The best decision made by a coach in season 2025 belongs to Jason Ryles.

Dumping the defecting Dylan Brown from his Eels side has transformed the team. It was a masterstroke.

It was also a move which further exposed the November 1 transfer rule as the worst rule in world sport.

There’s no room for dead wood in the NRL and the ridiculous November 1 rule means clubs are dealing with dead wood all the time. Having a player, especially one as overhyped and perennially disappointing as Brown, hanging around until he gets overpaid elsewhere is no good for anyone.

Some will argue the Eels should have let him go straight away when he signed, but why should they? He was under contract for 2025 and the Eels rightly decided he’d be doing as he was told. Maybe for the first time.

In round 19, Ryles dropped a game-day bombshell when Brown was shifted to starting hooker for the clash with the Panthers, playing only 35 minutes of the first half before........

© The Sydney Morning Herald