The 2006 Parramatta Eels season was the 60th in
the club's history. Coached by
Brian Smith and
Jason Taylor and captained by
Nathan Cayless, they competed in the
NRL
The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
's
2006 Telstra Premiership
The 2006 NRL season was the 99th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the ninth run by the National Rugby League. The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous year, with fifteen clubs competing for the 2006 Te ...
.
Summary
The Parramatta Eels began the 2006 season with the knowledge that their coach
Brian Smith, would not be there next season, after being asked to step down by the management of the Parramatta Eels rugby league club in what turned out to be a direct trade with the
Newcastle Knights club for their coach,
Michael Hagan. However, Smith resigned officially on 15 May 2006, after an extremely poor start to the season, which left the Parramatta side running 14th and second-last.
Assistant coach and former Parramatta player,
Jason Taylor, took over as caretaker manager for the rest of the year and led a Parramatta resurgence in the second-half of the season to eventually reach eighth position by season's end including a nine-game winning streak. They were, however, eliminated by eventual runners-up
Melbourne Storm in the first week of the finals, 6–12. Melbourne were later found guilty of wilful and deliberate breaches of the salary cap over a five year period between 2006 and 2010.
Standings
Players and staff
The current playing squad and coaching staff of the Parramatta Eels for the
2006 NRL season
The 2006 NRL season was the 99th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the ninth run by the National Rugby League. The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous year, with fifteen clubs competing for the 2006 Te ...
as of 21 September 2006.
Awards
The following awards were awarded in the post-season:
*Michael Cronin Clubman of the Year Award:
Chad Robinson
Chad Damian Robinson (20 October 1980 – 26 November 2016) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer. Robinson spent several years in Australia's National Rugby League with the Parramatta Eels and the Sydney Roosters and a se ...
*Ken Thornett Medal (Players' Player):
Nathan Hindmarsh
*Jack Gibson Award (Coach's Award):
Nathan Cayless
*Eric Grothe Rookie of the Year Award:
Jarryd Hayne
References
{{2006 in rugby league
Parramatta Eels seasons
Parramatta Eels season