On Saturday August 9 2025, the Parramatta Eels played the North Queensland Cowboys in what would be a golden finish with a Mitchell Moses field goal.
The game would also be remembered for several mistakes from Tallyn Da Silva, and Moses famously sprayed the 20-year-old dummy-half at the time.
At that point in the season, it was a stretch of potential career-defining moments, as he had been released by the Wests Tigers one month earlier.
Signing a four-and-a-half-year deal is significant in the NRL for any player, and Da Silva signed with the Eels to be their dummy half of the future after the Tigers decided to extend Apisai Koroisau and develop Jared Haywood instead.
It looked like an ambitious signing for the Eels after not landing Lachlan Galvin, and a lot of work had to be done in order for the signing of the once-was Wests Tigers promising star to be a legitimate hooker in the NRL after years of poor recruitment attempts to replace Reed Mahoney, who had left the Eels after the Grand Final loss in 2022 on a four-year deal with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
Ryley Smith made his way to the Eels before the 2025 season and quickly impressed with his quality play after the club's failed attempts with different options.
Josh Hodgson joined the Eels in 2023 after suffering an ACL injury in the first round of the 2022 season with the Raiders. He would medically retire in 2024
Joey Lussick and Brendan Hands would end up being released from their contracts due to their inconsistent form in the NRL and the club's plans to have a younger side around Mitch Moses.
Everyone who watched the Eels post the transfer deadline last season saw that Da Silva needed to improve and develop more, as he had poor service around the ruck and a mistake-riddled game.
Now, it's been 12 months since the game when Moses yelled at him, against the same team on Saturday, August 15, 2026, and Da Silva had his best game as a starting hooker in the competition.
Reed Mahoney and Tallyn Da Silva had incredible performances in Round 24, contributing to their team's scoring and penetrating the tryline defence.
Mahoney showed his service out of the dummy-half spot is as good as it was with the Eels, setting up his forwards for easy tries through gaps in Parramatta's defensive line.
The 21-year-old has developed the ability to scoop up the ball with one hand and accelerate from behind the play-the-ball, and has also made efforts as a support player in attacking sequences without the ball and against the Cowboys.
Da Silva scored two tries in the 32-30 win and helped Parramatta play a faster brand of football.
He has started in the number 9 jersey seven times this season, winning four of them, and since round 14 against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, the Eels dummy half has improved drastically.
The 21-year-old has explosive first-step speed and has grown to back himself into a gap when he recognises one.
Ryles has given Da Silva the confidence to back himself, and his playstyle and the willingness to play expansively have allowed their role players to tactically improve their game.
Players like Kitione Kautoga, Will Penisini, Jordan Samrani, and Jack Williams have become standouts in the role they play.
Against the South Sydney Rabbitohs in Round 23, Da Silva was indecisive, taking a step right then left, or vice versa, and the Eels would struggle to build any momentum or confidence from a set.
This season, there has been a role split with Ryley Smith starting at hooker for part of the season, allowing Da Silva to develop as an impact player off the bench.
Da Silva comes on when opposition markers become gassed in the second half and has improved from the game against the Cowboys last season, where he struggled to play within a structured play-the-ball game.
When it is Da Silva by himself, Ryles subs Harrison Edwards on the field to take some minutes at dummy-half and the Eels know that their 21-year-old dummy-half has started to recognise where they need him most.
In March this year, Da Silva recognised it was a hard transition and that by Round 3 against the St George Illawarra Dragons, he was starting to feel more comfortable.
Before Round 25 against the Dolphins on Friday night, he looks more comfortable than ever with what Ryles is asking him to do and how it translates on the field.
The numbers behind his playstyle and scoring involvement are historic, and what the Eels have inside their four walls has real substance, real promise.
His contract with the blue and gold runs until the end of the 2029 season.
The deal now looks like a really good play from their recruitment, despite recruitment as a whole struggling for many years.
In fact, the Eels only have Tallyn Da Silva, Isaiah Iongi, Mitchell Moses, and Jaydn Su'A at the club until 2029 or 2030.
This gives the club flexibility to be a major player in the market to construct its roster around a mostly young spine, given the club's public plans for Lorenzo Talataina to become their five-eighth in 2028.
In the seven games he has started, Da Silva leads hookers with line breaks (0.7) per game, tackle breaks (2.0), tries (0.6), and metres per run (11.3).
What's intriguing about the numbers is that while the eye test suggests he's eager to run more, he statistically looks to pass from the dummy-half spot more than his positional cohort in the NRL.
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In the NRL, he is the only dummy-half with an above-average pass-to-run ratio.
It doesn't mean he's a polished passer or that his service is impeccable; he definitely needs to improve in those areas and pick his moments better.
Instead, it means his tendencies indicate he doesn't lean into running with the ball as much as it has worked for him.
Da Silva, despite coming off the bench in 14 of 21 games this season, has tied the record for most tries in a regular season by a hooker in the NRL era, with 10 tries.
The most recent occurrence was Brandon Smith in 2021 with the Melbourne Storm, where he also won the Dally M Hooker of the Year.
With a spine next season that will consist of Iongi, Jarome Luai, Moses, and Smith/Da Silva, it has become clear that over the last 12 months, Da Silva as a player is worth investing in, and the Eels have certainly backed him to succeed.
