Brad Arthur, one of the most under-pressure coaches going into the season, is about to alter his strategy after the Parramatta Eels’ terrible 2023 season ended without a playoffs appearance.
After reaching the Grand Final the year before, the Eels had high expectations going into the 2017 campaign.
But their season would be derailed by injuries, suspensions, and patchy play, as they finished outside the top eight and missed the chance to end the NRL’s longest premiership drought.
Due to this, the 49-year-old coach has decided to shift his emphasis and adopt a fresh strategy this off-season in an effort to help the team succeed.
“I believe he has a greater understanding than before of the value of sticking together as a team and pursuing the same objective.”
“I am aware that he has been working hard on himself as well. Our leadership is the foundation of everything, and he has done a fantastic job of refining himself throughout the off-season and determining what he needs to do better for us.
Our pre-season training programme seems to be bringing it out; it feels like the best programme I’ve ever participated in. For the most part, it’s been fun, even if you get flogged every day.
“This off-season, Brad has really pleased me, and I trust the information he’s been giving us.
Arthur has been coaching the Eels for the past ten years and has overseen more than 250 NRL games, but he has not yet helped the team win a Grand Final—an accomplishment that distinguishes outstanding coaches from mediocre ones.
Josh Hodgson, Waqa Blake, Andrew Davey, and Jack Murchie are the four players from last season that have left the team. Although they have added Morgan Harper and Kelma Tuilagi, they aren’t big additions that will significantly alter the team, so they will field a lineup that is similar to that from the previous campaign.
Arthur won’t be the only one under pressure this season as he is forced to watch the finals from the stands. As the pressure increases on the latter two, star players Mitchell Moses, Dylan Brown, and Clinton Gutherson will need to rise to the occasion.
While Brown has had inconsistent play throughout his career, there were speculations last season that Gutherson wasn’t the X-factor the team required. Gutherson, who was supposedly cut from the team at one point during the previous campaign, talked about Arthur’s shift in priorities.
Like all of us, he’s simply become more determined, Gutherson said.
“You should always try to participate in the big events and give yourself a chance to win, rather than just watching them on TV.
“Brad is no different—every year he leads from the front with even greater zeal and enthusiasm. When things go wrong, he’s the first to raise his hand.
“The boys have bought into what he is trying to push this year … it’s a great feeling at the club right now.”
On Saturday, March 9, the Parramatta Eels will kick off their 2024 campaign against the Canterbury Bulldogs, their rivals.
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