# 2018 Parramatta Eels season

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.

## 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.

## Standings

2018 NRL seasonvte :
| 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 | Match Information | Match Information |
| Round | Home | Score | Away | 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: ||||||||||

### Home and away season

| Round | Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information |
| Round | Home | Score | Away | 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 | Bye Round | Bye Round | Bye Round | Bye Round | Bye Round | 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: |||||||

## Players and staff

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

## Transfers

In:
| Pos. | Name | From | Transfer window | Date |
| PR | Kane Evans | Sydney Roosters | Pre-season | May 2017 |
| HB | Jaeman Salmon | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Pre-season | November 2017 |
| SR | Tony Williams | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Pre-season | November 2017 |
| LK | Ray Stone | Youth | Pre-season | November 2017 |
| HK | Reed Mahoney | Youth | Pre-season | November 2017 |
| CE | Dane Aukafolau | Youth | Pre-season | November 2017 |
| WG | Greg Leleisiuao | Youth | Pre-season | November 2017 |
| FB | Jarryd Hayne | Gold Coast Titans | Pre-season | December 2017 |
Out:
| Pos. | Name | To | Transfer window | Date |
| WG | Semi Radradra | RC Toulonnais (rugby union) | Pre-season | January 2017 |
| HK | Isaac De Gois | Retired | Pre-season | August 2017 |
| HB | Jeff Robson | Retired | Pre-season | August 2017 |
| WG | John Folau | Blacktown Workers | Pre-season | November 2017 |
| SR | Jack Morris | Wentworthville Magpies | Pre-season | November 2017 |
| SR | Cody Nelson | Blacktown Workers | Pre-season | November 2017 |
| PR | Rory O'Brien | Released | Pre-season | November 2017 |
| WG | Scott Schulte | Redcliffe Dolphins | Pre-season | November 2017 |
| WG | Honeti Tuha | Blacktown Workers | Pre-season | November 2017 |
| SR | Joseph Ualesi | Released | Pre-season | November 2017 |
| LK | Matthew Woods | Wentworthville Magpies | Pre-season | November 2017 |
| HB | Troy Dargan | Brisbane Broncos | Pre-season | December 2017 |
| PR | Frank Pritchard | Retired | Pre-season | January 2018 |
| SR | Kenny Edwards | Catalans Dragons | Mid-season | May 2018 |

## Controversies
### Tony Williams drink driving

On 14 February 2018, Tony Williams was fined $1,000, had his driver’s licence suspended for 12 months, and was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond after appearing in Parramatta local court for mid-range drink driving. Williams had insisted on driving home when his wife came to pick him up after a birthday celebration at the Albion Hotel in Parramatta on 16 December 2016. His three young children were in the car at the time. His driving was so erratic that members of the public called the police, who discovered Williams had a blood alcohol level of 0.122. "Shame on you, Mr Williams," Magistrate Jennifer Giles said at sentencing. She said the "community does not feel safe with you with a licence; you are exceptionally lucky you did not hurt or kill someone, or yourself." Williams also has handed a 2-week suspension by the club.

### Corey Norman drinking fine

In May 2018, Corey Norman was handed a breach notice by Parramatta and fined $20,000 for drinking alcohol and posting pictures of himself drinking on Instagram despite being on the injured list which is against team protocols. Norman reacted to the fine saying "I take full responsibility, I'll cop it on the chin".

### Kenny Edwards contract termination

On May 19, 2018, Edwards' contract with the club was terminated by mutual agreement as the player had been caught by police driving on a suspended licence. Edwards was alleged to have fled from police after trying to avoid a roadside breath test. Edwards subsequently failed to notify Parramatta of the incident for two weeks after it happened. Parramatta released a statement saying "Today, Kenny Edwards through his management company, request a release from his playing contract with Parramatta National Rugby League Club Pty Limited, this release was granted by the club effective immediately".

### Tony Williams and Nathan Davis failed drug test

On September 25, Davis and Williams were both terminated by Parramatta after failing a second drugs test. Both players were found guilty of testing positive for cocaine. As punishment, the NRL handed down a 12 match suspension and a fine to Davis and Williams.