Brad Arthur has had a bit on his plate as Eels coach during his tenure. The debacle created by the former CEO with Kieren Foran's contract, the subsequent salary cap dillema and the inheritance of a fractured roster when he first took on the role as head coach.
In 2017, we made an amazing rush towards the finals, led by the likes of Semi, Mitch Moses and Corey Norman! We fell short, but, if we're all being honest, we probably went as far as we were going to that year.
In 2018 there was much expectation. Jarryd was back at the club. We finished 4th the year prior and things looked like they were heading north. We played one trial and belted the Knights. We turned up at Penrith Park in Round 1 and looked like world beaters until 10 minutes before half time when Waqa Blake scored his try. The second half, they steamrolled us. Round 2, it was 50 degrees and BA decided, for reasons best known to himself, to run the players on Brookvale for some 20 minutes, in the heat, before kick off. We got beaten by 50 points.
Those two results caused our confidence to be shot and we came last in 2018, yet the whole time, after every painful loss, BA fronted up at the press conference - always referred to the team as 'us' and 'we', not 'the players', and admitted that, despite effort at training, the team was down in confidence and that both he, and the players, would keep fronting up because things would 'eventually turn around'.
I certainly didn't see any players laughing one week or crying the next! They seemed generally peeved after every loss - as they should!
The club, rightfully, undertook a review and gave BA an ultimatum in 2019 - start winning or piss off! We had an up and down start to the season, but, there were positive things happening and the club - to its credit - took a conservative approach. One of the reasons they did so is because the players seemingly all loved their coach. The players wanted to be at the club and they wanted to enjoy the success, as a group, when it inevitably came.
The club noted that and didn't fall for the cynical tactics of player managers. They stood firm on their stance with Gutho, Moses, Lane, Jennings, Dylan Brown and even the coach himself. They re-signed all of them - and at an appropriate value. Nobody is getting 'underpaid' and nobody is on 'silly money' and underperforming. The result? Team harmony! A sense of togetherness.
Before the start of this crazy season, BA admitted he made 'some errors' in 2018 and had sought to remedy them during the 2019 and 2020 pre-season. It's refreshing to hear a coach admit to his mistakes.
Now, I found it extraordinarily telling on the weekend that BA, in his presser, spoke about how the team wanted to "show the captain what they think of him" in his 100th match by putting a cricket score on the Cows. A complete 'team first' platitude in response to a well-rounded and quality performance to reward an entirely 'team first' oriented player and captain. That's the sort of public comment that 'buys you tickets' with the playing group!
Compare that with Seibold who, despite his throng of underperforming big money players in Croft, Milford and Boyd, decided to drop the winger, Corey Oates! The root of the problem! Now, Corey didn't come out and say, "well, my performance has been down and Seibs had every right to drop me". No! He said, "I was really disappointed to be dropped and I was dirty on the coach". Didn't even mention Seibold by name!
This idiot has some 7 SOO players running around each week, and with one of the most dynamic and explosive forward packs I've ever seen! How many do we have! Yet he places himself at arms length from the performances of his team, insisting that 'he's a good coach', 'his messaging is sound' and 'he's taken his teams to the semis in both his years as a first grade coach'! An examination of his record as head coach at lower levels shows that his record is anything but good!
Seibold has clearly lost the dressing room! Something that BA never did during our darkest hours!
Now, Seibold was supposed to be the new breed of 'technical coach' fit for the new age of rugby league! Gone are the days of the Wayne Bennett's of the world - the man managers! Gone are the days of the Brad Arthur's! The "bush coaches" of the game!
We've won nothing yet so please don't see this as any form of gloat - but, there's a few blokes on this forum - who, despite never lacing up a boot, or making a tackle in anger, generally think know more than everyone else when it comes to the inner workings of a rugby league football team - that death rode our coach.
At the end of this season, we may well be disapointed yet again. But, in the current climate - riding the 2020 version of the coaching merry-go-round, I for one, am happy we have the "bush coach" at the helm of our great club!
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Coaching is always such a mix of abilities and the great coaches get that balance right, but do it in their own way. Wayne always looks comatose in the box, Bellamy needs a full time window washer, Jack Gibson was apparently as relaxed as a coach can be. But at the centre is an ability to be tactically adept, a good man manager and motivator with an ability to consider advice and use it when needed.
I see Brad has started to develop some of those traits. He's reportedly always been a good man manager, displayed by his ability to recruit players who want to play for him and his recruitment of Andrew Johns to assist his halves as well as an acceptance of a football manager indicates he's open to advice. I see him becoming more and more tactically adept given we've lost just one game since the new rules came in and we've become a massive beneficiary of a fast paced game.
Good point about O'Neil Poppa. Feels like he's been a huge part of the recent success we've had with signings.
Nice blog mate :)
No doubt BA has been fantastic and I'm starting to be a true believer in that he may well deliver the club The Holy Grail. The team he has built is magnificent and the way it's been built (as you have outlined) is a credit to the club and coach. I think Bernie Gurr needs some serious recognition here as well - he's sort of gone and forgotten but the way he went about negotiations and repairing our completely broken cap was incredible.
Max and The Bern have rebuilt our club and it now stands tall and proud.
As for fans deathriding BA - bloody oath they did and so they should - THAT is what footy is all about. Go to any footy forum and the prevailing sentiment exactly reflects the team's position on thje ladder. Some get more emotional than others, some stand firm in the face of impossible odds, some lose their shit and go off like a rocket. This is exactly how it should be - it doesn't make one supporter better than the other - it's just the wonderful mix that makes up a supporter base.
Pretty boring if enveryone was just a cardboard cutout of each other (like the fans you see in the stands at the moment :)) ). The important thing is to enjoy the journey and appreciate the efforts and skill of everyone at the club.
Siebold looks to be gone but you never know, maybe he will come out the other side. Plenty of Broncos fans would be calling for his head right now but rest assured there will be some who are still standing by him. Maybe he will get his cinderella story too - who knows - no one can read the future - that's the beauty of it all.
I agree with that Kram. I certainly wasn't suggesting that supporters ought to 'blindly support' no matter where the club is going and who is leading the way. Where criticism is warranted, I'm all for criticising.
I just found it interesting to compare BA and AS - considering that AS is where BA was a couple of years ago - and the differences in how the two men handled/are handling the pressure.
Seibold showed his form by the way he dumped Souths for Brisbane. Bennett likely left Brisbane as a poisoned chalice too. Seibold was naive, and by that time Brisbane wanted anyone but Wayne! It looked messy at the time and likely affected the respective player groups of both clubs. Neither coach has shone since then.
BA is a fine bloke, great club man and loyal servant- and likely a good assistant coach But as head coach - no
I could point to the year he only has to get the team over the line in one of two games, lost both to clubs lower, and missed the semis Likewise the straight sets loss ( and capitulation to the cows in 2017) In last year’s semis, had Parra smash Brisbane 56-0 only for the next week to lose 32-0 to Melbourne What team, in semi finals football has a 88 point turnaround?
There are many on here who play good samiritan for Brad, which is good for the man, but not as a coach
On balance, Seibold and Arthur are different versions of the same side of the coin
Were you not around in the late 90s and early - mid 00's? Parra should have won a few premierships over that time (at the very least 1999, 2001 & 2005), but only made one grand final. Yes Parra capitulated a few times over the recent past, but this is certainly not the only time this has happened. In fact even Brisbane did this in the GF against NQ in 2015. Brisbane were by far the best team that year and should have won that GF.
As for the semi against Brisbane last year, we were very good, but Brisbane were woeful. I doubt we would have scored so many points against a team that was playing better football. We were also very inexperienced in big games, but you know what, the past month has given the team some big games and they have won all but one of these.
I suppose time will tell whether BA is a good head coach or not, but I'm certain he will use this feedback to continue to grow as a coach. Nothing brings determination to succeed better than people saying you are no good!
Yes, I was around then, and yes there was capitulation then. The difference between Smith and Arthur was Smith maintained incredible consistency and Parra was always there or thereabouts. Smith also was great at development, Arthur only more recently has improved in that area
The test will be come the semis
Determination against the odds is inspiring true, but If you ain’t good enough, it will show!
Thanks for responding to my comments
Don't forget that Smith had been coaching first grade for 13 years by the time he came to Parra. He had already developed as a coach and was able to draw from some of the learnings of the past. Arthur was new to coaching when he arrived here and you could say is still a rookie coach learning on the job. That's not to look for excuses for BA, but that is the reality. In any event everything starts from this year as the benchmark has now been set.
LOL - How many titles has Smith won?
I guess we'll know more about that come the end of this season. If he does deliver a premiership then I consider the criticism that he's 'not a head coach' null and void.
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