Parramatta Eels assistant coach Brad Arthurs has confirmed that the Blue and Gold will aim for a “gritty” style of football, that will represent a marked departure from the way the club has played in recent years.
Speaking to 1Eyed Eel at a signing session in Rouse HIll today, Arthurs said there would be an emphasis on the side being able to grind out a win and toughing each match out for the full eighty minutes.
Like head coach Steven Kearney, Arthurs was formerly an assistant coach with the Melboure Storm and he agreed that the Eels were perceived as a team, who were often vulnerable and could stray from their gameplan when fatigue set in during a match. The tortuous pre-season training that has seen the players endure tough, traditional hill-training sessions, and which have been described by players like Nathan Hindmarsh as one of the toughest they have endured, has been designed to address this issue, Arthurs said.
“Steve wants the players to be physically fit before we worry about anything else,” Arthurs said, adding that the training was also about making sure players were mentally tough and they they would work for each other as a group.
Asked if it was a challenge to change a mind-set, and an approach to the game, that has been entrenched at the club for many years, Arthurs agreed that it would be a work in progress but that it was just a matter of “break bad habits” over time.
“At the same time, we’ve got a lot of players with a lot of skill so we don’t want to lose that altogether,” Arthurs said.
While he has had limited time with the Eels, Arthurs - a former Parramatta junior footballer - said he already felt like part of the furniture.
“I feel like I’ve been here for five years,” Arthurs said. He described the club as extremely professional and one that is very committed at all levels to getting the most out of its footballers.
And despite the fact that Parramatta has missed out on any significant marquee signings, Arthurs said that the club still believed it had a roster that was good enough to be consistently competitive in 2011.
“Absolutely. The main thing is you want a group of players, who all want to play for each other, and I think we have that,” Arthurs said.
He also pointed to the good number of promising juniors coming through, who would challenge for first grade positions this year. He pointed to Jacob Loko and said with Parramatta being somewhat “limited” in the outside backs, there was a definite opportunity for him and any of the other contenders for those positions to stake their claim for a starting berth.
He said that Patrick O’Hanlon had an ideal physique for NRL, and although he still needed to add some weight, “we think we’ve got a footballer there”. And asked to pick a player who had most impressed during the off-season, Arthurs was quick to point to Rory Brien saying that he had really buckled down while training and addressed some of the issues that had been raised as weakenesses.
“He’s the type of kid you want to base your club around,” Arthurs said.
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Wow....tough it out for the full eight minuts (see 2nd paragraph)..Lol...Too funny...but sounds about right..hahahahaha.
Simply would rather a game with lots of flair and maybe compete for the spoon or grind teams and win the comp?
I know which one I would rather
Who cares we just want to win it all.
Dragons weren't boring when they were thrashing Roosters and lifting the trophy were they.
Half the fans would rather razzle dazzle - that shit gets you nowhere.
Sure we can still have an element of flair when need be, why wouldn't we with Haynesy at our realm.
Exactly Adam.
Boring= premierships as the dragons just showed. I couldnt care less if we won it by cheating a WIN is a WIN in my eyes hahah.
Not sure about it being all grind we have some good ball players in Hayne, Horo, Mitchell, Burt and Humble, to name a few. Give them half a chance and the razzle dazzle will come out.
Love it, win first look good second.
I see us playing finals football again and playing a very similar style of that to Melbourne Storm. Kearney's philosphy will be to make the brutality of the eels defence more methodical and to inject Hayne in the game when opposition defences are tiring.
I think its very fortunate we've ended up with Kearney/Arthurs because we don't have the squad to play razzle dazzle football any more. We don't have any players renowned for their offloads, we don't have fancy footed outside backs who you just try and create space for and we don't have halves who play what's in front of them. For us to score points next year, we're going to need to set up for an attack, bring Jarryd in from the back and try and get him one-on-one with a defender with runners so they don't overman on him.
I'd suggest defence is the most important factor in this style, and we've proven we can be as good as any one on that front.
Serious question then Stiffler, if you were coach what would your gameplan be.
P.S. I agree - for us to be successful with this style of play - kicking has to improve a thousand percent. Soward's kicking game for example has been absolutely critical in the Dragon's being successful with their style. (I'd be tempted to move Jarryd to six on this basis alone).
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