Top 10 players Parramatta have let go since 2000

The Eels have let go of some quality this century.

STAFF WRITER | June 4, 2019 - 5:17pm

It is fair to say that Parramatta Eels fans have experienced more heartache than most in the past few seasons.

This includes three wooden spoons since 2012 as well as having to endure the repercussions of the now infamous salary cap scandal that led to the club being docked 12 competition points and fined $1 million by the NRL.

However, since the appointment of Brad Arthur as head coach, performances have been on a steady incline at Parramatta, barring the unexpected train wreck that was the 2018 season. This upturn in performances has led to Arthur attracting and assembling a top eight quality squad, but inept talent identification and salary cap management throughout the years has led to the Eels losing some serious star power that Brad Arthur and previous Eels coaches would no doubt have loved to have at their disposal in the recent trying times.

Here are the top 10 players the Eels have let go, not re-signed or released since 2000.

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1. Paul Gallen

Paul Gallen is truly the one that got away for the Parramatta Eels. Having played all his junior football for the Wentworthville Magpies and featuring in the Eels junior system in their S.G Ball Cup side, Gallen was overlooked by the Eels when he reached his late teens.

Gallen went onto sign with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, telling The Age that “I was never really given a go, I wasn’t really getting a look in there and decided to go elsewhere. I wanted to move away from the area, and I knew one of the Cronulla trainers at the time, I played SG Ball for them, that’s it. I’m from the district but I wouldn’t call myself an ex-Parramatta player, that’s for sure.”

Since joining the Sharks, Gallen has gone onto become the heart and soul of the club, sticking by the club that gave him a shot when no one else would through the ASADA scandal, to come out the other side with a premiership ring, the first in Cronulla’s history.

Gallen has played an incredible 18 straight seasons for the Sharks, racking up a scarcely believable 335 first-grade games. Made all the more impressive by the fact that he has played the entirety of his career in the middle third of the field.

Over the course of his 18 seasons career, the man affectionately known as “G-Train” has racked up his fair share of milestones and accomplishments. Gallen was named in Cronulla’s team of the half-century, helped the Sharks’ break their 50-year premiership drought in 2016, as well as two Dally M Lock of the Year medals, one Brad Fittler medal and five Monty Porter Medals for being the Sharks best and fairest.

Widely lauded for his incredible engine and work-rate in the middle of the field, Gallen’s lead by example style of play led to him being named Sharks club captain since 2008, NSW Blues captain, and Australian Kangaroos vice-captain.

Gallen’s career achievements and on-field legacy can never be questioned, it’s just a shame for Eels fans that the local junior didn’t do it in the blue and gold because he was never “given a go.”