Eels coach Brad Arthur says salary cap drama won’t break his players’ bond
52 minutes ago
DAVID RICCIO CHIEF SPORTS WRITERThe Sunday Telegraph
EELS head coach Brad Arthur has spoken of the incredible bond and unity of his players, which he claims can’t be broken despite the looming threat of a devastating NRL penalty for third-party salary cap breaches.
With the NRL investigation into the Parramatta salary cap saga edging towards a dramatic end, possibly within the next 72 hours, Arthur and his players are faced with the painstaking reality of not knowing if the club’s best start to a season since 1986, the year they last won a premiership, is all in vane.
Such is the depth of foul play being levelled at the Parramatta management, NRL Integrity Unit boss Nick Weeks is preparing to hand NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg a detailed brief into his findings within the coming days.
It will then be Greenberg and ARL Commission John Grant who present the Eels with a breach notice and of which will feature a range of potential penalties including the gut-wrenching loss of competition points, a massive monetary fine and most importantly, the removal of those responsible for inflicting the darkest shadow over the club’s 70-year history.
Somehow, over the first seven premiership rounds, Arthur has managed to absolve his players -and likewise his coaching staff and players absolve him — from the energy-sapping headlines of doom and gloom.
An open and honest Arthur said the steel and focus of his players was born from both their mental fortitude, which his coaching staff targeted over summer, and a competitive bond formed through adversity.
“I found at times last year I was worrying about things that I couldn’t do too much about,’’ Arthur told The Sunday Telegraph.
“So (right now) all I’m worried about is us aiming up again next week (against North Queensland) and when and if it (NRL penalty) comes, I know we’ve got a group here that have already shown plenty of resolve and who I think will get on with it and deal with it.’’
Until the NRL hand down their findings, the Eels are in the middle of a contract freeze, unable to register any new contracts for the likes of off-contract stars Corey Norman and Nathan Peats.
But Arthur says that such is the bond within the 2016 squad, the contract stalemate won’t impact their retention plans with both Norman and Peats indicating their want to stay.
“This group is just so tight at the moment, even our guys on the fringe of NRL are pushing hard and our Wentworthville (NSW Cup) players are really aiming up as well, which creates competition and character,’’ Arthur said.
“We’ve worked hard to put this group together and while it was disappointing to lose Junior Paulo (to Canberra next season), our priority is to keep this group together and the great thing is, every single one of them wants to stay.’’
Arthur spoke about the desire of his players in pre-season when asked about the defiance within the squad.
“We’re mentally stronger this year,’’ Arthur said. “Bringing in a couple of key personnel has helped with that, but our pre-season was a real torture test for our players.
“Our trainer ‘Devs’ (Paul Devlin) went really hard on them. We chose the hottest parts of the days, we’d change our schedule during the week to when we knew it was going to be 40 degrees at two o’clock in the afternoon.
“We just did some things like that and the thing was, there was no complaining, they just got on with it and you could see the intent from the word go in the pre-season. They had a mentality to not let ‘Devs’ break them and that’s showing now.
“They’re saying now ‘that’s why we did all that hard work in the pre-season.’ It becomes a belief that we’ve worked and that’s why we’re able to do this. By no means is the hard work done, in fact there’s still a long road ahead of us.
“It’s all about consistency and maintaining the rage.’’
