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2016 Parramatta Eels season
NRL Rank	14th
Play-off result	DNQ
World Club Challenge	DNQ
Auckland Nines	Champions (Won 22–4 vs New Zealand Warriors, Grand Final*)
2016 record	Wins: 13; draws: 0; losses: 11
Points scored	For: 298; against: 324
Team information
CEO	John Boulous
Coach	Brad Arthur
Captain	Kieran Foran Tim Mannah
Stadium	Pirtek Stadium (Capacity: 20,741) ANZ Stadium (Capacity: 83,500) TIO Stadium (Capacity: 12,500)
Avg. attendance	13,929 (Home) 16,739 (Home & Away)
Agg. attendance	167,144 (Home) 401,740 (Home & Away)
High attendance	31,815 (24 March vs Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Round 9)
Top scorers
Tries	Bevan French (19)
Goals	Michael Gordon (71)
Points	Michael Gordon (162)
← 2015 List of seasons 2017 →

The 2016 Parramatta Eels season was the 70th in the club's history. Coached by Brad Arthur and co-captained by Kieran Foran and Tim Mannah, they competed in the NRL's 2016 Telstra Premiership.

Summary

Prior to the start of the 2016 NRL season, the Parramatta club faced the prospect with starting the season on -4 points due to salary cap indiscretions in 2015, however the NRL was satisfied with governance changes at Parramatta and no points were deducted.

Parramatta started the season with a 17-4 loss against the previous years runners up in Brisbane. The club would win their following three matches in a row including a 20-16 victory over the reigning premiers North Queensland. On 3 May 2016, NRL CEO Todd Greenberg announced that the club would be docked the twelve competition points they have accrued so far this season, as well as fined $1 million and stripped of the 2016 NRL Auckland Nines title it won in February. In addition, the NRL also announced that the Parramatta club would not be able to accrue any further competition points until they fell under the salary cap, which they were reported to be $500,000. Five officials, including chairman Steve Sharp, deputy chairman Tom Issa, director Peter Serrao, chief executive John Boulous and football manager Daniel Anderson, were also sacked.

On 9 July 2016, after over two months of club officials contesting the preliminary penalties, Parramatta were handed their punishment with the addition of their for/against points tally accumulated from rounds 1-9 being deducted. At the time of the points deduction, Parramatta sat just outside the top four on the table. Although the points deduction had been handed down, Parramatta were still mathematically able to make the finals if they could win 12 of their remaining 15 games. The first match after Parramatta were stripped of the competition points was against South Sydney at Parramatta Stadium. Parramatta would narrowly lose the match 22-20. It was around this time that star recruit Kieran Foran was released by the club having just played nine games for personal reasons and multiple off-field issues.

On 29 August 2016, Parramatta played their final ever game in the top grade at Parramatta Stadium against St. George Illawarra as it had been announced earlier the club would move into a new ground which would later be known as the Western Sydney Stadium. Parramatta would win the game 30-18 with Bevan French scoring a hat-trick. Parramatta finished the season with a 40-18 victory over the New Zealand Warriors to finish 14th on the table.

Standings

National Rugby League

2016 NRL season v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Melbourne Storm	24	19	0	5	2	563	302	+261	42
2	Canberra Raiders	24	17	1	6	2	688	456	+232	39
3	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (P)	24	17	1	6	2	580	404	+176	39
4	North Queensland Cowboys	24	15	0	9	2	584	355	+229	34
5	Brisbane Broncos	24	15	0	9	2	554	434	+120	34
6	Penrith Panthers	24	14	0	10	2	563	463	+100	32
7	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	14	0	10	2	506	448	+58	32
8	Gold Coast Titans	24	11	1	12	2	508	497	+11	27
9	Wests Tigers	24	11	0	13	2	499	607	−108	26
10	New Zealand Warriors	24	10	0	14	2	513	601	−88	24
11	St. George Illawarra Dragons	24	10	0	14	2	341	538	−197	24
12	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	9	0	15	2	473	549	−76	22
13	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	24	8	0	16	2	454	563	−109	20
14	Parramatta Eels	24	13	0	11	2	298	324	−26	18
15	Sydney Roosters	24	6	0	18	2	443	576	−133	16
16	Newcastle Knights	24	1	1	22	2	305	800	−495	7

Parramatta were deducted 12 competition points and their for/against tally accumulated between rounds 1-9 for gross long-term salary cap breaches.

National Youth Competition

2016 NYC season v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Penrith Panthers	24	18	2	4	2	851	382	+469	42
2	North Queensland Cowboys	24	16	1	7	2	770	520	+250	37
3	St George Illawarra Dragons	24	15	1	8	2	737	545	+192	35
4	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	15	1	8	2	670	607	+63	35
5	Sydney Roosters (P)	24	14	1	9	2	710	642	+68	33
6	Wests Tigers	24	12	4	8	2	680	541	+139	32
7	Parramatta Eels	24	14	0	10	2	579	562	+17	32
8	Canberra Raiders	24	13	1	10	2	608	694	-86	31
9	Brisbane Broncos	24	11	1	12	2	660	576	+84	27
10	Newcastle Knights	24	11	1	12	2	589	678	-89	27
11	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	9	1	14	2	604	694	-90	23
12	Melbourne Storm	24	8	2	14	2	700	758	-58	22
13	Gold Coast Titans	24	9	0	15	2	627	698	-71	22
14	New Zealand Warriors	24	8	1	15	2	466	680	-214	20
15	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	7	0	17	2	468	742	-274	18
16	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	24	3	1	20	2	483	883	-400	11

Fixtures

Auckland Nines

Match No.	Home	Score	Away	Match Information
				Date and time (Local)	Venue	Attendance
1	Parramatta Eels	4 – 14	Melbourne Storm	Saturday, 6 February, 12:55 PM	Eden Park	70,000+ over two days
2	Sydney Roosters	11 – 14	Parramatta Eels	Saturday, 6 February, 4:25 PM
3	South Sydney Rabbitohs	11 – 24	Parramatta Eels	Sunday, 7 February, 11:00 AM
QF	Parramatta Eels	12 – 8	Newcastle Knights	Sunday, 7 February, 1:55 PM
SF	Parramatta Eels	17 – 8	Melbourne Storm	Sunday, 7 February, 4:40 PM
GF	Parramatta Eels	22 – 4	New Zealand Warriors	Sunday, 7 February, 6:40 AM
Source:

Pre-season

Match No.	Home	Score	Away	Match Information
				Date and time (Local)	Venue	Attendance
1	Parramatta Eels	20 – 20	Gold Coast Titans	Saturday, 13 February, 7:40 PM	ANZAC Oval	2,405
2	Penrith Panthers	8 – 22	Parramatta Eels	Saturday, 20 February, 7:10 PM	Pepper Stadium	5,580
Source:

Home and away season

Round	Home	Score	Away	Match Information
				Date and time (Local)	Venue	Attendance
1	Parramatta Eels	4 – 17	Brisbane Broncos	3 Mar 2016, 8:05PM	Pirtek Stadium	17,324
2	Parramatta Eels	20 – 16	North Queensland Cowboys	12 Mar 2016, 7:30PM	Pirtek Stadium	12,194
3	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	6 – 20	Parramatta Eels	18 Mar 2016, 8:05PM	ANZ Stadium	30,018
4	Wests Tigers	0 – 8	Parramatta Eels	28 Mar 2016, 4:00PM	ANZ Stadium	36,112
5	Parramatta Eels	18 – 20	Penrith Panthers	3 Apr 2016, 4:00PM	Pirtek Stadium	15,600
6	Parramatta Eels	36 – 6	Canberra Raiders	9 Apr 2016, 3:00PM	Pirtek Stadium	12,947
7	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	10 – 22	Parramatta Eels	14 Apr 2016, 7:50PM	Brookvale Oval	14,633
8	North Queensland Cowboys	32 – 16	Parramatta Eels	23 Apr 2016, 7:30PM	1300SMILES Stadium	19,308
9	Parramatta Eels	20 – 12	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	29 Apr 2016, 7:50PM	ANZ Stadium	31,815
10	Parramatta Eels	20 – 22	South Sydney Rabbitohs	13 May 2016, 7:50PM	Pirtek Stadium	16,013
11	Parramatta Eels	6 – 18	Melbourne Storm	23 May 2016, 7:00PM	Pirtek Stadium	8,941
12	Newcastle Knights	18 – 20	Parramatta Eels	30 May 2016, 7:00PM	Hunter Stadium	12,856
Bye Round
14	Parramatta Eels	22 – 12	Gold Coast Titans	11 Jun 2016, 5:30PM	TIO Stadium	7,722
15	South Sydney Rabbitohs	12 – 30	Parramatta Eels	17 Jun 2016, 7:50PM	ANZ Stadium	11,860
Bye Round
17	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	34 – 24	Parramatta Eels	2 Jul 2016, 7:30PM	Southern Cross Group Stadium	19,124
18	Parramatta Eels	22 – 18	Sydney Roosters	8 Jul 2016, 7:50PM	Pirtek Stadium	8,464
19	Penrith Panthers	22 – 18	Parramatta Eels	17 Jul 2016, 4:00PM	Pepper Stadium	15,251
20	Gold Coast Titans	34 – 14	Parramatta Eels	23 Jul 2016, 5:30PM	Cbus Super Stadium	15,273
21	Parramatta Eels	8 – 23	Wests Tigers	30 Jul 2016, 5:00PM	ANZ Stadium	14,428
22	Parramatta Eels	10 – 9	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	5 Aug 2016, 7:50PM	Pirtek Stadium	8,143
23	Brisbane Broncos	38 – 16	Parramatta Eels	12 Aug 2016, 7:50PM	Suncorp Stadium	30,189
24	Canberra Raiders	28 – 18	Parramatta Eels	21 Aug 2016, 1:30PM	GIO Stadium	18,825
25	Parramatta Eels	30 – 18	St. George Illawarra Dragons	29 Aug 2016, 7:00PM	Pirtek Stadium	13,553
26	New Zealand Warriors	18 – 40	Parramatta Eels	4 Sep 2016, 3:30PM	Mt Smart Stadium	11,129
Source:

Players and staff

First grade staff

• This section lists players who were in Parramatta's first grade squad at any point during the 2016 season
• Asterisks indicates player left mid-season
• Caret symbol indicates player joined mid-season
• Hash symbol indicates player retired mid-season

Nat.	Name	Position	Joined	Signed from
	Daniel Alvaro	PR	2015	Youth
	Mitch Cornish	HB / FE / FB	2016	Canberra Raiders
	Isaac De Gois	HK	2014	Cronulla Sharks
	Kenny Edwards	SR / LK	2013	Southport Tigers
	Bureta Faraimo	WG	2014	Mackay Cutters
	John Folau	WG / CE	2015	Youth
	Kieran Foran*	HB / FE	2016	Manly Sea Eagles
	Bevan French	FB	2016	Youth
	Tyrell Fuimaono	CE / SR	2016	Youth
	Michael Gordon	FB / CE / WG	2016	Cronulla Sharks
	David Gower	SR / LK / PR	2014	Manly Sea Eagles
	Clinton Gutherson	FB / CE / WG	2016	Manly Sea Eagles
	James Hasson	SR / PR	2016	Manly Sea Eagles
	Michael Jennings	CE	2016	Sydney Roosters
	Luke Kelly	HB / FE / HK	2012	Melbourne Storm
	Cameron King	HK	2016	North Queensland Cowboys
	Manu Ma'u	SR	2014	Wentworthville Magpies
	Tim Mannah	PR	2009	Youth
	Tepai Moeroa	SR	2014	Youth
	Ryan Morgan*	CE	2011	Youth
	Kieren Moss*	FB	2016	Penrith Panthers
	Cody Nelson	SR / FE	2015	Gold Coast Titans
	Corey Norman	FE / FB	2014	Brisbane Broncos
	Rory O'Brien	PR	2016	St George Illawarra Dragons
	Junior Paulo*	SR / CE	2016	Youth
	Nathan Peats*	HK / LK	2014	South Sydney Rabbitohs
	Kaysa Pritchard	HK	2013	Youth
	Semi Radradra	WG	2013	Youth
	Jeff Robson^	HB / FE / HK	2016	New Zealand Warriors
	Scott Schulte	WG	2016	North Queensland Cowboys
	Beau Scott	SR / CE	2016	Newcastle Knights
	Brad Takairangi	SR / CE	2015	Gold Coast Titans
	Kelepi Tanginoa	SR / LK	2016	North Queensland Cowboys
	Peni Terepo	PR / SR / LK	2013	Youth
	Vai Toutai	CE / WG	2013	Youth
	Honeti Tuha	WG	2016	Newcastle Knights
	Alex Twal	PR	2016	Youth
	Joseph Ualesi	SR / LK	2013	Youth
	Anthony Watmough	SR / LK	2015	Manly Sea Eagles
	Danny Wicks	PR / SR	2015	Unattached
	Matthew Woods	LK / SR	2016	Wests Tigers

Coaching staff

• This section lists members of staff who were in Parramatta's first grade squad at any point during the 2016 season
• Asterisks indicate member of staff left mid-season

Position	Nat.	Name
Head coach		Brad Arthur
Assistant coach		Peter Gentle
Assistant coach		Steve Murphy
Chief Medical Officer		Dr Louis Shidiak
Physical Performance Manager		Paul Devlin
Strength coach		Jarrod Wade
Contact Coach		Brett O’Farrell
Head Trainer		Craig Sultana
Assistant NRL Strength and Conditioning Coach		Nathan Beutel
NYC Head of Strength and Conditioning
Video analyst		Craig Crossman
NSW Cup Head Coach and Development Coach		Joey Grima
Under 20's Head Coach		Luke Burt

Transfers

In:

Nat.	Pos.	Name	From	Ref.
	HB	Mitch Cornish	Canberra Raiders
	FE	Kieran Foran	Manly Sea Eagles
	FB	Michael Gordon	Cronulla Sharks
	PR	James Hasson	Manly Sea Eagles
	HK	Cameron King	North Queensland Cowboys
	FB	Kieren Moss	Penrith Panthers
	PR	Rory O'Brien	St George Illawarra Dragons
	SR	Beau Scott	Newcastle Knights
	SR	Kelepi Tanginoa	North Queensland Cowboys
	CE	Scott Schulte	North Queensland Cowboys
	FB	Clinton Gutherson	Manly Sea Eagles
	SR	Matthew Woods	Wests Tigers
	CE	Michael Jennings	Sydney Roosters
	PR	Alex Twal	Youth
	FB	Bevan French	Youth
	CE	Tyrell Fuimaono	Youth
	HB	Jeff Robson (mid-season)	New Zealand Warriors

Out:

Nat.	Pos.	Name	To	Ref.
	CE	Beau Champion	Retired
	CE	Ben Crooks	Castleford Tigers
	HB	Zach Dockar-Clay	Penrith Panthers
	PR	Richard Fa'aoso	Retired
	SR	Fabian Goodall	Manly Sea Eagles
	SR	Tui Kamikamica	Rugby union
	PR	Darcy Lussick	Manly Sea Eagles
	FE	Ryan Matterson	Sydney Roosters
	FE	Adam Quinlan	St. Helens
	FB	Reece Robinson	Rugby union
	HB	Chris Sandow	Warrington Wolves
	LK	Joseph Paulo	Cronulla Sharks
	SR	Josh Aloiai	Wests Tigers
	WG	Halauafu Lavaka	Manly Sea Eagles
	PR	Eric Newbigging	Illawarra Cutters
	SR	Pauli Pauli	Newcastle Knights
	CE	Ryan Morgan (mid-season)	Melbourne Storm
	FB	Kieren Moss (mid-season)	Bradford Bulls
	SR	Junior Paulo (mid-season)	Canberra Raiders
	HK	Nathan Peats (mid-season)	Gold Coast Titans
	FE	Kieran Foran (mid-season)	Released

Representative call-ups

Domestic

Player	Team	Call-up
Semi Radradra	World All Stars	2016 All Stars Match
Beau Scott	World All Stars	2016 All Stars Match
Clinton Gutherson	NSW City	2016 City vs Country Origin
Nathan Peats	NSW City	2016 City vs Country Origin
Michael Jennings	New South Wales	2016 State of Origin Series

International

Player	Team	Call-up
Semi Radradra	Australia	2016 Anzac Test
Manu Ma'u	New Zealand	2016 Anzac Test
Brad Takairangi (18th man)	New Zealand	2016 Anzac Test
Vai Toutai	Tonga	2016 Pacific Test
Peni Terepo	Tonga	2016 Pacific Test
Junior Paulo	Samoa	2016 Pacific Test
Kaysa Pritchard	Samoa	2016 Pacific Test
Kaysa Pritchard	Samoa	v Fiji, 8 October 2016
Manu Ma'u	New Zealand	v Australia, 15 October 2016
Manu Ma'u	New Zealand	2016 Four Nations
James Hasson	Ireland	2017 World Cup Qualifiers

References

1. "Parramatta Eels avoid four-point NRL penalty over governance issues". theage.com.au. 2 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
2. Gabor, Martin (3 May 2016). "Eels breaches must stop today: Greenberg". NRL.com. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
3. Brunsdon, Simon (3 May 2016). "Parramatta Eels players will not be forced out amid cap drama, promises RLPA". Fox Sports Australia. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
4. "Parramatta Eels docked 12 competition points by the NRL for salary cap breaches". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 3 May 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
5. "Parramatta final determination". NRL.com. 9 July 2016.
6. "Kieran Foran back with his partner but confides he may never play league again". www.stuff.co.nz. 16 June 2016.
7. "Souths comeback breaks Eels hearts". www.nrl.com. 13 May 2016.
8. "French bags three as Eels thump Warriors". News.com.au. 2016-09-04. Retrieved 2017-03-30.
9. ^ "Eels crowned Auckland Nines champions". 7 February 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
10. "Green stars as Storm beat Eels - NRL.com". www.nrl.com. Archived from the original on 2016-02-06.
11. "Eels steal late win over Roosters". 6 February 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
12. "Eels top Waiheke pool". 6 February 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
13. "Eels eliminate Knights". 7 February 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
14. "Eels qualify for Nines decider". 7 February 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
15. "Couriermail.com.au - Subscribe to The Courier Mail for exclusive stories". www.couriermail.com.au. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
16. "Eels down Panthers in full-strength trial". 20 February 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
17. Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "NRL 2016 - Parramatta Eels - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
18. ^ "Eels sign trio for 2016 | NRL". Zero Tackle. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
19. "Top coach headhunted, veteran Titan retires and Bulldogs back re-signs". Foxpsorts.com.au. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
20. "Eels Confirm Foran Signing". Parramatta Eels. 3 July 2015.
21. ^ "Eels Sign Michael Gordon". Parramatta Eels. 18 June 2015.
22. "Eels sign Hasson, re-sign Kelly". NRL - Zero Tackle. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
23. "Eels announce two new signings". 13 August 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
24. "Eels re-sign duo and sign prop". Zero Tackle. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
25. NRL (20 April 2015). "Eels sign Beau Scott - Eels". Parraeels.com.au. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
26. ^ "Eels sign Gutherson and Woods". Zero Tackle. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
27. "Eels re-sign seven players". Zerotackle.com. 11 July 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
28. "Parramatta Eels sign halfback Jeff Robson as Kieran Foran replacement". Fox sports.com.au. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
29. "Beau Champion retires from NRL". Zerotackle.com. 19 August 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
30. "Castleford Tigers sign former Hull FC centre". BBC Sport. 27 June 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
31. "Panthers sign Quartet of Young Guns". penrithpanthers.com.au. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
32. SMH.com.au (2 August 2015). "Interest in late-bloomer O'Brien". Zero Tackle. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
33. "Parra's Quinlan signs with Super League". Sbs.com.au. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
34. "New South Wales Waratahs sign NRL journeyman Reece Robinson in Super Rugby". Abc.net.au. 15 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
35. "Chris Sandow released by Parramatta Eels effective immediately". abc.net.au. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
36. "Parramatta release Joseph Paulo". Zero Tackle. 22 June 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
37. "Sharks sign Paulo on two-year deal". Zero Tackle. 13 March 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
38. "Wests Tigers sign Junior Kiwi". Zero Tackle. 11 November 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
39. "Cutters Announce Squad For 2016". St George Illawarra Dragons. 19 January 2016.
40. "Knights sign Pauli Pauli". Newcastle Knights. 29 January 2016.
41. "Morgan signs with Storm". Zero Tackle. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
42. "Bradford Bulls snap up Parramatta full back Kieren Moss". Telegraph & Argus. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
43. "Raiders confirm Paulo deal". Zero Tackle. 29 August 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
44. Proszenko, Adrian (11 May 2016). "Parramatta Eels to play for points after hooker Nathan Peats signs with Gold Coast Titans". Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via The Sydney Morning Herald.
45. "Parramatta Eels confirm club grants troubled star Kieran Foran release from contract". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 29 July 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2018.

• Parramatta Eels seasons
• 2016 NRL season by club