Parramatta Eels young gun Cody Parry ideally placed for strong start to season

That is when Cody Parry - 18 years old, 102kg, 188cm and a missile on legs - will line up on the wing for Parramatta in an opening round SG Ball clash against the Roosters at Morry Breen Oval.

The former Farrer student - who moved to Sydney in 2019 after the Eels signed him - will start the season steeled by the best experience of a young life glowing with promise.

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For two months leading up to Christmas, the former under-15 Australian Schoolboy trained with Parramatta's star-studded NRL squad.

"That was the best couple weeks of my life, really," he said. "That was a fun time - just learning from the best people in the game.

"In the junior teams, you have to be a leader. But in first grade, you got to sit back and just learn a lot more and take in all the stuff the coach is trying to tell you. Like, [Eels coach] Brad Arthur's a genius."

"I got a lot out of that couple of weeks I was with them," Parry also said, adding that it was the most valuable development period of his rugby league career.

Parry - who believes he is "starting to develop into a full-time winger" - has not won a premiership with the Eels.

In fact, the last junior premiership the club won was the 2017 SG Ball title. Parry's elder brother, Ethan, scored two tries for Parramatta in that match.

Two years later, he made his NRL debut - scoring an arresting winger's try for Parramatta against Manly at Brookvale Oval.

A year later, after adding one game to his NRL resume, he was released by the club.

This week, Ethan told the Leader that his life had spiralled out of control in Sydney due to alcohol abuse and mixing with the wrong crowd.

Parry's rugby league career has mirrored his elder brother's, including attending famed rugby league nursery St Gregory's College Campbelltown.

Parry graduated from high school last year and is yet to find a job, although he is interested in becoming a personal trainer.

"I'm focused on [SG] Ball at the moment," he said. "We've got a really good side. And I think if we all have a crack, we can go close to winning it."

He added: "You can't really not think about it [rugby league] ... That's the only thing on your mind, really."

And that suits Parry fine.

"I'm pretty happy at the moment with my current situation."

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