Eels coach Jason Ryles had some confusing feedback on star recruit Jonah Pezet after he inspired Parramatta to a 40-32 comeback victory over the Broncos, who he will join in 2027.
A week after Pezet managed just six run metres, three errors, two missed tackles and no try involvements in a 52-4 loss to the Storm in his Eels debut, Pezet bounced back in style.
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The young five-eighth, who was signed to the Eels on a one-year deal for 2026, on route to a three-year stay at the Broncos from 2027, had two linebreak assists, four try assists and a try to pilot the Eels to a big upset in Round 2 after they were down 20-6 early.
However, Ryles put the breaks on heaping too much praise on his young playmaker in his post match press conference.
“Jonah is a work in progress and we knew that he was when he came to the club,” Ryles said.
“What was it? Four try assists, but there are some other parts of his game that we need to work on and he’s really aware of that.
“So whilst that is really pleasing for him, he has also got some areas of his game that we want to keep working hard on, so we will just keep working hard with him.”
Ryles was pressed on Pezet’s improved defence as he only missed two tackles and made 12, including a try-saver on Jordan Riki.
“Ah we will keep working on it,” Ryles said with a wry smile.
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Ryles was further pressed on what areas of Pezet’s game need to improve, but refused to go into specifics.
“No that is something we will work on individually because he’s done some really good things tonight and he has got a couple of things to work on and he is really aware of that,” Ryles said.
“We will get back to training on Monday and continue to do that.”
It was interesting that Ryles feels there is so far to go in Pezet’s development, given the club only has one season to get him up to speed and most of that work will be for the benefit of the Broncos, who he will join next season.
It begs the question why the Eels signed a half so early in his development for one season, when most of the work they will put into him in 2026 will be for the benefit of a rival club.
“He is 20 games into his career and we are really aware of that,” Ryles said.
“We are happy with where he is at, but like every player in our squad and even Mitchell (Moses) he has got things to work on and we will get back to training on Monday and we will do that.”
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Eels skipper Mitchell Moses echoed his coach’s sentiments when summing up what it has been like to combine with Pezet so far this season.
“He has been good,” Moses said.
“We both love our footy, so we talk footy all the time and it has been a pretty easy transition to be honest.
“There is definitely a lot of footy we can work on. We are probably not up to scratch yet, but it is a work in progress.
“I think we can play a lot better than we did tonight and there are a lot of areas we can try and work on and get better and we will look at that and try to get better, but there is still a lot of things to work on.”
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However, Ryles reserved more praise for his team as a whole, who fought back from 20-6 down to stun the Broncos, a week after being thrashed in their season opener against Melbourne.
“My only expectation tonight was that we fought hard and that we stayed in the contest every play,” Ryles said.
“When it did get to 20-6, it was 80 per cent possession against us and a lot of things were going against us like the six-agains, so the most pleasing thing for me above the result was the fact that is our footy club.
“You play for Parramatta, you fight for every play and you contest every play and we saw that in live action tonight.
“But the same time there is lots of things we need to work on and we will get our lessons again like we did last week and look to improve on those things.
“But the character shown by the group and the fight, that’s what a Parramatta player looks like.”