Champion five-eighth Trent Barrett has agreed to a two-year deal to work alongside Brad Arthur at the Parramatta Eels as an assistant coach.
The Eels officially announced the deal on Thursday with the ex-Bulldogs coach viewed as a smart appointment to work with Eels halves pairing of Mitch Moses and Dylan Brown.
Barrett was punted as Bulldogs head coach earlier this season having joined the club following a successful stint as an assistant at the Penrith Panthers.
“I reached out to Trent virtually a week after he was sacked to see what his plans might be moving forward,” Eels coach Arthur said on Thursday.
“We had a brief discussion [and I told him] when he was considering what his next option might be in the coaching ranks that he should give me a call.
“I spoke to him not long ago and he’s going to come on board for us next year and work closely with our halves and he’ll take full reins with our attack.
“I knew he probably wanted to take a bit of gardening leave there for a while. I just wanted to make sure that I expressed my interest and I wanted to see what his options might be moving forward.
“That’s why I rang him again a few weeks ago to see where he was at with it, and he seemed keen. We met for a couple of hours and it was sorted within a couple of days so he was obviously pretty keen to work with our playing group.”
Arthur said that Barrett’s involvement in Nathan Cleary’s rise was just another reason to bring him over, with the former Bulldogs coach to mentor Moses and Brown.
“I think our attack is fine. It’s just a bit of fine tuning and working closely with our halves,” Arthur said.
“He’ll be able to talk with them about his experiences in the game and some leadership stuff and how to get them around the field.
“Obviously, you’ve seen the stuff he’s done with Nathan at the Panthers, so he can only help with our investment in our two halves and our whole spine.”
Replies
I mean I do not mind the hire, but yeah scoring 0 points against Souths, 4 against Canterbury and 4 against NQ?
Absolutley out attack is fine
I see Dreggs has knighted himself, shame I would have preferred him crowned!
Just thinking would Dreggs know a stretch from a pinch.
Yeah although I didn't 100% agree with what you said it was fair comment and didn't take it as knocking more constructive on what you believe in. I found it simply as discussion.
Again I do not agree 100% but don't have to, to admit a comment is fair
That's rubbish.
Anyone can post whatever opinion they like and they don't need to have supporting data or info to support that position.
That's what opinion means.
Well to be fair I will say I did get annoyed that it's guarenteed now that he is staying, granted. I know professional talk is in the game but more Brissy I would rather him admit the attack can be better. He said fine yes, but rather him say our attack has been fine in parts but not happy with different areas. Instead he said it's fine just halves need fixing when I feel it's more than that
In terms of Penrith and Rooster, roosters was best game we played this year along with Penrith round 9. Not taking away from round 20 Penrith but they had 12 men for majority and could have scored more. Manly was one where we clicked and looked good. In terms of overall attack Roosters in round 15 and Dragons round 4 were our best for sure, we have team to do it and like Barrett coming in but wish Arthur was bit more honest on the attack, I know what do you want him to say, but can still say it's not where we want it to be that's why Trent is here
In terms of positives I have said I like Barrett as an assistant.
That's fair Brissy I have calmed down a lot since first hearing the news, but I would say Penrith was our best 80min performance at Penrith, Roosters was our best attacking performance though.
Defence needs more help though, BA should move away from defence and bring in say a Seibold or Maguire to helm the defence, let Carr and Barrett do attack and BA oversees everything and chimes in where he can more and focus more on the mental aspect. Less stuff to do means more focus on what you are doing.
Need to hire something or our defence
If we look for a defensive coach, Seibold is perfect. The bloke is brilliant as a defensive coach, not head coach though.
We could have bellamy, Bennett and Robbo as assistant coaches and nothing will change as long as BA is in charge of the team
Yep - I'd prefer that be the focus..
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