Parramatta fans have had little to cheer about of late, but newly appointed football boss Daniel Anderson has pledged to restore pride to the blue and gold.
Anderson quit his post as NRL referees boss after just 12 months, paving the way for him to return to the NRL club, as general manager of football operations, at which he has more than a decade’s worth of experience at as coach, assistant and in junior development.
In a brand new structure, the Eels’ grand final coach from 2009 will run the embattled NRL club’s football department, overseeing rookie head coach Brad Arthur.
Anderson says he sees his role as largely administrative and development based, and wants to leave Arthur free to coach the team without interference.
“I think the pressures nowadays on the head coach at any NRL club are extensive and the scrutiny is very tough on coaches,” Anderson said.
“The less distractions they have from the mundane, the administrative components of their job, the better. I see me being a pivotal part in allowing him to focus and free his creativity as a coach.”
Anderson’s pending appointment was reportedly a sticking point for Jason Taylor, who was all but handed the Eels’ job before an embarrassing last-minute backflip by the board.
Although Anderson isn’t running the entire club, a similar system operates at Penrith, where coaching great Phil Gould sits above Panthers head coach Ivan Cleary.
Arthur, who was a caretaker coach at the Eels for the back-end of 2012 before joining Manly as an assistant this year, is comfortable with having Anderson as head of football.
Anderson, 46, said he and Arthur must help the rugby league rich Parramatta area produce and retain more NRL talent.
He wants the area to once again be proud of its team after two consecutive wooden spoons.
“The focus for myself and the team in the area of Parramatta is also to generate quality players that will be able to put pressure on Brad, as the head coach, to have to consider them for NRL,” Anderson said.
“Brad and I are both similar in that we have an obligation to the Parramatta club to foster and enhance rugby league so our community is proud of us.
“I know from living and growing up in the area how important the rugby league culture is to the community, and I want to see the Eels rising again.”
Parramatta Eels chief executive Scott Seward says the appointment of Anderson is a significant step forward in returning the club to success.
“Daniel brings a wealth of experience to his position and will play a pivotal role in restructuring our football department into a modern-day club,” Seward said.
“He will look after the pathways, the performance, the development of our players, the recruitment and retention, and make sure we have pathways for our players here to play at their very best.”
symbolsoup
Guest
Yeah, I would love to see the captain's challenge come in, as long as it is manageable in it's application and outcomes.
oikee
Guest
Yes, hopefully Anderson will do a lot better job in a position he was made for, not as the Referee's boss. I am surprised we did not hear more about the fact Anderson only lasted one year in this job. Now we all know i complained for a year while he was messing the game and code with the introduction of the on-field refs sending all decisions to the video ref , so in return we had a 50/50 call turned into two 50/50 calls. And as we all seen, not much changed throughout the year as we all spat venom at the video refs for over-turning calls, or not over-turning wrong calls. So our frustrations grew, and grew, and grew to the point where the mods have me on stand-by. hehe So, lets say that he lasted a year, and the game sacked him, or pushed him towards the Eels job. ? Thats is almost as good as being sacked. ? no. So, lets now look at the new ref boss, forget the Eels, they are basketcases, hehe, no they should be better with Daniel as the footy boss. He has already identified where the Eels need to improve, (keeping juniors, indentifying juniors and building grass-roots) much like the Broncos have done and doing this year. Academies all throughout Brisbane so no more superstars get poached, i hope Daniel does the same in Parra, this club is a powerhouse much the same as the Broncos. Anyhow, back to the ref boss, ripper, we now have the right man for the job. Tony Archer, the best ref to have just retired. Hopefully now he can introduce new structures to fix this double handling of refs calls. The captains challenge has to come in soon, he will put his stamp on the game forever in one simple rule change.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Historically, Parramatta have been a basket case of a club but I agree that it is a sleeping giant. Forget Souths, when the Eels are going good, league is going good. And I don't even support them...
johnno
Guest
Its great to see two local boys with the 'Passion of Parra' running thru their veins and wanting to succeed. I am a passionate Parra fanatic myself and want to see the club standing at the forefront of the NRL where it so rightly belongs. Not only for all the unbelievable devoted followers that are out there but also for the great game that rugby league is.The NRL needs Parramatta to be a success and to reach its true potential just like it did way back there in the late 70's and 80's.THats when league started to take off in leaps and bounds and become the powerhouse that it is today.Parramatta is the sleeping Giant and all we need is someone with the passion and the ability to awaken the Giant and then watch the attendances' go through roof, not only in TV ratings but also crowd participation!. Go the Mighty Eels!