Seven teams are separated by just three competition points in one of the most wide open wooden spoon battles in NRL history.
From the Cowboys in 11th on 19 points to the gaggle of Eels, Knights, Titans and Rabbitohs on 16 with the Dragons and Tigers sandwiched in between, there is a growing air of desperation and dread that they may be the team lumped with the NRL’s only wooden “silverware”.
In the pre-season, the bookmakers nominated eight teams as the likeliest recipients of this unwanted honour, listing those clubs at odds under 20/1.
They were grossly wrong with two of those outfits – the Raiders are in top spot after 21 rounds with 16 wins from 19 starts and on track for the minor premiership while the Warriors are in fourth.
The Dolphins were also bunched with the pre-season candidates for the spoon but they are up in eighth and an even-money chance of qualifying for their maiden playoff tilt.
St George Illawarra, Newcastle, the Eels, perennial “contenders” Gold Coast and reigning three-time spooners Wests Tigers were also in the bookmakers’ spoon candidates in the pre-season.
North Queensland, arguably the biggest disappointments of 2025, are the only team that has fallen well short of expectations to be mired in the fight to avoid the spoon.
Parramatta were the only team this year which pretty much declared they were in rebuilding mode.
A rookie coach in Jason Ryles plus cut-throat decisions to tell Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Clint Gutherson they were surplus to requirements added up to expectations lower than an eel’s belly.
And it only got worse when they conceded 46 points to Melbourne in the opening 40 minutes of the season. The all-time record loss of 91-6 could have been in play if the Storm maintained their intensity in the second half but they took their foot off the throats.
Perhaps it was Craig Bellamy’s way of going easy on his long-time assistant in Ryles but the 56-18 scoreline suggested the blue and gold rebuild would be long and painful.
Jason Ryles. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Three more losses followed before the overhauled Parra machine started cranking into gear.
A tick under five months later and the Eels lock horns with the Storm again on Thursday night with an almost totally different team in personnel and reputation.
Middle forwards Junior Paulo and J’maine Hopgood, outside backs Zac Lomax and Sean Russell, hooker Ryley Smith and forwards Jack Williams, Charlie Guymer, Matt Doorey and Sam Tuivati are the only survivors from Round 1.
Since their winless opening month, the Eels have won six of 14 matches. Not world beating by any stretch of the imagination but the signs for the future are promising.
Fading former stars Joe Ofahengaue, Ryan Matterson, Shaun Lane and Bryce Cartwright were shuffled out of the club and Knights-bound five-eighth Dylan Brown dropped to the bench.
Ryles’ youth policy has borne fruit with fullback Isaiah Iongi, five-eighth Joash Papalii, Smith, Guymer, Kitione Kautoga and mid-season Tigers recruit Tallyn Da Silva giving Eels fans hope that the steep drop-off in results following the drought-breaking 2022 grand final appearance could be followed by a rapid rise back up the ladder in the next year or two.
The additions of quality finishers in Josh Addo-Carr and Zac Lomax out wide has given the Eels a spark in attack, making the most of the brilliance created by Mitchell Moses.
Far too often in previous seasons, Moses would conjure up half-breaks or golden chances for his teammates but Parra lacked the class in the outside backs to cash in on the scoreboard.
Mitchell Moses breaks through. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Moses has only played seven matches this season after being restricted to eight last year.
If he has a clean bill of health next season, the Eels have the ingredients to be playoff contenders.
Moses was at his scheming best in his comeback from a calf injury in last Friday’s 22-20 upset at Suncorp Stadium, bringing the rampaging Broncos’ five-game winning streak to a shuddering halt.
“Mitchell’s been on board since day one since I started. He’s growing as a person and as a leader in and around our club and I think that’s transferring into the other players,” Ryles said on Wednesday.
“Mitch is a competitor. He wants to win everything he does, literally – he wants to win the walk to the bathroom.
“He’s pushing the players every time we come to training.
“Hopefully he can play a few more games before the year is out.”
After their rematch with the Storm, the Eels have three more matches at home in the ensuing five rounds.
On current form, they should be too strong for the Cowboys, Rabbitohs and Knights while they will be no pushovers for the Roosters and Warriors as they try to build momentum leading into the playoffs.
For the first time in a long time, no one is mentioning 1986 and Parramatta’s monumental premiership drought.
If they continue on their current trajectory, it won’t be too long before that topic starts to become a tantalising prospect for the long-suffering Eels faithful.
