Eels rookie Jakob Arthur’s Round 1 selection has divided opinion but coach Brad Arthur believes his son’s surname does him more harm than good.

Jakob has been named on Parramatta’s bench to face the Titans on Sunday, with the 19-year-old set to add to his eight NRL appearances.

There were claims of nepotism in some quarters after Jakob - who plays in the halves - was named at No. 17 this week while experienced NRL players Nathan Brown, Mitch Rein and Bryce Cartwright were all put on an extended bench.

Brad told to foxsports.com.au during the pre-season that coaching son in first grade is tough but the 47-year-old, who is entering his ninth season at the helm of the Eels, emphasised there is no special treatment for Jakob and said if anything it’s the opposite.

“It’s not easy, to tell you the truth,” Arthur told foxsports.com.au.

“Sometimes his surname, people might think is a positive for him but it’s actually probably a negative for him.

“But anyway he’s like the rest of our kids, he’s working hard and when their opportunity comes I think they’ll be ready.”

Brad revealed he’s occasionally harder on Jakob than the other players but said it would have been worse in earlier years.

“Maybe at times, but not really,” he said.

“I’ve mellowed in terms of the way I coach from maybe five years ago so he’s probably lucky it’s not five years ago.”

Jakob believes he’s treated the same as all the players, with the exception that footy talk with the coach extends to after hours. 

“It’s all right, all the boys are good about it, it’s just like a coach and player,” Jakob said.

“I’m still living at home. He tries to keep all the footy talk at training but we always end up talking about footy at home.

“I just love being here with the boys and I’m learning heaps off the older boys, it’s been awesome.

“Mitch (Moses) is always teaching me stuff, he’s really good at helping me and is always working with me on stuff I need to improve on and off the field.

“Watching these boys then being able to play with them, it’s unreal. I don’t think it’ll ever feel normal playing alongside some of the best players in the comp and the guys I watched growing up.”

Moses told foxsports.com.au Jakob had been one of the club’s best performers this summer.

“Jakey is really good, he’s had a great pre-season, he’s been one of the standouts for us,” Moses said.

“He’s still young, he’s only 19 years old. He’s got a long way to go but is definitely headed in the right direction.”

Dylan Brown is the other half who Arthur has been honing his craft under this summer, but the Kiwi livewire said he wasn’t always the one doing the teaching.

“F***ing Jakey’s teaching me how to do some stuff bro, he’s a beast,” Brown said.

“He’s obviously Brad’s son so he’s learnt a lot off Brad and it shows in his game. He’s unreal.”

Jakob is currently around 86kgs and wants to bulk up to 90kgs by the opening rounds of the season.

“He’s been good, this is his second pre-season now and he’s put on a bit of size and is crafting his game after a big year last year debuting and playing cup,” Eels captain Clint Gutherson said.

“It takes its toll on a young body and I thought he handled himself really well, all those young kids coming through, another pre-season under their belt which just lets their body adapt to the speed and physicality of the game and I think he’s going to have another great year.”

Eels forward Ray Stone trains outside Jakob and also had plenty of praise for the young gun: “He’s really calm and just does his job really well, I rate him a lot.”