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The Brad Arthur experiment. 8 years on….

Vic Mackey

Referee
Messages
24,490
Arthurs an interesting one. You need to remember before he got there the Eels had come 14th, last and last. He had two tough years before they had the salary cap issue where they would have come 7th (?). They then came 4th, last, 5th, 3rd and this year 4th-6th.

He's shown he can build a club and take them in the right direction, theres no doubt they are in much better shape then when he took over. The biggest issue I see is that I havent seen any improvements since he got them to the top 4. They are exactly the same team, play the same way and havent evolved at all. This year when he announced that Moses & Brown had swapped sides it reeked of having no other ideas.

If Parra crash and burn from the finals this year then I'd be shocked if they kept him around. As others have said who is better? I genuinely have no idea, but they cant keep doing the same thing and expect to get a different result.

Funnily enough he has been my suggestion to take over Madge if he gets the arse from the Tigers. We're probably not in a too dissimilar position to where Parra were when he took over. He's proven he can build a team to become top 8 regulars, you then just need someone else to come in and get you to the next level.
 

yobbo84

First Grade
Messages
9,615
Madge might be available!
Funnily enough Parra is the exact sort of club Madge would excel at. He's not a rebuild coach. He's the exact sort of coach that takes an "almost" team and gives them that little edge in mindset to push them to success. It's what he did at Souths and I reckon he could do the same at Parra. His only issue is I don't know how his message resonates against Gen Z.
 

hineyrulz

Post Whore
Messages
148,287
Funnily enough Parra is the exact sort of club Madge would excel at. He's not a rebuild coach. He's the exact sort of coach that takes an "almost" team and gives them that little edge in mindset to push them to success. It's what he did at Souths and I reckon he could do the same at Parra. His only issue is I don't know how his message resonates against Gen Z.
He’d struggle at Parra after following Brad “Cuddles” Arthur. He doesn’t drop anybody and no one is ever accountable bar the odd young player. The players would be lucky to last a week with Madge.
 

Avenger

Immortal
Messages
32,018
BA has run out of ideas and deep down I think he knows it. There is no chance I'd hire Madge. He doesn't come across as being any sharper than BA. I can't see Bennett taking the gig. Plus he has apoor history of destroying your cap when he eventually leaves. Look what he did with Saints and their roster followed by the train wreck at Newcastle and Bisbane. Souths will also be weaker next year.

I'd go for Flanagan and sign him for 2 years and before anyone brings up his indiscretions you only have to look at the coach who presided over the biggest cheating scandal in the history of the NRL yet people keep blowing wind up his arse and calling hime the greatest ever.
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,410
I'd go for Flanagan and sign him for 2 years and before anyone brings up his indiscretions you only have to look at the coach who presided over the biggest cheating scandal in the history of the NRL yet people keep blowing wind up his arse and calling hime the greatest ever.
drug cheating
salary cap cheating
players misbehaving

sounds like the leader youd want setting the club culture lol
 

Sphagnum

Coach
Messages
12,803
If the boys had just front loaded their effort and chased the collision more we might have been a chance.

there were a lot of unhappy players out there last night again looking very disinterested. Don’t know what is going on but that attitude needs to be fixed before anything else will work.
 

davi

Juniors
Messages
1,932
I still think Souths are not in Melbourne or a (healthy) Penrith class. Both those teams would have kept Parramatta to 0 or at least single digits.

If Brad Arthurs is let go at the end of the year. He can be confident he will probably find another NRL head coaching job again. He obviously not in the (Craig Bellamy, Trent Robinson) class, but is not in the never hire again (Craig Coleman, Garth Brennan) either. And won't happen straight away, he may have to be content getting a assistant coaching job or taking some other role in football in the mean time. UK Superleague may be another option.
 

BranVan3000

Coach
Messages
12,211
Might be, but after the soft touch that is Bea don’t think they could handle it.

The lack of accountability at the club is embarrassing.
We had John Lang on a retirement package jumping in puddles after winning 1 in 5 games before the iron rule of Madge whipped them into shape

Perpetual under achievers like Sutton made into top tier players
 

The_Frog

First Grade
Messages
6,390
Phil Gould should lobby for a 'coaches academy' for prospective coaches with a receding hairline.
Funny you should say that. He'll tell you himself he had such a thing going at the Roosters 20 years ago (they weren't bald though). Cleary, Cartwright, Flanagan, Pay. There may have been others.
 

The_Frog

First Grade
Messages
6,390
I still think Souths are not in Melbourne or a (healthy) Penrith class. Both those teams would have kept Parramatta to 0 or at least single digits.
These sides have in previous meetings been able to dull Souths obviously very dangerous attack by keeping them pinned in their half. Something Parra and teams below them cannot do and the Rabbitohs have a picnic in the opposition red zone.
 
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