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Eels Appoint Brad Arthur as Head Coach (Part Deux)

Gary Gutful

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51,727
Who is Peter Deux? Is he a crafty french halfback that BA is planning to bring to the Eels after the World Cup?
 

Gronk

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73,538
Sterlo has bought in on the BA + DA plan.

That's enough for even the haters go get on board methinks.
 

Joshuatheeel

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19,581
How about a poll on how long Arthur will last as eels coach:

12 months
24 months
3 years
3-5 years
5+ years
 

Gronk

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73,538
How about a poll on how long Arthur will last as eels coach:

12 months
24 months
3 years
3-5 years
5+ years

I think 3 years, provided that there's no tit for tat sackings if the former mob regain the leadership.
 

strider

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78,603
I think 3 years, provided that there's no tit for tat sackings if the former mob regain the leadership.

well the advantage of Arthur is that he was hired by both mobs at some point, so he's got a great chance of lasting either mob .... i'll go 5+yrs
 

El Diablo

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http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...to-business-at-parramatta-20131029-2we9j.html

Flying start: Brad Arthur wastes no time getting down to business at Parramatta

Date
October 29, 2013 - 9:30PM

Glenn Jackson
Rugby League Writer

Back from Bali only a matter of minutes, Brad Arthur was meeting with potential assistant coaches at Sydney airport. What is clear is that, even though Arthur arrived at the Eels football club offices for the first time on Tuesday, and despite the lateness of his appointment, he has been busy ensuring that he would be ready for this day; officially, the first of his tenure.

"I had a couple of meetings when I came in [on Tuesday morning)," Arthur said. "We got the red-eye special, so we left at midnight, I reckon I had five minutes' sleep on the plane, got to Sydney, my wife took the kids home and I had a meeting there, for a potential coach for an assistant's role, and came straight into the office to get started.

I've got blue and yellow in me. I played in the local junior club at Seven Hills, and played all the junior rep footy here. There was more to it than just becoming an NRL coach. It's the place I love.

"I'm going off no sleep, but the excitement and the adrenaline's pushing me through at the moment."

Arthur has been working every day since his appointment, which came on his first night of a holiday in Bali as he sipped a Bintang beer in the hotel pool. He even had a friend who was joining him on the Indonesian island bring his laptop over with him, as he set about attempting to finalise his coaching staff – which will likely include two new assistants, a new under-20s coach, as well as a development coach who will be his link to Wentworthville.

"There's been a lot of interest, which is great," he said. "It's a great club, and a great place. There's a lot of people who can see the positives, and the upside, and the possibilities of taking the place forward. They want to be part of it. That's been encouraging."

Some might look at Arthur's challenge as a glass half-empty or a half- full one. On the one hand, he will become the seventh coach to take charge of the Eels over the past eight years. It will be his second stint, having been installed as an interim coach following Stephen Kearney's sacking in late 2012. As well as those two, Brian Smith, Jason Taylor, Michael Hagan, Daniel Anderson and Ricky Stuart have coached the Eels since 2006.

That, combined with the well-documented boardroom infighting, gives the Eels coaching job the feel of a poisoned chalice.

The flipside is that Arthur is starting from a low base. With all that turmoil, and two wooden spoons in the consecutive seasons, Arthur could achieve relative success with minimal improvement.

Arthur, though, looks upon the role through different eyes. It is simply his dream job.

"I've had quite a few people who probably think, 'Why do you want to go and coach there?' The obvious answer to a lot of people might be that I want to be an NRL coach. To me, that's not the answer," he said.

"The answer is I've got blue and yellow in me. I played in the local junior club at Seven Hills, and played all the junior rep footy here, a bit of 20s and reserve grade. There was more to it than just becoming an NRL coach. It's the place I love.

"I always wanted to be an NRL coach, and I couldn't think of a better place to start. It's a dream for me, and a privilege."

Arthur said he had never given up hope, despite the apparent inevitability of Taylor's appointment. "I know I'm the right person for the job," he said. "The club's put their faith in me to take the place forward, and that's what I'm going to do."

Arthur said he was not anticipating problems with the club's board. "They've brought me here to coach a team," he said. "All I want to do is coach the team. Their job is to run the club. We're clear on that."

He is his own man, and he also maintained that his team would have its own personality. Despite his grounding at Manly and Melbourne, the two most successful clubs over the past decade, Arthur stressed he was not looking to create a replicas of those teams.

"What's worked for Melbourne has been different to what's worked for Manly," he said. "Now I've had the experience of coming through both systems, I can pick and choose what suits me best and what suits the playing group here. I can't come here and coach this Parramatta team to look like a Melbourne team or a Manly team. They need to look like a blue and yellow team. They need to look like a Parramatta team."
 

El Diablo

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94,107
http://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/ne...re-wooden-spoons/story-fndv34of-1226749232530

New coach Brad Arthur's promise to Parramatta Eels: No more wooden spoons

Dean Ritchie
The Daily Telegraph
October 30, 2013 12:00AM

NEW Eels coach Brad *Arthur has come out swinging, declaring: "We definitely won't be getting another wooden spoon".

In his first sit-down interview since being appointed Parramatta coach, Arthur told News Limited his team would play next season with "an attitude of win-at-all-costs. It’s a new time for Parramatta".

Arthur said he was keen to make the Eels a rugby league powerhouse again.

Reminded Parramatta had claimed two successive wooden spoons, Arthur said: "Yeah, well we won’t be getting three . . . we definitely won’t be getting three wooden spoons".

Asked how he could be so certain, Arthur said: "Number one, the young blokes that are here who have come through the club in the last 12 months.

"Then we have the new players like Nathan Peats, Corey Norman, Lee Mossop and Will Hopoate. And then you mix that with Jarryd Hayne, who has averaged 12 or 14 games over the past couple of years.

"We want to make sure we get him nice and fit, nice and strong and playing his best footy.

"Timmy Mannah, Joseph Paulo, Luke Kelly — there’s good talent already here.

"We will be training all pre-season with a positive attitude and come round one we are in the same position as everyone else. Everyone is fighting to make the top eight and our goal won’t be any different.

"We want to make sure we are taking the field with an attitude of win at all costs.

"I know we won’t win *every game but we need to make sure we have a winning attitude.

"We want the fans to know that every week we will be playing with passion and that we’re playing for our logo and our fans."

Parramatta players have been sapped of confidence in recent years.

Aside from wooden spoons, despondent players have been forced to contend with sacked coaches, axed CEOs and fractured boards.

Arthur said the club is now only looking forward.

"We have new players, it’s a new time for Parramatta, a new coach and I have my own philosophies and style," he said.

"I know we won’t be re-living or talking about what has happened here in the past. It’s about what is going to happen and everything is going to be positive from here on."

Parramatta are classic under-achievers. Four premierships in 66 years — all crammed in six years.

"Everyone is asking me why do I want to go back to Parramatta," he said.

"The obvious answer to people is that I want to coach an NRL team. But it’s more than that.

"I played all my juniors here, I played SG Ball here, under-21s, a bit of reserve grade.

"This is more to me than just a job — it is a passion."
 

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