Parramatta Eels went into 2026 carrying one of the thinnest rosters in the competition, despite the additions of Jack de Belin and Jonah Pezet.
It was never going to be a quiet year for the club, with Jason Ryles coaching the blue and gold for his second season, a chance to prove the retooling period was real and that Parramatta were ready to compete after finishing 11th at the end of last season.
The Eels have 26 players in their top-30 squad, and a forward pack that has struggled to match it with the competition's elite, the club finds itself in the position that no recruiting department wants to be in mid-season scrambling.
With twelve players injured for a significant period of the season, including two players out for the rest of the season with ACL injuries, the market has options, a combination of expiring contracts, frozen-out stars and players looking for opportunity.
Here are six player the Eels should target for the remainder of this season either for loan or for long-term security.
5. Jesse McLean (Penrith Panthers)
Like his younger brother Casey, Jesse McLean had huge wraps when he was coming through the Penrith pathways and if the Eels wanted to bring in a talented outside back that in their minds should be playing NRL but is on a very good roster, than Jesse should be considered.
The Eels have struggled with yardage from their back three getting out of their own end and Penrith have thrived in getting backs with the ability to generate a running game that builds over the course of the game.
McLean against the Bulldogs in NSW Cup last weekend had 18 runs for 166 running metres with 51 post contact metres.
He leads the NSW Cup in tackle breaks in the first six weeks of the season with 29, offloads with 17 and has the most runs of every player in the competition.
In the off-season, Jesse was open to leaving if there were opportunities to get more first-grade playing time, with Josh Hannay interested in his servicess.
The Eels could potentiallly look at McLean as a team he would have all the opportunity in the world to succeed and have a spot in first-grade.
Both McLean brothers are signed until the end of the 2028 season, and with Penrith needing cap space to extend Thomas Jenkins, as well as have Brian To'o and Paul Alamoti on their books, it could benefit both teams with different goals.
At this point in the season, with many matches still to be played, I think it is unlikely that any club will be willing to let squad members leave and go to Parramatta.
The clubs have signed their players and squeezed them into the cap. In addition to their squad of 30 they will have “development” players but they can’t select any of them until after round 10.
Apart from which, the “development” players will be a step down in quality from the squad of 30, so losing a top 30 player and replacing him with a “development” player is weakening the squad.
Parramatta will still have to keep its contracted players in the squad of 30, so – unless they have spare slots in the squad, they can’t take on any extra players.
According to Zero Tackle’s squad list, the Eels have signed 28 squad members so far, so they have room to recruit only two more, for this season.
I don’t know how the loan system works in the NRL. I am guessing that – because of the salary cap and the squad number cap – the club releasing a player on loan continues to pay the player and keeps him as a nominal member of its squad.
That club (in theory) benefits when the player returns in the following season, because he has learned from different coaches and gained match experience. That increase in his worth will hopefully justify the money the club continued to pay him when they loaned him out.
As for Parra, the same problem will apply. Clubs are unlikely to loan decent players because there is a long season still to play.
So, yes, there is a list of half a dozen decent, under-utilized (or unhappy) players who might like to go to Parramatta for the rest of the season, but I think that the likelihood of any of them actually going there is pretty small.