Regular season
March
The Eels started off the season with a trip to AAMI Park against the Melbourne Storm, who had won the past 22 round 1 games in a row. [6] Isaiah Iongi, Zac Lomax, Ronald Volkman, Jack Williams, Ryley Smith and Sam Tuivaiti all made their debuts, where Volkman replaced Mitchell Moses who sustained his foot injury. The Eels had a poor start to the game and were dominated by the Storm, conceding 8 tries by half-time and found themselves trailing 46–6. [6] In the second half, Parramatta grabbed a couple of tries thanks to Will Penisini and Iongi, ended the game with a loss of 56–18 and were ranked bottom of the table. [6]
In the second game, the Eels faced the Wests Tigers at home, under the 37 degrees heat at kick-off. [7] Jordan Samrani and Kitione Kautoga both made their debuts following their transfers from the Bulldogs. Both teams had chances but could not find a way through in the first 25 minutes, then Parramatta conceded three tries afterwards up until half-time. [7] Three more tries were scored by the Tigers in the second half, where winger Sunia Turuva scored his second and third tries to complete a hat-trick. The Eels could not find a way through until the 79th minute, when winger Sean Russell scored a try to avoid blanking on points, ending with a score of 6–32. [7]
Parramatta then hosted local rivals Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at CommBank Stadium. Dean Hawkins replaced Volkman at halfback on his club debut, whereas winger Josh Addo-Carr scored a try on debut against his former club. [8] The Eels conceded three tries and scored one in the first half through Penisini, and an early try by Addo-Carr in the second half had the Eels regain momentum. [8] Parramatta built up pressure and came close to scoring, but errors had stopped them from a second-half comeback. The Eels then conceded a late penalty inside their half, Stephen Crichton converted it and ended the match 8–16. [8]
The Eels were up against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles at 4 Pines Park in their final game in March. Joe Ofahengaue played his milestone 200th NRL game, scoring a try in the second half. [9] Both team had chances in the first half, but the Sea Eagles came out on top and had a 12–0 lead. The second half saw Manly extending their lead to 14 points, but Ofahengaue's try would bring the Eels back temporarily. [9] That was until Manly scored two tries and sealing the win, but Shaun Lane grabbed a consolation try in the last minute, adding to the final score of 26–12, which would see the Eels end the month at bottom of the table. [9]
April
Parramatta started April with a home game against the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the Multicultural Round. Lomax converted an early penalty to give the Eels a 2-point lead, which was cancelled out by a try from the returning Gutherson to his old ground. [10] Dylan Walker made his debut off the bench, then the Eels found an equaliser from winger Addo-Carr, but Gutherson later provided an assist and scored his second try for the Dragons. After being down at 8–20, Parramatta scored two consecutive tries from Iongi and Kautoga to level the score. [10] Late penalties converted from both sides would end the game 22–22 at normal time, as Lomax stepped up to score a field goal in golden point following an error from the Dragons, to seal Parramatta's first win of the season. [10]
The Eels then battled the Canberra Raiders in their final home game in the heat of Darwin, Northern Territory. Raiders' early lead was equalled to by a Dylan Brown try, followed by three more tries by Canberra leading up to half-time. [11] The Eels came out into the second half with Addo-Carr scoring, but Canberra converted a penalty goal to regain a 14-point lead. [11] Canberra turned up their pace and scored another 24 points in 20 minutes to finish at 12–50, the Eels would end their journey up north with yet another big defeat. [11]
An away game against the Wests Tigers in Parramatta were up next in the yearly Easter Monday match, where Mitchell Moses returns to his familiar halfback position back from foot injury. Sean Russell opened the scoring with a penalty goal, followed by an Addo-Carr try from a Moses 40–20 kick. [12] The Tigers hit back with two consecutive tries in 5 minutes, but the Eels responded with Iongi scoring in the corner to tie up the first half 10–10. Parramatta came out of the second half scoring three tries in 6 minutes, which includes Tuivaiti's first try in a first grade match. [12] Turuva of the Tigers and the Eels' Luca Moretti were sin-binned in the 53rd minute for throwing Ryley Smith onto the ground and for striking respectively, Iongi was also binned for professional foul five minutes afterwards. [12] With a one-man advantage, Tigers scored two tries in 6 minutes to put the score at 22–26. The game then ended 22–38 after Parramatta scoring two more converted tries, the Eels came out victors for the second time in the season, and were ranked joint bottom on the ladder.
A bye in the ANZAC round of round 8 took the Eels up to 16th place with 6 competition points.
May
The Blue and Gold army travelled to Brisbane to play the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in this season's Magic Round. The Sharks strike first through Kayal Iro, the Eels hit back with an Addo-Carr try. [13] Cronulla went on to score another try to lead 6 points at half-time, followed by 2 further tries in 7 minutes. [13] The Eels hit back with Addo-Carr scoring his second and Dylan Brown adding to the tally 2 minutes afterwards, making good use of the one-man advantage from a Sharks sin-bin. Cronulla sealed the game with the second try of winger Samuel Stonestreet and a late penalty goal, finishing the contest 28–18 and putting the Eels back to 17th. [13]
Parramatta welcomed the Dolphins at home in the Women in League Round. [14] Dolphins opened the scoring first, but Bailey Simonsson scoring his first try of the season alongside a Russell penalty goal would equal the score 6–6 at half-time. [14] A 6-point lead early in the second half was established by a converted try scored by Matt Doorey, but the Dolphins turned the tie around by scoring a quick-fire double in 4 minutes, despite Dylan Brown scoring a 4-pointer in the 72nd minute, Parramatta lost 16–20 and conversion accuracy proved to be the difference. [14]
The Eels took a trip up north to Newcastle next in round 11. [15]
In round 12, an origin-struck Parramatta side hosted the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. [16]
June
To start off June, the Eels played their rivals Penrith Panthers in the Western Sydney Derby in Parramatta. [17]
Next up was the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the annual King's Birthday match. [18]
Round 15 was the second bye week, the Eels remained in 16th on the ladder with 12 competition points.
Parramatta then hosted last-place Gold Coast Titans at CommBank Stadium. [19]
The Eels ended the June fixtures with an away game in Wollongong facing the St. George Illawarra Dragons during the Beanie for Brain Cancer Round. [20]
July
The final bye of the season saw Parramatta remain in 15th on the ladder.
The second Western Sydney Derby against arch-rivals Penrith Panthers were up next. [21]
Six days later, the Eels travelled down to the capital to play the top-ranked Canberra Raiders. [22]
The Blue and Gold army then travelled to Suncorp Stadium to face the Brisbane Broncos. [23]
July ended for Parramatta with a game hosting the Melbourne Storm. [24]
Jason Ryles 
