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SMH: A pair of losses, but Kearney is coach for long haul, say Eels

lucablight

First Grade
Messages
6,063
PARRAMATTA chief executive Bob Bentley says the club's two-loss start to the season hasn't changed their opinion that Stephen Kearney should be their long-time coach.

''It isn't where you start, it's where you finish,'' Bentley said yesterday. ''Some people are getting too excited about two losses.''

Parramatta opened the season with an 18-6 loss to Brisbane and followed that up with a 36-20 loss to the Warriors on Monday night. Both games were at home. They will go on the road for the first time this weekend, when they play North Queensland in Townsville on Saturday.


''Brisbane are a top-four side and if [Parramatta five-eighth] Ben Roberts hadn't got hurt just after half-time we would have stayed well in the match,'' Bentley said. ''And against the Warriors we were going well and then Jarryd Hayne, one of our major strike weapons, gets hurt and is taken off.

''So a couple of injuries, and a couple of decisions that went against us, and that contributes heavily towards us losing both games. It's hardly time for anyone to start pointing at the coach or anything ridiculous like that.''

Kearney is contracted to the Eels until the end of next season, and the club is looking at extending that deal by two years. The club's board is impressed by the work Kearney has done in creating clearer paths for Parramatta's juniors to progress towards first grade.

''The under-20s had a win in round one, and although they lost to the Warriors they took it to a team that has had a lot of success in the Toyota Cup in recent years,'' Bentley said.

''Steve and I had a conversation during the trials, during which we decided we needed to sit down at some point and talk about the future. I said we probably needed to talk about his contract, and what his plans were and how we looked at the future.

''We want to talk about what he needs, going forward with the team, and at this stage we don't see any reason why we shouldn't be looking at extending Steve's deal.''

There have been mixed reviews of Parramatta's form in the first two rounds, with some critics suggesting there are positive signs for the future and others believing that despite the good patches they have been disappointing overall.

Kearney is clearly working on overhauling the side, as shown by his decision to drop popular veteran Luke Burt for the game against the Warriors. Burt, who normally plays on the wing, is back in first grade at fullback for the game against the Cowboys, filling in for the injured Hayne.

Asked about the futures of Burt, 30, and 32-year-old second-rower and captain Nathan Hindmarsh - both of whom are off contract at the end of this season, - Bentley said there had not yet been any conversations between the management and those players. ''Neither Luke nor 'Hindy' has approached us at this point in time, and probably, because of their stature in the game, it isn't my role to approach them,'' he said.

''I expect each player, when he is clear about what he would like to do, will come to us first.'
source: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...ch-for-long-haul-say-eels-20120314-1v3ob.html

Is this real life?
 

Parra Pride

Coach
Messages
19,723
The board has backed Kearney? If that's the case I wonder who our coach will be next year. :crazy:

#BringBackSmith
 

Eels Dude

Coach
Messages
19,065
''It isn't where you start, it's where you finish,'' Bentley said yesterday. ''Some people are getting too excited about two losses.''

Really?

''Brisbane are a top-four side and if [Parramatta five-eighth] Ben Roberts hadn't got hurt just after half-time we would have stayed well in the match,'' Bentley said. ''And against the Warriors we were going well and then Jarryd Hayne, one of our major strike weapons, gets hurt and is taken off.

We know hasman is Roy, so which forum member is Bob?

''We want to talk about what he needs, going forward with the team, and at this stage we don't see any reason why we shouldn't be looking at extending Steve's deal.''

Really? Think harder.

"Neither Luke nor 'Hindy' has approached us at this point in time, and probably, because of their stature in the game, it isn't my role to approach them,'' he said.

''I expect each player, when he is clear about what he would like to do, will come to us first.'

Whose role is it then? That's our new policy when it comes to retaining players...
 
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Poupou Escobar

Post Whore
Messages
84,160
Read between the lines guys - if we want to keep someone we will lock them up early.

If we don't want to keep them then we'll see if they've got the f**ken nerve to come to us.

I'm glad me and Bentley are happy with what we've seen from Kearney since he arrived at the club. He deserves to be at the helm of the club he rebuilt when it starts winning premierships again.
 
Messages
17,033
This will get the usual 4 Merkins hot under the collar. One of them has already posted a reply to this thread. Just waiting for the others to do the same.
Maybe Bentley should give Kearney a Brian Smith style contract for another 5 years.
 

IFR33K

Coach
Messages
17,002
Read between the lines guys - if we want to keep someone we will lock them up early.

If we don't want to keep them then we'll see if they've got the f**ken nerve to come to us.

I'm glad me and Bentley are happy with what we've seen from Kearney since he arrived at the club. He deserves to be at the helm of the club he rebuilt when it starts winning premierships again.

We know who hasman is.

Eels dude is on the case for Bentley.

And I think I worked out who SK is. :lol:
 

Gronk

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
73,542
My thoughts are that the business of re-signing coaches or dealing with conjecture about two players retiring should not be in the papers.

Behind the scenes, if I was Bentley I would certainly be negotiating with SK to extend his deal if that's the dialogue he wants. However I would delay signing anything until another 10 rounds or so. If we are wallowing at the bottom I would lose my pen and look for alternatives.
 

strider

Post Whore
Messages
78,603
This will get the usual 4 Merkins hot under the collar. One of them has already posted a reply to this thread. Just waiting for the others to do the same.
Maybe Bentley should give Kearney a Brian Smith style contract for another 5 years.

don't call pou pou a merkin - that's not very nice
 

oldmancraigy

Coach
Messages
11,295
Maybe Bentley should give Kearney a Brian Smith style contract for another 5 years.

It's not like Brian Smith was a disaster for this club.

He accumulated, and then blooded a tremendous amount of young talent. Took us to 2 minor premierships (what else have we achieved?) and we were playing on the last or 2nd last week of the semis 6 times out of his 10 years here.

Obviously we all want wins - we're long odds against the Cowboys, but I got a good feeling!
 

Maroubra Eel

Coach
Messages
19,044
Bentley is right, it's not where you start but how you finish. I reckon we will make the 8. But I wouldn't be extending Kearneys contract just yet. I would wait to see how the season pans out.
 
Messages
17,033
It's not like Brian Smith was a disaster for this club.

He accumulated, and then blooded a tremendous amount of young talent. Took us to 2 minor premierships (what else have we achieved?) and we were playing on the last or 2nd last week of the semis 6 times out of his 10 years here.

Obviously we all want wins - we're long odds against the Cowboys, but I got a good feeling!

No he wasn't a disaster but he taught us to choke and become mentally weak.
 

Stewie

Juniors
Messages
107
Behind the scenes, if I was Bentley I would certainly be negotiating with SK to extend his deal if that's the dialogue he wants. However I would delay signing anything until another 10 rounds or so. If we are wallowing at the bottom I would lose my pen and look for alternatives.

Kearney is still contracted until the end of next season. Why negotiate anything even if he does come good this season? It's not as if 10 clubs are chasing his signature. I say they talk contract extention in early 2013.
 

Delboy

First Grade
Messages
6,810
All I can say is good, in reality this is the first year of SK's tenure as he had nothing to do with the previous roster (he did sign Chris Walker when we lost 3 of our starting 3/4 line).

Hasler started to build at Moanly, even old red nose ( Alex Ferguson) had to spend the ealry days shapung ManU, after BS left there was little work done in underpinning the club. We can build from here, BS walked in after Super League when we had the players, even Jack Gibson had the best juniors ever to come through, this is right for the club.

(Waits to get hammered by the quick fix/old guard numpties)
 

Maroubra Eel

Coach
Messages
19,044
Kearney sure does have some good juniors who will be coming through in the next few years.
I reckon we'll be ok.
 
Messages
511
I support the move, great move for the future of this club.

We should be making the 8 atleast every season and i haven't seen many if any quality performances under Kearney since he took charged. I fear that he is very stubborn and is going to go out on his shield because of that.

Any other club would look elsewhere if their coach didn't get results.
 

ParraAds

Juniors
Messages
1,694
This will get the usual 4 Merkins hot under the collar. One of them has already posted a reply to this thread. Just waiting for the others to do the same.
Maybe Bentley should give Kearney a Brian Smith style contract for another 5 years.

:lol:
 

born an eel

Bench
Messages
3,882
Bently should stick to reading the club constitution, leave the running of the football club to those who know what they are talking about.

Do we even have a full member board at the moment?
 

ParraAds

Juniors
Messages
1,694
Read between the lines guys - if we want to keep someone we will lock them up early.

If we don't want to keep them then we'll see if they've got the f**ken nerve to come to us.

I'm glad me and Bentley are happy with what we've seen from Kearney since he arrived at the club. He deserves to be at the helm of the club he rebuilt when it starts winning premierships again.

For once PooPoo is right... It's obvious Hindmarsh and Burt will be moved on at the end of this season.

The way Bentley has shirked any responsibility for approaching them confirms as much.
 

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