The Eels and Tigers meet in a battle of struggling western Sydney rivals, with Parramatta looking to build momentum and the Tigers desperate to snap a six-game losing streak.

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Matchday Details

Sunday 2 August – 4:05pm (AEST) – CommBank Stadium
📺 Broadcast: Nine / Fox League / Kayo
Referee: Liam Kennedy | Senior Review Official: Chris Butler

Wests Tigers: 1. Jahream Bula, 2. Junior Tupou, 3. Heamasi Makasini, 4. Patrick Herbert, 5. Sunia Turuva, 6. Jarome Luai (c), 7. Adam Doueihi, 8. Terrell May, 9. Apisai Koroisau, 10. Fonua Pole, 11. Samuela Fainu, 12. Sione Fainu, 13. Alex Twal, 14. Heath Mason, 15. Charlie Murray, 16. Alex Seyfarth, 17. Tony Sukkar, 18. Tristan Hope, 19. Starford To’a, 20. Javon Andrews, 21. Ethan Roberts, 22. Bunty Afoa.

Parramatta Eels: 1. Isaiah Iongi, 2. Brian Kelly, 3. Will Penisini, 4. Jordan Samrani, 5. Josh Addo-Carr, 6. Ronald Volkman, 7. Mitchell Moses (c), 8. Sam Tuivaiti, 9. Tallyn Da Silva, 10. Jack Williams, 11. Kelma Tuilagi, 12. Kitione Kautoga, 13. Jack De Belin, 14. Dylan Walker, 15. Junior Paulo, 16. Teancum Brown, 17. Harrison Edwards, 18. Joash Papalii, 19. Toni Mataele, 20. Araz Nanva, 21. Ryley Smith, 22. Jonah Pezet.

Match Preview

Round 22 concludes on Sunday afternoon at CommBank Stadium, with a battle between two western Sydney teams close to the bottom of the ladder, the Tigers and the Eels.

The Tigers sit in 16th and are riding a six-game losing streak. They’re coming off a 56-10 thumping at the hands of the Raiders last week. On the flip side, the Eels sit in 15th and have won two of their past five games, with a narrow 24-18 loss to the Panthers last week.

For the Tigers, Adam Doueihi returns at halfback after a disagreement with coach Benji Marshall saw him opt not to play last week. Rookies Javon Andrews and Ethan Roberts drop to the reserves, with Sione Fainu moving to start in the back row. Heamasi Makasini is named at centre, with Sunia Turuva shifting to wing, and Faaletino Tavana dropping out of the side. Jared Haywood is replaced on the bench by Tristan Hope, with Tony Sukkar and Charlie Murray also joining the six-man bench.

For the Eels, Luca Moretti is out due to concussion, with Kelma Tuilagi replacing him in the starting back row. Junior Paulo returns from injury on the bench.

The key for the Tigers is getting back to the basics and doing them right: run hard and tackle hard. It’s a simple game plan but they’ve failed to do that for the past six games. Before they can think about playing attacking footy, their discipline and effort areas need to improve. The return of Doueihi should help with the ‘run hard’ part — he’s at his best when he’s challenging the line with his running game from everywhere on the field. It remains to be seen how he re-integrates back into the spine after the events of last week where he chose to miss the Raiders game.

The key for the Eels is building pressure on the Tigers. History has shown the Tigers have struggled to maintain composure under pressure, so building pressure with goal-line drop-outs and repeat sets will go a long way to securing them a win. Their right edge in attack will be licking their lips coming up against the shaky Tigers left edge defence. There’s another new combination there this week with Jarome Luai, Samuela Fainu, Makasini, and Junior Tupou lining up on that side. Expect Mitchell Moses and Isaiah Iongi to carve up that edge in attack, with plenty of good ball to their outside backs.

The Tigers have won three of the past four clashes between the two sides at CommBank Stadium. Api Koroisau plays his 250th NRL game and Tallyn Da Silva plays his 50th NRL game.

Prediction

RLZ Tip: Eels by 16.
Full Round 22 tips → /nrl-round-22-predictions-2026/
Bold call: Mitchell Moses scores a double against his old club to secure a big win for the Eels.

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Brendan Wood

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