El Diablo
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https://www.theage.com.au/sport/nrl...concedes-he-doesn-t-know-20181103-p50dtp.html
Who will be the Eels No.1? Brad Arthur concedes he doesn't know
Adrian Proszenko3 November 2018 — 5:26pm
Parramatta coach Brad Arthur concedes he has no idea who his fullback will be next year as up to half-a-dozen candidates vie for the No.1 jersey.
Jarryd Hayne is the obvious choice for the key position, but the cross-code star remains without a contract due to the club’s salary cap dramas. The Eels need to offload at least one player to fit in Hayne, who was a notable absentee when the players returned to pre-season on Thursday.
Hayne started just one game – the final-round loss to the Roosters – in the custodian role as Arthur chopped and changed his spine in the hope that it would gel. With doubt growing over his availability, the wooden spooners will consider Bevan French, Clint Gutherson, Will Smith, Josh Hoffman and even Corey Norman as alternate options.
“Good question. I don’t know,” Arthur said when asked who will fill the position.
“My thoughts are that I can’t wait for them all to get back, rip in and train hard.
“Bevan French is keen to make a fist of the fullback role, I’m sure Clint Gutherson has some aspirations. Will Smith has some aspirations there too and there’s Josh Hoffman. There’s plenty of people that want the opportunity, but reputations won’t count for a great deal at the moment. They will have to earn the right.”
Norman also spent time at fullback last year when it was evident his halves combination with Mitchell Moses wasn’t working. Arthur said the pair would be working hard over the summer on their partnership.
“There was nothing wrong with the combination that Corey and Mitchell struck up in 2017,” Arthur said.
“We have to work hard to make sure there is real clarity around that and get it right.”
The blue-and-golds have made a raft of changes after conducting a full review after their horror season. Former Wests Tigers coach Mick Potter joins Arthur’s brains trust after a stint as an assistant in Newcastle. The club’s feeder team has been rebranded from Wentworthville to Parramatta and Mark O’Neill recently started as the head of football.
The club will undertake several initiatives to ensure a tighter bond between the players, beginning with an off-season camp in Armidale.
“Overall, we need to try harder to have better relationships,” Arthur said.
“We were very tight in ’17 and we weren’t as tight in ’18.
“We are hungry. We are not sugar-coating what happened but we can’t continue to talk about last year.
“We’ve dealt with it, it’s there in the back of our minds and we’re not dismissing it. We are hungry as a staff, a playing group and as a club.
“We want to get it right.”
The Eels will play out of the new Western Sydney Stadium from Easter Monday after the club finalised a hiring arrangement just before the NRL draw was released. However, Arthur conceded the fans won’t come if they have another diabolical start to the season.
“It’s going to be a great stadium, but it’s no good if there is no one in it,” he said.
“We need to earn the right to have people want to come and support their team and watch them play.
“That’s imperative, we can’t turn up there and think everyone will come into a new stadium. We need to give them a reason to come.”
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/nrl...concedes-he-doesn-t-know-20181103-p50dtp.html
Who will be the Eels No.1? Brad Arthur concedes he doesn't know
Adrian Proszenko3 November 2018 — 5:26pm
Parramatta coach Brad Arthur concedes he has no idea who his fullback will be next year as up to half-a-dozen candidates vie for the No.1 jersey.
Jarryd Hayne is the obvious choice for the key position, but the cross-code star remains without a contract due to the club’s salary cap dramas. The Eels need to offload at least one player to fit in Hayne, who was a notable absentee when the players returned to pre-season on Thursday.
Hayne started just one game – the final-round loss to the Roosters – in the custodian role as Arthur chopped and changed his spine in the hope that it would gel. With doubt growing over his availability, the wooden spooners will consider Bevan French, Clint Gutherson, Will Smith, Josh Hoffman and even Corey Norman as alternate options.
“Good question. I don’t know,” Arthur said when asked who will fill the position.
“My thoughts are that I can’t wait for them all to get back, rip in and train hard.
“Bevan French is keen to make a fist of the fullback role, I’m sure Clint Gutherson has some aspirations. Will Smith has some aspirations there too and there’s Josh Hoffman. There’s plenty of people that want the opportunity, but reputations won’t count for a great deal at the moment. They will have to earn the right.”
Norman also spent time at fullback last year when it was evident his halves combination with Mitchell Moses wasn’t working. Arthur said the pair would be working hard over the summer on their partnership.
“There was nothing wrong with the combination that Corey and Mitchell struck up in 2017,” Arthur said.
“We have to work hard to make sure there is real clarity around that and get it right.”
The blue-and-golds have made a raft of changes after conducting a full review after their horror season. Former Wests Tigers coach Mick Potter joins Arthur’s brains trust after a stint as an assistant in Newcastle. The club’s feeder team has been rebranded from Wentworthville to Parramatta and Mark O’Neill recently started as the head of football.
The club will undertake several initiatives to ensure a tighter bond between the players, beginning with an off-season camp in Armidale.
“Overall, we need to try harder to have better relationships,” Arthur said.
“We were very tight in ’17 and we weren’t as tight in ’18.
“We are hungry. We are not sugar-coating what happened but we can’t continue to talk about last year.
“We’ve dealt with it, it’s there in the back of our minds and we’re not dismissing it. We are hungry as a staff, a playing group and as a club.
“We want to get it right.”
The Eels will play out of the new Western Sydney Stadium from Easter Monday after the club finalised a hiring arrangement just before the NRL draw was released. However, Arthur conceded the fans won’t come if they have another diabolical start to the season.
“It’s going to be a great stadium, but it’s no good if there is no one in it,” he said.
“We need to earn the right to have people want to come and support their team and watch them play.
“That’s imperative, we can’t turn up there and think everyone will come into a new stadium. We need to give them a reason to come.”
