Jake Arthur has spoken for the first time about the shocking abuse levelled at him by his own Parramatta fans last month, and told of how he did his best to derive motivation from the words of his detractors “rather than shy away from it”.
The son of Eels coach Brad Arthur also revealed he had deactivated most of his social media accounts at the start of the year, and said his teammates made him feel more than comfortable during his comeback game against Manly last Friday.
As Dylan Brown told the Herald he would wait until after the World Cup to make a call on his future - especially knowing his stocks will only rise if New Zealand triumph - and Isaiah Papali’i continued to talk in riddles about whether he would honour his Wests Tigers contract in 2023, Arthur opened up about the vile abuse he had received.
While he was the target of boos at CommBank Stadium during the game against Brisbane two weeks ago, Arthur was also targeted by trolls after a tough night against the Cowboys in Darwin earlier this season.
“I don’t read any of it, and I’ve been off social media since the start of the year,” Arthur said on Monday. “I still have the contact with my mates, I just don’t read any of the footy stuff.
“The whole time I was warming up on the sideline the other night [against the Broncos] I was getting sprayed.
“There was nothing I could do about it. And it didn’t really bother me. I tried to take it as a challenge and enjoy that extra pressure instead of shying away from it. I was taught at a young age to not respond.
“From a social media [perspective] I cop it for me and dad because he doesn’t have any [accounts].”
Arthur overcame a slow start to set up a couple of tries for Waqa Blake and Will Penisini against the Sea Eagles. Brown was credited after the game by the coach for making life easier for his son.
“I saw the comments, they’re all the same ... Jake wasn’t out there to prove a point, he was out there to play how he normally does,” Brown said.
“Anyone who thinks he’s a bad footy player haven’t watched him play in reserve grade and uneducated.”
Brown and Arthur will be the starting halves again on Friday night against South Sydney as regular No. 7 Mitchell Moses continues to recover from a broken middle finger.
Five-eighth Brown has been in excellent form and Eels fans are hoping he will recommit to the club long-term. He could now command close to $1m on the open market, and is free to negotiate with rivals from November 1.
Brown knows a solid Cup showing in front of a world audience will only drive up his price.
“I’ll wait until the World Cup and see how I go,” Brown said. “I want my footy to do the talking rather than myself. When you become an international player, I guess you become a bit more important. I’m a laidback guy. Western Sydney is good, but you never know.”
Papali’i was even more cryptic about whether he would honour his Tigers deal. While disappointed Tigers coach Michael Maguire had been axed, Papali’i said he would wait until season’s end to make a call, then spoke of his excitement at working with Tigers’ trio Tim Sheens, Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah.
I hope we make a decent offer and keep him, but sounds like Brown is very much open to going to the highest bidder.
Replies
SACK JA!
come on snake. Seriously
100%
Run the ball son. Dont be afraid of the contact even if you are built Bruce Reid.
Run Jakey Run.
The kid just keeps kicking goals so to speak, no matter what trash gets thrown at him. A sign of maturity if ever there ever was one, perhaps more mature then some. Keep going youngster, your doing the blue and gold jersey no harm at all.
He's got a really good head on his shoulders. I hope he finds his place in the game and the squad, because he has the making of a future leader. We lack players who use their brains so he's a welcome addition.
It's a very real possibility that Dylan leaves and Jacob is the future 6 interesting times
Dylan is waiting for the World Cup so he can maximise his price before he locks anything in. I'm certain we'll have the first shot at retaining him so we'll just have to be willing to pay.
Locking up Dylan long term will be very high on the clubs agenda. You don't persevere with a young kid through his formative years only to let him leave when he's about to get good.
i rather sign dylan and then ICE
if thats the case, we are in for some very dark years
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