STEPHEN Kearney was putting on a brave face after Parramatta suffered their 11th defeat of the season last night but as the losses continue to mount the pressure on the Eels coach increases.
Questioned about whether he was worried about his own job security, Kearney played it straight. "I can't. My focus is dealing with what I've got in front of me," he said.
"If I focus on that then I'm going to take my mind off what's important and that's doing my job. So that's not an issue. I don't have a great deal of control over that, I just control what I've got to do."
The Eels board have discussed moving the coach on at the end of the season but remain undecided on his future for now. But if the losing trend continues, there's only so many hits a popular club like Parramatta can take.
Asked what were the things the Eels needed to improve most to make the second half of the season better, the Parramatta coach couldn't help cracking a momentary half smile. "How long have you got?," Kearney said.
The Eels coach then returned straight to coaching mode, stating simply: "There are a number. "For us, we've got to break it right back. The last month of footy for us has been positive for us. From a defensive point of view, tonight, we got a lot of pressure put on us. And I thought apart from a couple of softish tries the defensive line held out most of the time."
Kearney reinforced he was happy with the last month of Eels football but conceded last night was a step "backwards".