Parramatta fans, here’s a fun team to contemplate as you try to put the horrors of the 2024 season behind you: a team of players who each played just one game of first grade for the Eels during the NRL era – from 1998 onwards.
How many of them can you remember?
1. Justin Hunt (2014) – The son of Eels’ great Neil Hunt, Justin looked for opportunities at several clubs before debuting for Souths in 2012 and then went on to join Parramatta in 2014 where his only first-grade appearance was in the Eels round 12 loss to the Penrith Panthers. He was also a one-gamer for Wests in 2016 and retired due to injuries at the end of 2017.
2. Tim Patterson (1999) – After 30 games for the Gold Coast Seagulls and Balmain across the 1995 and 1996 seasons, Patterson was stuck in the lower grades for the next couple of years before re-surfacing for his swansong first-grade game playing off the bench for the Eels in 1999 in their round 13 game against the Warriors. He retired at the end of that year.
3. Paul Whatuira (2011) – Now here’s a name that you should recognise. Whatuira had 198 first-grade games and 16 tests for NZ by the time he signed for Parramatta in 2011, then he retired after playing one game in the blue and gold.
4. Nathan Davis (2017) – The big outside back joined Parramatta from the Gold Coast in 2017 but failed to make an impression, playing just one first-grade game. He was released by the Eels the following year after his second offence in relation to the use of illicit drugs and that was the end of his NRL career.
5. Arthur Miller-Stephen (2023) – Miller-Stephen played his sole first-grade game to date in round 23 of the 2023 season and then missed the whole of 2024 after sustaining a knee injury. Still a youngster, hopefully, he will make it back to first grade sometime soon.
6. Lee Te Maari (2010) – Te Maari was building some career momentum after switching to the Bulldogs in 2007 but was then punted by the club at the end of 2009 for a series of Code of Conduct breaches. He joined the Eels in 2010 but managed just one first-grade appearance.
7. Marcus Perenara (2006) – A talented junior player, Perenara followed his older brother Henry to the Eels in 2006 where he played his only career first-grade game off the bench against Penrith in round 5.
8. Pele Peletelese (2010) – Peletelese was playing Queensland Cup before signing with Parramatta in 2010 where he played the only first-grade game of his career. He was released by the club at the end of 2012.
9. Ian Henderson (2005) – Born in England, raised in Australia and representing Scotland, Henderson played 281 games both here and in the UK in his 14-year career. He had only one game for Parramatta though in the half-season he spent there in 2005.
10. Trent Robinson (2002) – We all know that “Robbo” is a great coach, but he only ever played four games in the NRL, the last of which was for the Eels in their 54-0 demolition of Souths in round 22 of 2002. He finished his playing career in the south of France before taking up coaching.
Trent Robinson. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)
11. Nathan McMillan (2003) – One game off the bench was the sum of McMillan’s first-grade career prior to being released by Parramatta that same year.
12. Joseph Ualesi (2013) – The young giant spent five years with the Eels after joining them in 2013, but his only first-grade opportunity came in the Eels’ final game of the 2013 season when they went down to the Knights to the tune of 54-6. He was last seen playing for Oakdale workers in the Macarthur Conference.
13. Jay Bandy (1999) – Bandy was one of many talented youngsters whose careers were curtailed by injury. He debuted for the Eels in 1999 as a 20-year-old, playing just one first-grade game for the club, and then spent some time with both the Northern Eagles and Souths before his top-grade career came to an end in 2002.
So, Eels fans, how many of these players do you recall running out in the blue and gold?
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