Leeds: Former Parramatta coach Brad Arthur says he’s a better coach now than the one who was sacked by the Eels last year, admitting it was time for both him and the club to go their separate ways.
“A lot of people said I looked relieved and happy, and I felt like I was at the time,” he said about his mid-season sacking
“I was grateful for the opportunity they gave me. Eleven years, it was a great life and my family got to live a great life. There were negatives with it, but there were plenty of positives with it. I wouldn’t change any of it at all. Probably there’s some lessons there that I maybe knew or some things that I knew I needed to change or got wrong. But sometimes you don’t make those until you get sacked or terminated.
“I’ve looked at it from a perspective of ‘it is what it is, I’ve had a good life and enjoyed it, but what can I learn from it’? So if I got any opportunities again moving forward, is there anything that I could do differently? But I feel a lot of that just comes with time and experience. You don’t learn from anything unless you make mistakes. It’s just making sure you don’t make them over and over.”
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/i-needed-it-arthur-reflects-on-eels-sacking-and-his-desire-to-coach-in-nrl-again-20251104-p5n7sk.html
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Frank it says enough that Meninga beat him to the job in Perth. Like Meninga's coaching skills are about as good as his political skills. Do you remember his attempt at trying to become a federal politician. He walked on his first interview never to return. Lol A blind ferret with arthritis and a hernia could have done a better job.
21 seconds. Shortest political career in Australian history... haha
Would have thought BA was a shoe in for that Perth position. Guess we will never know.
There was someone on fb who commented that if we win a comp in next 5 years BA should get some credit for laying foundations. Well that's not happening with how much Ryles has gutted the joint, for good.
This is not a Kevin Walters situation.
That's rubbish, neither he or Walters deserve credit in either circumstances. Only a flop would credit a coach 5 years on even if the team were 100% Arthur recruits.
lol Arthur and MON tried to get rid of Moses in 2018
Look BA had his time and for me he did a lot of good stuff during the cap era, and for me showed too much loyalty to some players. There were also rumblings he did not get along with MON and co and hey this probably was close to the mark, who knows.
Our juniors for me did not come as they should have and we needed to keep building from within. Some players got paid heaps for SFA and at times we looked stale in the end.
Hope he does well, but not sure where he fits in the NRL and who with.
There were good and bad things. The bloke can coach. You do not make a gf, no matter how much of a fluke it all was, if you cannot coach. He finished with more wins than losses as well. Issue was he could be stubborn and didn't evolve with the game.
He trusted players too much and many might disagree but I will say how I feel, he pushed both Jake and Matt into those squads. Yes Matt didn't debut under BA but he was pushed through the grades quickly. The way JA was forced in was awful, he deserves the wrath of the blame not Jake. Kid was just doing as he was told. He learned from that with Matt. Plus I know this would get hate but I'll say it anyway, many people I trust plus in media have said the path was cleared for Matt with Mahoney going. He was offered 2 years, then 3 later with an eye on MA being the future. They signed an ageing Josh Hodgson instead of a younger Hooker so when Hodgson moved on MA would take over. That back fired so Lussick and Hands were the stop gaps and that was back firing.
Arthur at the end was what he admitted, being there too long and both parties needed change. It was a matter of both parties waiting for the other to jump and Parramatta made the move.
Though I feel a premiership under Ryles, if I feel there is to be one, would little to no remains of the BA era, he should be shown some respect in that he can coach. Is he a great coach? Maybe not but he is a capable coach.
Ive said it a lot of times, BA coach Perth or now PNG would be perfect having a veteran coach like him. Or even Wests Tigers to get relevant, have a coach who can win over the media and handle to chat to wins some games.
You can kinda argue that making a GF isn't really a marker of whether or not someone can be considered a good NRL coach.
All of professional sports revolves around achieving the highest honour of that particular game or competition, winning the GF is very different to making one. And sustained success with a positive and impactful legacy. That's probably more valuable than anything. Leave it better than it was when you got their and walk away when you are ready. Not pushed out. I think BA did a lot of good but ruined it all, tarnished himself and his era. He was too proud and headstrong to admit he was wrong at times and was afraid to ask for help.
We won't even be able to dream of premiership success until we get a decent recruiter. If we don't find some success in 2026 , I think you'll see MON sacrifice his mate Ben Rogers .
I just hope Ryles being more of an Alpha then Arthur , he won't be too scared to vent his frustrations publicly should they keep failing at landing his targets. Arthur was a cuck in this dept , hence why he lost his job. MON is terrible at his job, but he seems quite good at playing the corporate politics game.
On another note LB , what the difference between what Ryles has done now with signing Peasant for a year waiting for Lorenzo ? And what you claim they did with MA ? If Matt's last name was Lorenzo and not Arthur , it'd seem like the correct move yeah ? He had big wraps on him and we aren't exactly renown for landing signings . Personally I'd have chosen we signed a representative Hooker , but as I said , our history dictates this wasn't possible.
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