One of three Parramatta Eels players to be named in the 2024 Australian Schoolboys squad, hooker Lachlan Coinakis is one of many talented young players coming through the club's pathways system.

Although the Parramatta Eels have failed to reach expectations over the past couple of seasons since making the 2022 NRL Grand Final, they still boast some of the best up-and-coming talents in rugby league and were seconds away from clinching the 2025 SG Ball Cup title.

With Jason Ryles already handing first-grade debuts to Ryley Smith, Sam Tuivaiti, Toni Mataele and Joash Papalii, several players that competed in the Under-19s competition are likely to follow in their footsteps in the coming years.

One of these players is hooker Coinakis.

Seen as a highly intelligent dummy-half with incredible passing ability from the ruck and an elite defender, Coinakis is coming off an impressive 12 months which saw him named in the Australian Schoolboys squad, reach the SG Ball Cup Grand Final and win the 2024 Peter Mulholland Cup with Patrician Brothers Blacktown.

Recently agreeing to a new contract extension with the Eels until 2027, the youngster revealed to Zero Tackle that it'd be a dream to wear the Parramatta jersey in the NRL having grown up in the club's system.

"I've been in the Parra comp since I was six years old through the juniors and then started playing for Parramatta at 14," Coinakis toldย Zero Tackle.

"It's the best (wearing the jersey). We're all best mates and best mates look after each other on the field.

"It'd be the best to play in the NRL. Just want to keep chipping away and going through the ranks and putting in effort."

Set to start training with the first-grade squad next pre-season, he will be able to learn off the likes of NSW Blues and Kangaroos halfback Mitchell Moses and Ryley Smith, whom he is likely to form a one-two punch with down the road.

"Famiy's everything to me. They're first and I love them," Coinakis said when asked about the importance of his family to his rugby league journey.

"They drive me every single day."