Parramatta head into Saturday’s SG Ball grand final qualifier against the Roosters full of confidence on the back of an undefeated regular season.
The Eels’ U19s side, which features four players from last year’s Australian Schoolboys team, have been the dominant side in 2025.
Back in round two though, they couldn’t find a way past the Roosters in a 22-all draw.
The minor premiers have the best defensive record in the competition and led by the competition’s leading pointscorer Lincoln Fletcher, have been averaging over 35 points across their last five matches.
The Roosters best is clearly good enough to challenge the Eels, but at times this year it has been hard to know what to expect from the Tricolours.
After a disappointing loss to Newcastle in Newcastle, the Roosters have won four straight matches and recorded a tricky away win in Auckland last weekend.
In the other grand final qualifier, second placed Canberra will face third paced South Sydney.
The Raiders lost consecutive matches midway through March, but bounced back to win their final two fixtures.
Despite that, they’ll travel up to Sydney to face a South Sydney team led by gun five eighth Taj Alvarez. Alvarez has scored 11 tries so far this season and leads the best attack in the competition.
The Rabbitohs form has slumped in recent weeks though. The Bunnies drew with the Warriors in round eight, then lost to Canterbury last weekend.
In the first elimination final, Illawarra will host Melbourne. The Steelers have been inconsistent throughout the regular season but claimed an impressive 54-6 win over Balmain last week to secure fifth spot.
Melbourne head into the knockout match on the back of two losses, but with electric centre Amaziah Murgha set to start, the Storm will like their chances against the Steelers.
Cronulla and Canterbury will also meet with their seasons on the line.
Cronulla had a slow start to the season but won their final three matches to secure sixth spot and are led well by Australian Schoolboys Nikora Williams and Alex Challenor.
Canterbury needed to win their final match of the regular season and trailed Souths 18-10 at the break before fighting back to win 30-28 to keep their season alive.
