The Parramatta Eels are down on confidence, nothing is working in attack, the forwards aren’t powerful enough, and now there’s a rumour that Brad Arthur has ‘lost the dressing room’.
Ray Hadley said of Arthur on Macquarie Sports Radio Breakfast on Monday morning, “He’s lost the room. That’s an often used expression. For the uninitiated it means he doesn’t control the team anymore. The team runs itself. Therefore when you lose the team as a coach, you lose the job.”
I cannot ignore this statement, as it’s not the first it’s been whispered during the team’s poor start to 2018.
Hadley has had his fair share of criticism over the years for his opinions, however he still has a platform, and some NRL fans take everything said in the media as gospel.
However, as a Parramatta fan, I refuse to blindly accept this. Arthur’s position will need to be considered at the end of the year if he does not turn things around, but there is no need to crucify the man six games in.
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Before I delve deeper into the nightmare season that is 2018, I would like to take you all back two years, to 2016, when the salary cap scandal reared its ugly head.
Anything that could have gone wrong that season went wrong. The Eels were given no chance of playing finals football after losing 12 points as punishment for the actions of board members, but they still fought proudly to finish in 14th place.
However, they finished with a positive win record, which is something fans had not been used to seeing.
When that season came to an end, fans celebrated, because the off-field scandals were now over. They went into 2017 positive and excited, but most importantly, with full faith in coach Arthur.
Having failed to play finals football since losing to the Melbourne Storm in the 2009 grand final, last year the drought was broken. Once again, fans found themselves excited for September. At the Dally M awards, many beleived Arthur should have won the prestigious Coach of the Year gong.
Really, there were only two contenders: Arthur and Craig Bellamy. No, the Eels did not win the premiership, after losing both of their finals games, however finding a Parra fan who considered the season a failure was searching for a needle in a haystack.
Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images
As disappointing as the past six weeks have been, you cannot take away what Arthur has done as head coach. You cannot take away the “In BA we trust” chants that have echoed out.
There was faith in him when times were darkest, so why turn on Arthur now? It hurts not winning – I know, I feel the pain too – however, it hurts more watching fans turn on the man who held everything together when it would’ve been understandable for him to run away.
There are still 19 regular-season rounds to go. Be angry and frustrated, be disappointed, throw your remote at the television but please hold on to a sense of realism. We’ll talk again at season’s end. I will write a different story if matters get worse, but the season does not end after six rounds.
As evidence, look to North Queensland, where Paul Green has just signed a three-year contract extension which will make him the longest-serving coach in Cowboys history.
This news comes just two days after his team went down 27-10 to the Bulldogs, keeping them at 15th place on the ladder, with only one win for the season.
This tells me the Cowboys faithful have just that: faith.
Ben
Guest
Calling for his head yet? Or are you another one of our fans who support mediocrity? Is 2 wins from 13 games, at a cost of 9.2 million worthy of defending? Brad Arthur, Tim Mannah and Norman all need to go. If we want Parramatta to be successful, we have to become successful in everything we do. Off the field and on. Take a look at Melbourne or the Roosters. Would they ever be in this mess?
Benjamin Cowan
Guest
How about two wins from eleven? You also failed to mention BA is rocking an impressive 46% win rate. After five years, BA has one finals appearance to his name. Would any other club in the NRL be chanting "In BA we trust"? The recruitment and retention programs are all on him, would you describe it as impressive? Yes, during the salary cap crisis BA performed. Are we to give him a free pass because he did what he was being paid to do? Rugby league isn't about being in a cult of personality, it's about results. BA has very little of the latter.
Tom G
Guest
Also agree with this.. Radradra made the Eels look a whole lot better than they were for a couple of seasons.. the coach included. Take him out and they seriously lack penetration
Tom G
Guest
Totally agree.. for some reason Arthur seems to be immune from criticism from fans and media alike. Strange thing is that he has not got a stellar record.
beepee
Guest
Spot on Bear!
fran madon
Guest
please do not touch Brad Arthur. Agree with Victoria. just say Go Eels
The Barry
Roar Guru
He is, and that gives him some excuses but even when the Eels have opportunities he doesn’t look like doing anything. The Eels are averaging less than eight points a game and it doesn’t matter how bad your pack is being beaten the halves have to assume a fair degree of accountability for that.
souvalis
Guest
True...Parramatta just aren’t playing hard and hurtful enough...it’s not so much missing Semi,it’s inadequately replacing him.Auva’a and Hoffman have been awful... Raiders 3 tries last week were the result of really soft efforts in defence,you know,Bj from dummy half to Rapana on the blind sideline....they weren’t ready for that ? A Blake Austin dummy...goodness...and Papalli right through the center of the ruck...18 points on the back of laziness...the coach got the culprits and they’ll be playing for Wenty this Sunday. Parramatta miss having a dynamic running number 9..Pritchard and King don’t offer anything and a prop who can trundle out 130 meters consistently... Moses can play,this week his backline looks the strongest it’s been for a while..hang in there,they’ll come good...
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Moses is playing behind a beaten pack
Forty Twenty
Guest
Semi Trailer was a key player for the Eels and he could be a major part of the reason why the Eels are way below par this season but do we really know if he was still there that he would make much difference? It's a rhetorical question really but I will give an example of what I mean. If the Warriors or Saints changed coaches this year and Ivan Cleary was the new coach it would be accepted almost without debate that these teams are on fire because Hook got the Hook and Kearney was sacked also. We only know that this isn't the case because these two 'ordinary ' coaches are still there. I don't know either way with Semi but it is a fairly big call to say that the Eels would be ok if a winger was still on board.
bear54
Whatever Hadley says I believe the opposite. If he told me the ssky was blue I'd still look up and check. The difference between this edition of the Eels and the previous seasons is the man currently employing his skills for Toulon: Semi Radradra. If he wasn't scoring long distance tries Semi was nearly unstoppable near the line. Every set Parramatta got from a kick would begin on the 20 if not the 30 metre line or better allowing the forwards to save energy and giving his team great field position. He was safe under the high ball if the opposition dared risk kicking his way because if he got hold of it with just a mere winger in his way it was a 100 metre Fijian expressway to destination tryline. The big Fijian scored 22 tries from 26 games last year. In effect, Parramatta started every game with 6 points automatically on the board. That's a massive advantage and a huge loss for season 2018. Ray Hadley is off the mark (as usual). Parramatta's problem is not the coach, not Jarryd Hayne and not Mitchell Moses. It's that they are missing Semi Radradra and have not found anything close to his replacement.
steve b
Roar Guru
Nothing could be worse than Norman at the moment he just wont have go.
Victoria Garry
Roar Rookie
Personally, I’m very happy he’s been named on the wing. I never liked the idea of him at centre and I’m glad BA has made this decision. Hayne was never going to get fullback once Gutho was fit so it was always going to be the wing verses centre debate. They tried centre, now let’s try wing. I think it’ll prove much more successful. I’ll be happy to admit it if I’m wrong though.
BA Sports
Roar Guru
Well he has been named on the wing, so if he wants fullback on centre, he is going to have to earn it.
Benjamin Cowan
Guest
BA was the coach for the previous season before the salary cap drama. So it's unlikely he didn't have any knowledge about being over the cap. Secondly, with a 47% win rate, and the worst start to a season, why shouldn't fans be critical of the coach? You say, wait till the end of the year. Why should the club wait? Just because he "stood by us" through the salary cap drama? Was there another club breaking down the door to get BA's services? Waiting untill the end of the year is a terrible idea. It's not just the losses, it's the manner of the losses. Light years behind the rest of the comp. And, my friend, that's the coaches responsibility. Would another club put up with this farce? No, no they wouldn't.
Con Scortis
Roar Guru
Given how many staff have acrimoniously left the Ray Hadley morning show and Continuance Call Team over the years, due mainly to Hadley's giant ego, it's a bit hypocritical of Hadley to refer to "losing the playing group".
Nat
Roar Guru
Have faith in democracy Victoria. Parra are passed the day of sacking a coach after 6 rnds and the majority are not the ones citing a radio jock with a grudge against the club. Further, to replace an NRL coach, there has to be someone of equal standing waiting in the wings and right now you have 2 possibilities, Hasler (who's embroiled with the Dogs - so No Bueno) or Toovey who quit Bradford after 1 unsuccessful year so neither are an upgrade on BA. Calm heads will prevail, the team will get their act together, maybe not to the finals but if they do, he'll be the best BA in the world again.
Big Daddy
Guest
Your right about mannah, he's ready for the retirement village and Scott is not far behind. You can't expect them to perform well when they have no impact whatsoever. First half of first round was their best and it stopped there. Hayne will have no impact just a passenger.
Adz Sportz
Roar Guru
Brad Arthur shouldn't be the one sacked, the players should be sacked.
kk
Guest
Top read Monkey, Nine.com.au have reported that 10 players have been told they are free to go at seasons end. Brad Arthur is contracted until end of 2019. Who are the recruitment and retention staff and what responsibility should they bear for this current state of affairs? How long will it take to turn Parra Around? My guess : minimum of 3 seasons.