Eels superstar Dylan Brown has opened up on his unique eight-year contract extension and what it will take to activate the player options in the remaining six years of the deal.
Brown was being chased by at least eight NRL clubs, before committing to the Eels until the end of 2025, with player options that can extend that through until 2031 when he will turn 31 years old.
Brown revealed he never really considered leaving the Eels after telling his manager to come up with a plan to keep him in the blue and gold long-term.
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“It was always my intent for my manager to do all the work and not talking to me until I got back to Sydney,” Brown told foxsports.com.au.
“I had a long year and we had the World Cup and I wanted to travel after, so I just told my manager just wait until I get back.
“Well he definitely waited and he definitely followed through because when I got back I walked into his office and on the whiteboard he had a plan for me.
“I said, yep let’s go ahead with it and that was obviously to stay at the Eels.
“So we went to the Eels and it didn’t take long to come up with a deal that we were both happy with.”
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While Brown is hopeful of staying loyal to Parramatta until 2031 at least, he revealed he wanted flexibility in his contract given the unknowns the future holds for both himself and the club.
“Obviously teams change with the salary cap,” Brown said.
“People need to change for family, people want to move, so obviously when you are playing in a team sport like rugby league, you want to be with a good coach and good coaching staff and you want to be around good players.
“You want the spine to be the same because it enables us to play our best footy, so things like that went into consideration when I was doing the deal.
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“Obviously it is a long deal and I love Parramatta, but things change. I’m still only young, so I don’t know what I want to do in the future.
“So putting something flexible in my contract, which means I have options there to change if things change, but I am happy with the deal.”
A big part of keeping Brown at the club is locking down his halves partner Mitchell Moses, who is currently in contract talks and being chased hard by the Tigers and the Bulldogs.
Brown believes Moses is the perfect half to complement his game and hopes they can work with each other well into the future.
“Me and Mitch have played for four years now together and I was also training with him a couple of years before that,” Brown said.
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“Everything we do works in each other’s favour. He is a halfback who can control the game with his kicking game, which is the best.
“My game is running and creating opportunities, so I feel like we work really well together.”
Brown realises Moses is now a family man after the birth of his first child last September and has different considerations to himself, but that hasn’t stopped him from getting in his ear about staying with the Eels.
“I always let him know,” Brown said with a laugh.
“But on a serious note I always tell him, look mate why change?
“But I don’t know when I am 28 how I will be thinking.
“He has obviously got new things at home with his new kid, so things in his head would be much different to a 22-year-old.
“I’m happy for him whatever he decides, but if it is at Parramatta, I will be stoked.”
One part of the Eels’ spine will be different in 2023, with former Raiders skipper Josh Hodgson replacing Bulldogs recruit Reed Mahoney at hooker and Brown has been blown away by the veteran rake’s knowledge and experience and believes he is in for a big year.
“You can tell Hodgo is ready to go,” Brown said.
“He is obviously an older player and he has done a lot in the game and you can tell, it’s crazy
“He is a very good player and I’m excited to get out on the field with him.
“It is obviously hard going from one hooker to another, but that’s what pre-season is for and what training is for, so we are going to build our combinations and be ready when the season starts.”
Another contentious position at the Eels will be who replaces star second-rower and Tigers recruit Isaiah Papali’i, who has been one of the best in the NRL for his position over the last two years and crucial to both Parramatta’s culture and success.
Brown believes it is a two-horse race between two new recruits to fill Papali’i’s void.
“Jirah Momoisea from the Knights is very fit,” Brown said.
“He has come from Newcastle and he is pushing really hard for that second row spot.
“We have lost Isaiah Papali’i, who is one of the best second-rowers in the comp, so it is some big shoes to fill.
“I feel like we have got a lot of good boys stepping up for that position.
“J’maine Hopgood has been massive. I have watched him play and always respected his game and I am glad to have him at the club.”
Brown has been impressed by the commitment of all the players in pre-season in revealing who the fittest, fastest and strongest players at the club are.
“Gutho (Clint Gutherson) is still the fittest, but a shout out to my mate Jayden Yates, who is one of the development players, he is killing it,” Brown said.
“Junior Paulo is the strongest when he returns to training. He is still in Samoa, but he is definitely the strongest.
“The fastest is between Bailey Simonsson, Waqa Blake and Mitchell Moses. They are the top three.”
Driving Brown and all his teammates who were part of the charge to the 2022 decider will be the pain of grand final defeat, as they bid to go one step further in 2023.
“It was disappointing,” Brown said.
“It is an opportunity that you don’t get very often and we talked about it a lot that week.
“For us to let it go and slip out of our hands was really disappointing.
“But it was good to get a taste for it. That was my first grand final experience and it just makes you keen for more.
“This year we want to go that one step further as every team does. You have just got to work hard and the rewards will come.”
