Brad Arthur and Clint Gutherson spoke to the media ahead of the important clash against Manly, and the King's 150th milestone.
Arthur noted "he's so proud to be a part of it" and explained why.
"I'll always be forever grateful to Gutho".
"In particular it's so comforting to have a leader that believes in the same principles and the philosophies around the game and he just drives that message."
Arthur noted Gutho had repaid the Eels "tenfold" after being given the opportunity from Manly, and proud to see him mature greatly, and it was often Gutho was able to "calm" him down.
He admitted his frustration at the Eels' inconsistencies and performances and gave hints at where the problems lay, and what the solutions are.
"We need to give the game the respect by our start. We're not respecting the game with the way we are starting."
And, "We left it (the comeback) too late...and were fatigued by that point".
No excuses
"It's about our mentality and attitude when we go to the game (and) it falls on our senior players."
"At the end of the day, the rest of the team will follow their leadership and their mentality. All our senior players need to step up."
And here's The King.
Interestingly, The King noted that only four to five players in the team were actually performing consistently, but the rest weren't playing up to their potential week to week.
He admits he supported the Silvertails as a kid, and at times didn't expect to make it to 150.
He only found out this week it was his 150th, and it would be special.
Congratulations.
Replies
I agree with that Tad.. BA plays a part in the inconsistent performances .. it's happened enough that the club should get him some help. The focus he's giving Gutho for his 150th is off track IMO .. important yeh, but we played poor last week and the focus needs to be on bouncing back with a win. Buy Gutho some tins after the game
"I'll always be forever grateful to Gutho"
That's good and fine, I just hope it doesn't cloud BA's judgment.
This will be a telling game as we have showed inconsistency and our headspace has been poor when starting some games.
Des is a smart cookie and will no doubt look to the edges, and wide and high as well as through the middle. I think Manly will back themselves to go hard in the middle early and get a roll on.
Quite simply if Parra played for 80 mins each week we would be leading the comp, its that simple for me. Even the Cows game we had some missed chances, but our other losses we started poorly and missed chances to score.
Well said Mitch. I am going to watch the game again but I thought at the back end of the first half we got right on top of the Roosters however it was too late.
Playing catch up football leaves an already fragile defence at risk and they put on more points.
If they start strong they will win
Turbo's not busting through the edges like he was last year. He'll probably hit his form this Friday.
Supposed to be a bit wet (again), so hopefully Turbo's knee is still not 100% on the slipperey surface and he has another quiet game.
We should harrass the guy Talakai destoyed and kill off all his confidence early.
Yeah. I think it's Harper.
You can count on it, Bob.
not always the case HKF, in a lot elite sporting environments, the head coach is the man manager "good cop", and one of his assistants is the one to deliver the message "bad cop".
Its a fine line to tread - as head coach you have to have the respect of the players to buy in to what outcome you want, assistants just need to get a job done.
I've posted previously that I do sense a casualness amongst the playing group. Basically the leaders don't really hold much fear of BA so they decide if the team is up for a game or not (not BA). Given yet another inconsistent game last week, I'd suggest BA needs to unleash his inner beast somewhat. It's a fine line and I fear he's drifted over the mate/ friend side of it.
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