Parramatta Eels coach Brad Arthur
Demands same attitude away from home
March 27, 2015 - 10:27PM
Brace: Reece Robinson went over twice in the corner. Photo: Getty Images
Parramatta coach Brad Arthur refused to get carried away with what is likely the best victory of his short career, demanding the same effort from his players away from home.
The Eels are building a reputation as one of the best home teams in the competition, however Arthur insists they need to replicate their form at Pirtek Stadium on the road before he can be satisfied with a victory against last year's premiers.
While Arthur was proud of his team's resilient effort on Friday night, he emphasised the importance of building consistency after losses to Canterbury and the Warriors away from home after a first-up win against Manly.
"I'm proud of the boys," Arthur said.
"I thought physically we aimed up on our try line with six minutes to go. We had to defend three or four sets and Souths are pretty good at turning repeated sets into points. I'm hoping that's going to be a turning point for us going forward.
"We've already spoken about needing to find that same attitude and same energy away from Parramatta Stadium. We've shown we can play if we complete our sets and make our tackles that we can mix it with any team in the competition, but it's an attitude thing and we have to make sure we have that attitude away from home."
In just his second game of his NRL career, John Folau - the younger brother of Israel Folau - bagged a double in an impressive outing.
"He's a big strong thing, and we knew if we got him some ball and moved him into the centres. He's attacked the tryline and he barged over," Arthur said.
"He's still learning the game. A couple of times in defence with a couple of his decisions, he got isolated a little bit. Even right at the death there when we were attacking, if he got his timing right he probably could have got a third try. He's going to be good for us moving forward but still has a lot of things to improve on and work on.
"His best position is probably centre, but at the moment we have to make do with what we've got and I thought he handled himself okay. It's a tougher position to defend than in the centres but I'm sure he's just happy to be in the team."
However the real star of the show was halfback Chris Sandow, who scored a try and kicked the field goal that put the result beyond doubt.
Sandow was critical of his own performance against the Warriors last week, admitting his mind wasn't on the job after the death of his aunty.
However Arthur said he noticed a big difference in Sandow on Friday night.
"As I said during the week, I thought his energy at training was good and his energy when he got here to the game was good," Arthur said.
"You just know with Chrissy when he's on. He had a few things play with his mind last week but he turned it around for us tonight."
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...-attitude-away-from-home-20150327-1m9qgt.html
