https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/sp...rful-after-panthers-loss-20180315-p4z4km.html
The common consensus is, to ensure it remains an effective motivational tool, coaches must limit their big sprays to about one per season. Which means Brad Arthur has used already used up his quota for 2018.
Parramatta blew a 14-point lead in the western derby loss to Penrith, failing to match it with their opponents in the second half. Arthur was less than impressed with the performance and let his side know it during a brutal honesty session on Wednesday. After speaking individually to each of his players about their own shortcomings, the coach let the group know, in his own inimitable way, that a repeat performance wouldn’t be accepted.
Arthur’s previous spray had the desired effect. He lost his stack going after the blue and golds lost four consecutive games last season going into the round seven encounter against Wests Tigers. The side responded by winning 14 of their next 19 competition games, earning the Eels their first finals appearance since 2009.
For new recruit Kane Evans, the no-holds-barred video session was his first glimpse of Arthur on the warpath.
“It was the first time I saw the coach in action,” Evans said. "I can see why so many players love him. He was straight up, he said he wouldn't hold any grudges. He said he had a video session like this (leading) into round seven, and from there everyone switched on.
"Apparently he had a big video session like that. We got to do it in round one and know everyone will lift.''
Corey Norman has seen it all before. The playmaker rated, perhaps half-jokingly, the bake as a “seven, maybe six-and-a-half” out of 10 in the combustibility stakes. Whatever the case, Norman and his teammates quickly recognised that a repeat performance against Manly wouldn’t improve Arthur’s mood.
"It was intense, but not one of his red-hot ones,” Norman said. "(He was upset at) the lack of effort we showed. We put the effort in the wrong areas, it was all reactive.
"Once they made a break, or something like that, it was all reactive when we should have been loading our effort in before reacting to a line break.”
Norman said a similar spray had hit a nerve with the players last year and was the catalyst for their finals run.
"We lost four in a row, almost five,” Norman said. "Brad made sure we had a look and weren't skipping over anything.
"You could sense everyone was embarrassed or disappointed. After that video session it was gone and we move on to Manly.
"You go into video, you do your video, you cop your spray and move on. There's no moping about. We move on to Manly. Seven days is a long time.”
The Eels will be hoping they will have the services of Mitchell Moses for the duration of the clash with the Sea Eagles. Moses missed 25 minutes of action against the Panthers due to a head injury assessment and his sin-binning, with the side losing its way in the halfback’s absence.
Norman said the experience taught him to take more ownership in the absence of his halves partner.
"Probably (I should) get better kicks away,” Norman said. “There were a few kicks in second half that weren't up to standard. All you need to do is cop medicine, run hard, get it down there and ‘D’' up. We tried to look for an easy way out, didn't work and Penrith capitalised.
"You have to calm things down and get good finishes to sets. There's nothing worse than being a man down and you don't get a good finish to your set.”
