The following article in todays ROAR, shows the character & heart that BA has, it is without doubt, at least IMHO, why he needs to be resigned sooner rather than ASAP. The focus is now off the players, except perhaps for a couple of vital resigning & new signings, & squarely on the need to sign the coach to a long term deal. In fact I doubt that many additions will occur before BA is tied up.
The future of the eels on the paddock is very much interlinked with the coach.
http://www.theroar.com.au/2016/05/12/arthur-not-bitter-at-board-for-peats-loss/
Parramatta coach Brad Arthur says there’s no point in him feeling bitter with the board that forced Nathan Peats out of the club on Wednesday.
Arthur said it was “devastating” to ask Peats to take up an 18-month contract with Gold Coast, all but assuring the Eels would be playing for competition points against South Sydney on Friday.
“As a coach and as a mate, we’re pretty devastated by it. But a tough decision had to be made,” he said on Thursday morning.
“It’s unfortunate … we lost Ryan Morgan a couple of weeks ago. He’s been at our club for six years. It’s hard.”
The Eels were issued with a breach notice last week, stripping them of all 12 of their competition points, fining them $1 million, and suspending five officials for breaching the salary cap.
The officials are challenging their suspension in court.
However the hardest hit came from having to shed the popular Peats, who had coffee with his now ex-teammates on Thursday morning and is considered the heir to NSW State of Origin hooker Robbie Farah.
“He broke his neck playing for this club and played another 60 minutes with it,” Arthur said.
Arthur refused to blame the Eels board, instead trying to stay upbeat.
“I’m not going to get any benefit out of resenting the situation. That’s what it is,” he said.
“We’ve just got to deal with it. We’ve got to try and stop focusing on the negatives and try and get a positive out of it, which is, we’re playing for points.”
The besieged coach revealed the Eels had tried to move on other players on the roster who are on longer-term deals, however they didn’t want to continue paying their salaries while at other clubs.
He said a line needed to be drawn this week.
“It’s not a decision that I wanted to make but it was a decision that was forced upon us from the situation,” Arthur said.
“(Peats was) off contract next year. Unfortunately his number fits where it needs to be.
“We can try and move players out of contract next year and that becomes messy and (we) end up with them in the cap for the next couple of years. We just need to draw a line in the sand and we just need to tidy it up.”
The Eels have yet to receive official clearance from the NRL that they would be playing for points against the Rabbitohs, with the governing body still to rubber-stamp Peats’ contract on Thursday morning.
The retirement of Anthony Watmough is also expected to be medically approved as a career-ending injury.
“The NRL will examine the Nathan Peats contract tomorrow (Thursday) before making a determination on the Eels overall salary cap position,” the NRL tweeted on Wednesday night.
Gold Coast chief executive Graham Annesley will leave it to coach Neil Henry to decide whether Peats lines up against the Roosters on Monday night.
Replies
My BA man-crush continues.
"The besieged coach revealed the Eels had tried to move on other players on the roster who are on longer-term deals, however they didn’t want to continue paying their salaries while at other clubs"
Pretty much Peats has jumped on the grenade....2018 return of N.Peats
Then Keep Norman long term
Gordon for another year or 2
Shed some unwanted players and buy good talent
He never stated that eels had tried to move contracted players on, more explaining why Peats and not other possible players.
That is their words, not his from the interview
Just watched the morning news. 9 had a reasonable coverage & nothing much to report.
The Massoud Chanel with a different reporter, mentioned that the club was meeting with the NRL at this time, then a whamy was said. Club may still have to shed one more player.
What happened or what's happening is anyone's guess, almost like a lucky dip where you can see the prizes you can see in the barrel which are just short of an arms length to grab one, you put your arm in & without seeing it, you have just activated a device that will lower the items beyond your reach.
If there ends up any truth in this, then it will finish me with RL, I already see the double jeopardy in the charges as I have stated many times, with the past charges that were supposed to have been already investigated & ok'd, but now if we end up having to get rid of another player, then its a triple jeopardy for mine, & any form of minor thought that the eels were not hard done by will be gone, & the ones who are corrupt is in fact the NRL.
How much over the cap will we be now after losing Peats? 1 or 2 cents?
The NRL will try to appease the will of the media and the other clubs by making it as hard as a possible for this team to play finals. Even if we look likely when closer to the semis there will be some kind of new evidence that will be found or miraculously appear. It will not stop until we are done and dusted for the year.
Knob jockeys like Hadley and Kent are on a mission to make sure this does happen. They then make out that there isn't an agenda against the Eels - ha, could've fooled me.
Frank, If there is something found during this year, it finishes me, at least until there is a real top level investigation into what has gone on. I say top level that comprises no self interests or any group that can be of the same ilk.
The investigation has to go to the top, NRL, into every club, be they privately owned or not, every player agent as well. Nothing left unturned.
Previous incidents by other clubs were swift in application & finished. Ours has dragged on now for a year at least since the governance review & why it was done, with the Schubert investigation & what he found, what he didn't etc. & if the NRL hit us again, then it shows there has been an unmitigated singling out of the eels in every area, trial by media & judgement & guilt with little regress.
Sick to death of it & the NRL.
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