Fresh injury scare for Eels captain Mitchell Moses as Parramatta sweat on Dylan Brown’s future call

There will be plenty of interest in Moses’ left foot in the countdown to Parramatta’s road trip to the Victorian capital on March 9, but an even bigger talking point will be what Brown does next with his career.

The New Zealand international has until round 10 to activate a get-out clause in his contract, which would allow him to pursue bigger-money offers elsewhere. News Limited reported during the week that Brown’s management had spoken with three rival clubs about deals that spanned up to 10 years and were worth $11 million.

Brown will earn $1.1 million a season on his current Eels deal from next year until 2031. Despite the apparent interest from rival clubs, Brown failed to feature in a list of the game’s top 50 players as voted by experts from the Sydney Morning Herald and Wide World of Sports, including immortal Andrew Johns and Queensland legend Darren Lockyer.

Ryles was diplomatic when asked about the Brown contract situation last weekend, but after another week of headlines, the coach said he would like an answer to bring an end to the media speculation.

“We’ll support Dylan 100 per cent, whichever direction he goes, [but] obviously [a decision] sooner rather than later would be nice,” Ryles said.

Loading

“It is important he gets this decision right because it’s an important one for him.

“We’re pretty clear on our position. The club has shown a lot of faith in him offering him a nine-year deal. We’re in the midst of that at the moment.”

Meanwhile, Josh Addo-Carr made his first official appearance in the blue and gold when he played the final 20 minutes against the Tigers on Friday.