2018 Parramatta Eels season

StadiumANZ Stadium (Capacity: 83,500)
TIO Stadium (Capacity: 12,500)Avg. attendance11,175 (Home)
16,636 (Home & Away)Agg. attendance134,096 (Home)
199,633 (Home & Away)High attendance25,106 (24 March vs Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Round 3)Top scorersTries Jarryd Hayne (10)Goals Mitchell Moses (45)Points Mitchell Moses (106)

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The 2018 Parramatta Eels season was the 72nd in the club's history. Coached by Brad Arthur and co-captained by Tim Mannah, Beau Scott and Clinton Gutherson, they finished the NRL's 2018 Telstra Premiership in last place, and did not qualify for the 2018 NRL Finals Series.^[1]

Summary

For the 2018 season, Parramatta were predicted by many before the season to finish in the top 8 and challenge for the premiership. Those predictions were matched in the opening round of the season as Parramatta lead Penrith 14–0 early on but after a second half capitulation lost the game 24–14. In round 2, Parramatta were humiliated 54–0 by Manly at Brookvale Oval. Parramatta went on to lose the opening six games of the season before eventually winning their first game of the season defeating Manly 44–10 in round 7.

In round 8, Parramatta defeated Wests Tigers 24–22 to make it back to back victories for the club. The Eels then went on to lose the next five games in a row before eventually winning their third game of the season defeating North Queensland 20–14 in Darwin in which Jarryd Hayne returned from injury scoring two tries. The following weeks were filled with disappointment as the club came close to pulling off upset wins against top of the table St. George Illawarra only for the club to concede two tries in five minutes to lose 20–18 and South Sydney after leading 20–6 late into the game only for Souths to score late tries and win 26–20. In round 18, Parramatta lost 18–16 to Newcastle with the club being denied a last minute try after it was ruled winger Bevan French had put his foot over the sideline. The following week, Parramatta defeated arch rivals Canterbury 14–8 in what the media dubbed the "Spoon Bowl".

There were hopes that Parramatta could avoid the wooden spoon as going into the second last game of the season the club sat above North Queensland on the table due to for and against. In what was the retiring Jonathan Thurston's final home game, both clubs needed a win to avoid the wooden spoon. North Queensland won the match 44–6. In the final game of the season, Parramatta were defeated 44–10 by the Sydney Roosters ensuring that the club finished last and claimed their 14th wooden spoon and the Roosters claiming the minor premiership. Before the match, the Roosters needed to defeat Parramatta by 27 points to overtake Melbourne and finish first on the table.^[2][3][4]

Standings

v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Sydney Roosters	24	16	0	8	1	542	361	+181	34
2	Melbourne Storm	24	16	0	8	1	536	363	+173	34
3	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	16	0	8	1	582	437	+145	34
4	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	16	0	8	1	519	423	+96	34
5	Penrith Panthers	24	15	0	9	1	517	461	+56	32
6	Brisbane Broncos	24	15	0	9	1	556	500	+56	32
7	St. George Illawarra Dragons	24	15	0	9	1	519	472	+47	32
8	New Zealand Warriors	24	15	0	9	1	472	447	+25	32
9	Wests Tigers	24	12	0	12	1	377	460	−83	26
10	Canberra Raiders	24	10	0	14	1	563	540	+23	22
11	Newcastle Knights	24	9	0	15	1	414	607	−193	20
12	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	8	0	16	1	428	474	−46	18
13	North Queensland Cowboys	24	8	0	16	1	449	521	−72	18
14	Gold Coast Titans	24	8	0	16	1	472	582	−110	18
15	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	24	7	0	17	1	500	622	−122	16
16	Parramatta Eels	24	6	0	18	1	374	550	−176	14

Fixtures

Pre-season

Round	Home	Score	Away	Match Information
				Date and time (Local)	Venue	Attendance
1	Newcastle Knights	6 – 26	Parramatta Eels	Saturday, 24 February, 7:00 PM	Maitland No.1 Sportsground	6,526
Source:[5]

Home and away season

Round	Home	Score	Away	Match Information
				Date and time (Local)	Venue	Attendance
1	Penrith Panthers	24 – 14	Parramatta Eels	Sunday 11 March, 3:10pm	Panthers Stadium	21,506
2	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	54 – 0	Parramatta Eels	Sunday 18 March, 3:10pm	Lottoland	10,502
3	Parramatta Eels	4 – 14	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Saturday 24 March, 6:30pm	ANZ Stadium	25,106
4	Wests Tigers	30 – 20	Parramatta Eels	Monday 2 April, 4:00pm	ANZ Stadium	30,420
5	Parramatta Eels	6 – 12	Penrith Panthers	Sunday 8 April, 4:10pm	ANZ Stadium	10,061
6	Canberra Raiders	18 – 2	Parramatta Eels	Saturday 14 April, 7:30pm	GIO Stadium	12,328
7	Parramatta Eels	44 – 10	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Sunday 22 April, 2:00pm	ANZ Stadium	11,069
8	Parramatta Eels	24 – 22	Wests Tigers	Sunday 29 April, 4:10pm	ANZ Stadium	17,555
9	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	22 – 20	Parramatta Eels	Saturday 5 May, 7:30pm	Southern Cross Group Stadium	12,073
10	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	20 – 12	Parramatta Eels	Friday 11 May, 7:50pm	ANZ Stadium	15,683
11	Parramatta Eels	14 – 24	New Zealand Warriors	Friday 18 May, 6:00pm	ANZ Stadium	9,467
12	Brisbane Broncos	18 – 10	Parramatta Eels	Thursday 24 May, 7:50pm	Suncorp Stadium	21,555
13	Parramatta Eels	4 – 30	Newcastle Knights	Saturday 2 June, 7:30pm	ANZ Stadium	7,719
14	Parramatta Eels	20 – 14	North Queensland Cowboys	Saturday 9 June, 7:30pm	TIO Stadium	8,393
15	Parramatta Eels	24 – 42	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Thursday 14 June, 7:50pm	ANZ Stadium	8,047
16	St George-Illawarra Dragons	20 – 18	Parramatta Eels	Thursday 28 June, 7:50pm	WIN Stadium	6,933
17	Bye Round
18	Newcastle Knights	18 – 16	Parramatta Eels	Friday 13 July, 7:50pm	McDonald Jones Stadium	15,860
19	Parramatta Eels	14 – 8	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Thursday 19 Jul, 7:50pm	ANZ Stadium	8,437
20	South Sydney Rabbitohs	26 – 20	Parramatta Eels	Saturday 28 July, 5:30pm	ANZ Stadium	15,542
21	Parramatta Eels	28 – 12	Gold Coast Titans	Saturday 4 August, 5:30pm	ANZ Stadium	6,158
22	Parramatta Eels	40 – 4	St George-Illawarra Dragons	Saturday 11 August, 7:30pm	ANZ Stadium	10,541
23	Melbourne Storm	20 – 4	Parramatta Eels	Friday 17 August, 7:50pm	AAMI Park	12,136
24	North Queensland Cowboys	44 – 6	Parramatta Eels	Friday 24 August. 7:50pm	1300SMILES Stadium	25,095
25	Parramatta Eels	10 – 44	Sydney Roosters	Saturday 1 September, 7:30pm	ANZ Stadium	11,543
Source:[6]

Players and staff

The playing squad and coaching staff of the Parramatta Eels for the 2018 NRL season as of 16 July 2018.^[7]

Parramatta Eels

First team squad						Extended squad		Coaching staff
Daniel Alvaro – PR, LK Dane Aukafolau – CE, WG Kirisome Auva'a – WG, CE Nathan Brown – LK, PR Nathan Davis – WG, CE Kane Evans – PR Bevan French – FB, WG David Gower – SR, PR Clinton Gutherson (c) – FB, WG, FE Jarryd Hayne – FB, WG, CE Josh Hoffman – FB, WG, CE		George Jennings – WG, CE Michael Jennings – CE Cameron King – HK Greg Leleisiuao – WG, CE Reed Mahoney – HK Tim Mannah (c) – PR Suaia Matagi – PR, LK Manu Ma’u – SR, CE Tepai Moeroa – SR, LK Mitchell Moses – HB, FE Marata Niukore – SR, CE		Corey Norman – FE, FB Kaysa Pritchard – HK Jaeman Salmon – FE Beau Scott (c) – SR, LK Will Smith – FB, FE Ray Stone – LK, SR Brad Takairangi – CE, SR Peni Terepo – PR, LK Siosaia Vave – PR Tony Williams – SR		Oregon Kaufusi – PR, LK		Head coach Brad Arthur Assistant coaches Steve Murphy Joey Grima David Kidwell Nathan Cayless (ISP NSW coach) Dean Feeney (Jersey Flegg coach) Legend: (c) Captain(s) (vc) Vice-captain(s) Updated: 16 July 2018 Source(s): Eels Team Profiles

Transfers