why Brown was not the focal point of the Eels’ attack and the first receiver.
“I don’t know how Ryles has structured the side and maybe he said, Volkman at No.7 you’re running the footy side,” Rothfield said.
“There must be some other reason for the fact that outside his first couple of runs, he (Brown) did nothing.”
However, Anasta believes Ryles would have made Brown the main man.
“There’s no way that Jason Ryles would have given the game plan and direction of the team to Volkman,” Anasta said.
“He would have given it to Brown, so Brown’s just missed his assignment.”
Rothfield shot back: “Well why doesn’t he pick him in the No.7 jersey then when they’re in this much trouble?”
Anasta believes Ryles is in a perfect Storm, but needs to be given time until Moses returns to develop his team with a chief playmaker.
“Ryles has got his hands full,” Anasta admitted.
“Not only has he taken on a new team with Gutho that’s moved on, Moses is out injured, his other key playmaker has signed with Newcastle and walked out on the club.
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“He’s trying to probably change a few systems in there defensively and in attack and he’s got players out of position. He’s got a young Volkman who’s come in, he’s not quite ready yet. The pack were awful yesterday.”
Anasta believes the Eels just don’t have the players to deliver in Ryles’ system at this stage of their careers.
“Ryles is renowned for his defence,” Anasta said.
“In Melbourne he did a great job with them with a totally different roster and team, but he showed how effective he can be as a coach in Melbourne with that.
“But he’s trying to implement that same system and process to a new club, a young team with players that aren’t really up to it at the moment. I feel sorry for Ryles.
“You look at the side, there’s not a heap of players to come back.”
However, Rothfield believes Moses won’t be a silver bullet and called on the Eels forwards to lift their game.
“They’ll get a better field position with Moses, but the way their forwards played yesterday, they’re not going to beat anyone, seriously,” Rothfield said.
“They’re going worse than the Dragons. They’re going as bad as the Cowboys.”
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