PARRAMATTA PULL IN NEW DEFENSIVE COACH
Former KIWIS player, and recently departed New Zealand head coach DAVID KIDWELL will join Brad Arthur’s coaching team at the Parramatta Eels.
Kidwell made 33 appearances over two seasons back in 1999 and 2000 for the Eels.
Displaying good form for the then high performing club under the leadership of co-captain’s Jarrod McCracken and Nathan Cayless, Kidwell received the Jack Gibson Award for the Coaches selection as Player of the Year in 1999.
The Eels finished 2nd on the ladder that season with Kidwell playing a utility role switching between the forwards and backs for coach Brian Smith.
Fast forward to 2018 and the Eels are struggling without a win after many predicted they would finish in the top 4 after a strong late season surge last year.
Although Kidwell has head coach experience with New Zealand, the 40 year old has previously been employed at both the Melbourne Storm and Wests Tigers for his defensive coaching abilities.
After coming off a horror 12 months where not everything went to plan, both on and off the field, culminating in the early exit for the KIWIS from the 2017 World Cup, Kidwell has put that behind him as he looks to move on.
"The tough lessons are the ones you learn the most from, and I've had a lifetime's worth of tough lessons over the past year or so," Kidwell stated last month.
A new challenge now arises and another great character test awaits, one that Kidwell has not shied away from, as he looks to assist in putting Parramatta’s season back on track.
Replies
I think he’ll prove to be a solid choice
Nonetheless we do require someone with a bit more attacking knowledge in the coaching staffroom
Also someone else with top coaching experience for BA to bounce ideas off. That is pretty invaluable and will relieve a lot of the pressure on BA. Kidwell has been assistant coach for a number of years also so would have ideas on what could change.
I am a believer in the concept of getting your defence right goes a heck of a long way in building confidence to a teams attacking abilities. Our defence has picked up somewhat since the Manyl game and having Kidwell here is likely to put the icing on our defence, it should then allow our attack to be fixed if by no other means of them having confidence in keeping the opposition out, and weary them down, allowing them to create space.
Excellent choice, well I’m hoping it is.
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