Parramatta great Steve Edge has called for the Eels to appoint Ricky Stuart as coach after Stephen Kearney was reportedly axed on Thursday.
New Zealand coach Kearney will announce his plans to leave the club on Friday morning following two disappointing years at the helm.
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The Eels sit at the foot of the NRL table with just three wins to their name and only avoided the wooden spoon on the last day of the 2011 campaign.
Kearney’s appointment was heralded with great fanfare at the start of last season having won the 2008 World Cup and playing a key role in Melbourne’s success as an assistant to Craig Bellamy.
He replaced Daniel Anderson, who was sacked a year after he guided the Eels to the 2009 grand final, and Edge said the poor results under Kearney meant the club had no option but to take action.
“You are judged totally on your results and that’s the be all and end all,” Edge told AAP.
“It’s a tough job the coaching game and obviously the board has thought it isn’t working, shook hands and said ‘see you later.’
“It’s a real shame because he is a really nice guy. But it’s all about results. I am sure Steve would have known when he went there what he’d be judged on.”
Kearney’s departure will make him the fifth coach to exit the Parramatta hot seat in six years, with Brian Smith, Jason Taylor, Michael Hagan and Anderson all leaving since 2006.
Edge, who captained the Eels to three successive grand final successes between 1981 and 1983, denied the position had become a poisoned chalice and said NSW coach Stuart can revive the club’s fortunes.
“It’s still one of the top clubs in the NRL and it is a role that a number of coaches would love to take on,” said Edge, who under the right circumstances believed Stuart could still coach NSW along with the Eels.
“Ricky Stuart would do a great job. There is absolutely no doubt about that.
“He’s done an outstanding job at Origin level and it’s a shame they would lose him as he has built up a great rapport with the players.
“But maybe, with the right assistants, he could do both jobs.”
Kearney’s future has been uncertain throughout this season and the Eels board was keen to give the 40-year-old assistance in a bid to revive their flagging fortunes.
He rejected the chance to work with Taylor, who impressed during his brief stint when he replaced Smith midway through the 2006 season, before taking over at South Sydney.
Instead he appointed his former coach at Melbourne, Chris Anderson, last month.
However, the pair only had two games to work together, including a 40-24 loss to Manly which saw the Eels have 40 unanswered points scored against them in 46 minutes.
The club has also missed out on a number of big names, with Tony Williams, Luke Lewis and Cooper Cronk all shunning moves to the Eels.
Manly’s Darcy Lussick is the only signing the club has made for next season and Edge said the appointment of Stuart would entice players to the club.
“He’s the kind of coach that players want to play for,” he said.
“The NSW players have a real close bond and that is what Parramatta need – an experienced coach who can get the team performing.”
Parramatta have refused to comment on the news, but said Kearney and skipper Nathan Hindmarsh would front the media on Friday as scheduled.
Hindmarsh was also in the news on Thursday, revealing he’d lost more than $200,000 due to a poker machine addiction.
Johnno
Guest
Tony T-rex williams too was lost to Manly. he and paul gallan big names i know. There are many more too.
Mick H
Roar Rookie
Unfortunately mate this happen against every opposition Parra plays week in week out. So many juniors lost to rivals who go on to great things, Paul Gallen is biggest name I can think of off the top of my head but there would be close too 30 players doing well at other clubs, I think Kearney spent more time rectifying the youth retention policies than the head coach position, which is understandable as that has been his job at Melbourne and NZ.
Danno1
Guest
Great twitter post i just read, "crazy amount of ex-parra player in the game tonight" Top of my head at the Dogs we have Inu, Wright, Keating, Manly have , Williams x 2, and Lyon are their others? And Parra are paying a fortune for other club's players...when will they ever learn?
Danno1
Guest
That's gold!! He might push 'em around too. But, realistically what decent coach would go to parra without an understanding of what the board wants and some some of agreement about interference? If Ricky goes it would be a disaster for him and the club, another $500k down the gurgler, unless there were some more fundamental changes, and better leadership off the field. If the stories about clearing the decks for Luke Lewis were true, it just shows that the people running the joint are, as Fog Horn Leg Horn would say, as "sharp as bowling ball".
Scott
Guest
Bugger me. If they wind up with sticky they won't start winning, the only difference will be the refs being sacked after every eels loss...
Worlds Biggest
Guest
Pete, Sterlo would be brilliant for the Club however apart from his love of the Eels why would he take it on ? He is the best analyst in the game on a great wicket with CH 9 I presume and does MNF on Triple M. Outside of that he probably plays golf with Rabs twice a week and lives on the beautiful Central Coast. He would have to give all that up ! Plus Administration isn't working out wonderfully for Gus at the moment. They would have to double Todd Greenberg's salary to get him to even think about leaving Belmore, besides he could be the next NRL CEO.
Mick H
Roar Rookie
No coach can survive with a board like Parramatta's, not even Ricky, they'll butt heads constantly and the team will most likely under perform. Might be better buying Toad Greenberg to clean it up in the boardrooms, or maybe John O'Neil ?
julie scott
Guest
i agree totally jimbo ricky has done a awesome job with the blues n being a eels fan i'd luv 2 c ricky coaching parra. fingers n toes crossed:)
Pete
Guest
Get Sterlo out there coaching, club legend and has THE BEST footy brain in the history of the game.
Matt F
Roar Guru
Agree 100%. Kearney may have wanted Sandow at the club but it was the board and the CEO who decided to give him 500k a year or whatever he's on. Kearney is far from blameless for Parramatta's current situation but the club have much deeper problems that need to be addressed.
steve b
Roar Guru
W.B. 0n every point your spot on !
Worlds Biggest
Guest
The Eels need to start from the very top, Board level, CEO and then coach & recruitment manager before addressing the roster. The Sandow deal would have been rubber stamped by the Board which is exactly my point.
eagleJack
Guest
Agree! Even Bennett, Hasler and Bellamy would all struggle with the current environment they have there.
eagleJack
Guest
Yeah cause the Sharks were flying when he took over there (3rd last the season before)!!! As Worlds Biggest points out in 2008 he took a pretty average lineup to equal top by the end of the regular season. They just fell short of the GF. Also regardless of the team he had at the Roosters he still took them to 3 Grand Finals for 1 premiership. Plenty of others would have failed. And let's move on from the Joey Johns effect on Stuart's Origin record. Should we put an asterisk next to Meninga's record because Thurston has played in every single game he has coached???
mushi
Roar Guru
Whoever takes the gig will fail unless the roster changes. It isn’t a very good team but seems stuck in between trying to get immediately better and trying to develop. Anybody who had a hand in the that Sandow contract should also be cut.
Worlds Biggest
Guest
Stuart did take the Sharks to a Preliminary Final in 2008 which by Sharks standards is an outstanding achievement. One of only 3 or 4 coaches to achieve that in Sharks history. Stuart would be wary of taking on the Eels gig until they sort out the administration and board issues. The Fish rots from the head, until they get the right people running the Club it will be hard to attract a quality coach. There has been bickering and infighting for years it seems and this has a detrimental effect on the football team, juniors, recruitment etc...
minibus
Guest
Stuart can only coach sides that already winning & which contains establised/senior representative players! An example of this was when he took over from Murray at the Rosters. He showed his coaching ability when failed with the Australian team, had sucess with NSW only when Johns played but then failed with the Sharks. Parra need a senior coach who has excellent people skills, not just passon, as well as a modern technical ability to develop a number of different game plans for each team in the NRL, Stuart doesn't possess this skills and this point was again evident in this years SOO series! Also, the new parra coach needs to develop youth while bringing back a winning culture to the club with support from the board.
steve b
Roar Guru
JJ well said !
Jimbo Jones
Guest
Mate i wont go into his years at the Sharks, but how can you seriously say that he 'gets flogged with NSW'? They lost the decider this year by 1 point, against the best QLD team ever assembled... I'd say he did a bloody good job with NSW
JVGO
Guest
Do they think Ricky is some sort of mega masochist or something? He got hammered at the sharks, gets flogged with NSW, and now they want him to take on Parra. Seriously how much losing can one man take?