Jason Ryles real coaching career starts on Monday

Parramatta Eels head coach Jason Ryles has had what can only be described as a tumultuous start to his head coaching career.

Taking over from the sacked Brad Arthur who didn't see out half of last year, Ryles has taken over a club in turmoil.

It was always going to take him time to get things right, but the start to the season for Parramatta has seen just a single win from their six games.

A quarter of the season is complete, and the blue and gold's chances of playing finals rugby league is rapidly disappearing down the road with the rest of the competition.

Already they sit four points out of the top eight, and that could be even further by the time the weekend is over.

But all of that comes with one enormous, Mitchell Moses' foot shaped caveat.

The star halfback is yet to take to the field this year, and combined with a handful of other injuries floating around the blue and gold, it's created what could be described as a nearly impossible situation for the rookie coach to get himself, and his club out of.

They did have a strong win over the St George Illawarra Dragons to get their account underway, but even that required golden point.

Compare that to their blowout losses - Parramatta have conceded 202 points in their six games and conced 50 twice already this season - and it's fairly clear that one-off flash in the pan isn't about to save the blemishes of a club who haven't looked the same since their loss in the 2022 grand final to the all-conquering rivals from across town the Penrith Panthers.

Moses isn't going to fix the defence, but he will give the Eels the leadership they so strongly desire and need in attack.

He will enable the club to stop putting themselves under as much pressure with poor decision making leading to errors, and he will provide them a cool head in defence when the pressure is on.

There will be plenty of that moving forward for Parramatta, whether Moses is on the park or not, but a player of his experience will certainly leave them in a better spot overall.

The kicking game too will be in for better execution.

Parramatta aren't the only club in the competition who would struggle without their first-choice halfback. In fact, most would.

You only need to look at other games throughout the season where a high-ranking club play without their halfback to know that. Remember the Storm's first loss to the Dragons?

Long touted as the next big thing in the head coaching game after serving his apprenticeship under the coaching of Trent Robinson at the Sydney Roosters and Craig Bellamy at the Melbourne Storm, Ryles has walked into an Eels system in desperate need of change, and in desperate need of success.

Those things are often not tied hand in hand, at least, certainly not in the same time frame.

You can hardly knock Ryles for attempting to change the way things are done in the west of Sydney, certainly.

He made it clear from the word go that no one was sure of their spot, and that has been the way things have played out, particularly in the forwards where a number of, what you'd previously consider walk up starters, have been limited to reserve grade.

Bryce Cartwright and Ryan Matterson headline the list. Joe Ofahengaue was going to join them down the grades this weekend before his release from the club.

Shaun Lane was also set to play reserve grade but is now taking a break away from rugby league.

Ryles also had no hesitation in axing both of his hookers Brendan Hands and Joey Lussick, instead preferring to play youngster Ryley Smith in combination with either Charlie Guymer or J'maine Hopgood in recent weeks.

Innovation certainly isn't lacking from the way Ryles is going about his business, but on one foot, some of the decisions have looked like a man panicking and desperately trying to find his way in a brutal NRL landscape, all without his first-choice halfback.

Whether the return of Moses helps that along its way or not remains to be seen, but it will now be time for those decisions to start working if he wants to have some of the enormous pressure he is under thrown off his back.

There is no better time to start than this Monday either, taking on the Wests Tigers who have had a chaotic week off the field.

Lachlan Galvin's contract situation was always going to create shockwaves, but there are very few who could have seen it going the way it did, with the youngster suggesting he won't improve under Benji Marshall, and instead will leave the club at the end of next year.

That leaves him not playing this weekend, and instead, Jarome Luai partnered by Adam Doueihi in a new look combination for the joint-venture.

The Tigers have been inconsistent to start the campaign themselves, and are ripe for the picking if Parramatta can put a performance together.

It would not be overstating the situation to say that, in Ryles' short career as a head coach, and for the entire plight of Parramatta's season, this game is the most important to date.

They need to build momentum, they need a win, and they need to do it with their fresh faces and Moses standing up.

A loss on Monday would be a disaster for the Eels, and a horror start to Ryles' real coaching career.

The jury will still be out on the rookie head coach on Monday night either way, but he could certainly throw some detractors to the wolves with two critical competition points.