The Eels also have room to potentially fit incoming Dragons veteran Jaydn Su’A for the rest of 2026 as well before he takes up a three-year Parramatta deal for next season,though no approach has been made to St George Illawarra yet.

With only outside back Sean Russell returning from injury next week though,Ryles said the fact Parramatta have a third of their top 30 sidelined puts the onus on his senior players rather than the club’s latest batch of promising juniors.

“I’m not going to put young guys in and jeopardise their future,” he said.

“It’s really important they get the reps in at the right level,then make their way through to us… Whoever does come in for those guys that are injured,it’s really important they understand that NRL is a tough business and if you’re not ready to go right from the start,today happens.”

Most galling in the Eels slump to second-last on the ladder were several glaring defensive lapses,none more so than the non-existent kick chase that allowed Gold Coast livewire Keano Kini to engineer a length of the field try just 15 minutes into the contest.

Kini’s five-star showing was just reward for the Kiwi international and coach Josh Hannay,who has nursed him through a crisis of confidence in recent weeks.

“I said this to the kid during the week,I hate to tell this to you bud,but you’re gonna have more bad days in front of you,” Hannay said of the 21-year-old’s outlook on the game.

“It’s all in front of him,you know? So what he’s going through at the moment,he’s had a couple of games where he wasn’t at his absolute best,but his[bounce back] doesn’t surprise us.”

Hannay also noted the Titans growing defensive grit as he bids to turn around almost two decades of mediocrity on the Glitter Strip.

“I think the 50[points scored],people would associate 50 with this team and not 10 against with this team,” he said.

“But we’re changing our stripes and we’re becoming a grittier defensive footy side.”