By Andrew Webster
December 4, 2005
Parramatta back-rower Glenn Morrison has said Brian Smith was "hurting on the inside" as Newcastle coach Michael Hagan yesterday took a sizeable step towards taking the top job at the Eels.
Hagan and his accountant-cum-manager Peter Tracey met Parramatta officials in Sydney yesterday and while the meeting was shrouded in secrecy, it is considered the first move in the Knights coach replacing Smith from 2007.
While negotiations between the Eels and Hagan are expected to continue into the new year, Morrison said he and his teammates were hell-bent on sending Smith out a winner.
But he admitted the revelation that next season would be Smith's last was showing on the coach, not that it was affecting his work.
"I feel sorry for him," said Morrison, who was at North Sydney when coach Peter Louis was dumped in the late 1990s. "You can tell he is hurting on the inside. He's still the same coach and he's remained as professional as always.
"But it has to be affecting him on the inside. He wouldn't be liking it.
"It's going to be a tough year. I've been at clubs before when coaches have been sacked mid-season and there's uncertainty about who is coaching next year. It's hard to get it out of your mind.
"Brian has been building towards this coming season as a big one for us for some time so hopefully we can send him off as we'd like."
Smith is yet to speak publicly about leaving Parramatta, who he has coached for 10 years, though it is understood he is privately upset by the board's decision.
Morrison's comments come amid speculation that some senior players were concerned Smith might walk out on the final year of his contract.
Several senior players contacted last night were tight-lipped about any such approach, and given Smith earns $400,000 a season at Parramatta it is unlikely that he would walk away prematurely.
But there has been concern expressed by Eels players that he would walk away early.
"When [Eels chief executive] Denis Fitzgerald first told us that Brian's contract wasn't going to be renewed, the first question someone asked was if he was going to be here next year," Morrison said. "Denis assured us that he would."
Fitzgerald refused to confirm there was a meeting with Hagan yesterday, let alone comment on it.
But he said the Eels remained on track for finding a replacement for Smith by the start of next season.
"We have said all along that we want to sort this out before next season and we are confident that will happen," he said.
Morrison said Eels players had not talked at length about the possibility of Hagan taking over.
Assistant coach Peter Sharp has also expressed interest in the job, though he has also been linked to a possible swap with Hagan at the Knights - where Sharp began his coaching career.
It seems Parramatta have identified Hagan as the man they want. "We keep hearing the talk like everyone else that Hagan is the favourite for the position," Morrison said. "Not many of us have had much to do with him but he seems to be a decent coach and a decent bloke.
"We just want a coach who is going to build on the good work that Brian has done."
Hagan and Tracey did not return The Sun-Herald's calls yesterday.
Source: The Sun-Herald
