Parramatta's "one-year play" with the signing of premiership-winning five-eighth Jarome Luai has been heavily scrutinised, with the arrival of the Wests Tigers playmaker - who will join PNG for the 2028 NRL season - potentially restricting the development and exposure of Jason Ryles' young halves core.
Luai's surprise move to the blue and gold continues to raise questions over the Eels' squad build, with the Sydney club not seen to be in a "win-now" position despite Luai's arrival.
Speaking on the NRL Contract Show, Scott Pryde was critical of the Eels' signing of Luai, believing the likes of Joash Papalii, Ronald Volkman and Lorenzo Talataina could be negatively impacted.
"The Tigers didn't have a choice. They had won multiple wooden spoons and needed to bring in someone who knew how to win, and Luai was worth paying overs for at that point," Pryde said on this week's episode.
"The Parramatta Eels are another club struggling, but Jason Ryles has made it so clear over the last couple of years 'that you're either with us for the long haul and you're going to do it my way, or you're going to leave the club'.
"Ryles came in and got rid of a number of players. He dropped Dylan Brown last year. Then he went and signed Jonah Pezet, and maybe you could get your head around that one, as another year in the (NSW) Cup might've suited their young guys like Lorenzo Talataina, Joash Papalii and Ronald Volkman.
"What I can't understand is signing Luai for next year. It makes no sense to me. [Ryles] is now in a position where he's actually got players who are first-grade ready. Papalii is apparently going to leave the club. Volkman's form this year has probably been the bright spot in what has been a very miserable period for the Eels.
"Luai is now going to come in and kick [Volkman] back to the Cup, for a one-year play. Are the Eels a win-now team? The answer is now. They aren't going to win a premiership because they bring Jarome Luai in.
"It just doesn't make any sense."
