Eels is pursuing two options to replace the departing, independent pair.
The Eels rebuild is underway.
Incoming Parramatta Eels head coach Jason Ryles has reportedly identified Gold Coast Titans half Tom Weaver and South Sydney Rabbitohs backup Dean Hawkins as options to join the club for 2025.
Both players are on the outer at their current clubs and could be looking for a fresh start, although neither would slot into the starting lineup at Parramatta given both Mitchell Moses and Dylan Brown are contracted into the 2025 season.
That said, both Brown and Moses have had speculation over their futures in recent weeks, with Moses reportedly unhappy and Brown refusing to guarantee his long-term tenure in the west of Sydney with a litany of options built into his lengthy deal.
Even if those two remain in Ryles’ side for 2025, and they will unless they get a result, the Eels have already lost junior Origin player Ethan Sanders to the Canberra Raiders, and are likely to lose Daejarn Asi who is off-contract at the end of the year and likely to make the shift to England.
News Corp is reporting Weaver and Hawkins, both off-contract with their current clubs at the end of the 2024 season, could be the options to come into the side.
It’s unclear if the Eels will chase one or both of the players, but it’s unlikely either would settle for a move where they are anything other than the first backup option if not starting, with it appearing neither is overly likely to be re-signed at their current respective clubs.
Weaver has long been a first-grade potential player on the Gold Coast but has struggled to make his way into the side, stuck behind a mix of Kieran Foran, Jayden Campbell, AJ Brimson and Tanah Boyd, who it’s understood the Eels reached out to at one point as well.
Rugby union player Carter Gordon joins the club as another option for 2025, potentially pushing the ex-junior Origin player further down the pecking order.
Hawkins, meanwhile, appeared locked with Lachlan Ilias when it came to South Sydney’s number seven jumper at one point earlier this year, but now it appears neither will be part of Wayne Bennett’s rebuild at Maroubra next year, with Lewis Dodd likely moving straight into that jumper following his move from England.
