Dear B.A.
I hope you read this.
Thank you for the last 10 years. You've taken the team from a few wooden spoons to grand finalists last year. We had some terrible moments and some good ones.
As a fan, the hardest thing to swallow is even after 10 years, the team still has no identity. Penrith, Melbourne have a strong identity. You know what to expect from them week in week out. Walters has begun doing this with the Broncos in just a couple of years.
10 years is plenty of time to get this right.
We've supported you and you're a good coach but unfortunately the last few years has shown you've reached your peak and it's not good enough. The team is now going backwards.
Telling us the 'team tried hard' and that 'the effort was there' makes things worst. This tell us that you're out of ideas. You don't have the answers. You're unsure of yourself.
This is not about bagging the coach. Its about you acknowledging your capabilities and realising some of your weaknesses. It takes a bigger man to do that.
You say you love the club, if you really do, please do what's right and graciously step down despite the remaining years on your contract. It's time.
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Replies
Same as those writing emails to the club, they have better things to do with their day than to read from fans. It is simple. Only way they will listen to fans is from protests and sponsors if we stop paying money.
Another way is not to renew memberships to hit them in their pockets. With its financial impact,the club FO pencil pushers may take notice.
Unfortunately as a fan, forums like this is all we have Coryn.
Kick brad arthur out!!
Do what the Richmond tigers supporter did a few years back.
I'm hearing through my sauces that Brad received this and it ruined his weekend. Tossed and turned all night and couldnt sleep. Mrs A stuck it on the fridge.
As Brian Smith would say. There is always next year.
Some Eels' executives read our forum occasionally - to get a broader gauge on supporter temperature (as opposed to TCT), but they'd already know fans want BA's head. Brad wouldn't read half of his hate mail, so forget that. He already knows.
Ultimately, the issue is not just BA, although I think we badly need new ideas and a new voice, coupled with better psychologists and mentors from the coaching side. You throw Bennett or Bellamy into BA's role how much more can they get out of our cattle? Maybe, they might be able to scrap a few more wins and get us into the finals. Maybe.
The players are full-time professional footballers. If they don't know how to perform - and keep switching on and off - and can't motivate themselves enough, foster bad habits, well we have some issues there as well. Cultural issues, too.
We do need more from our cattle: a few more tough nuts in the team and more leadership to show the way selflessluly, more smarts, and more speed.
Hard to get all that, frankly. Not just because we have to do it largely through our cap. We aren't the Roosters, Dogs, Souths Broncos, or a Storm that have other means.
Any new incoming coach will also need to deal with not having full autonomy on the make up of the team - to be a cog in the R&R wheel of five (or how many there are). So, that could also limit some of our choices and throw the 3-5 year plan out the window into the wind somewhat.
No easy fixes, ladies and gentlemen.
Ultimately, my guess is BA will be here next year (I'd rate it a 85-90% chance) and we'll get more of the up and down swings from the team. Simply because it's almost certain we won't have enough of a change of cattle and the kind of high calibre cattle we need. 2025, might be different with many off contract (if we're very lucky).
In 2024, if we get a better run with injuries, suspensions keeping our best 13 relatively healthy, especially our spine, some luck with the draw, and a few more bounces of the ball, we'll be more competitive next year even if we are extremely unlikely to win a title or get to a grand final. Ultimately, we don't have the cattle, the depth, nor culture, nor clout at the top, yet, to overcome adversity. We rely on too many things going our way.
Coryn, absolutely. Bellamy-Ponissi would be great, and might be able to start to change the culture here given a high level of autonomy. But, them here, having autonomy is practically a fantasy. And even then, in that fantasy world, they wouldn't get the kind of financial clout and backing they get at the Storm to get the right cattle in, in the right culture, and make us a consistent contender. We also need more clout at the top. Maybe I've become too cynical. Dunno.
The problem is that if we do nothing about the coaching situation, we really may fall down to the bottom 3 or 4.
Once there, it becomes really really hard to get yourself out of it.
Surely the executive must be thinking that the club has got everything they can get from Brad Arthur ?
He's not a rookie coach now but yet continues to make mistakes that are just unexplainable and should be unacceptable.
The tired mantra of effort plays and forward domination are tired cliches but that's all he has.
Yes, if they cut him now , we would get the usual howls from the media but maybe we as a club could get our big boy pants on and plan for the future ?
instead of just dying a slow death like we are now because if we wait 2 or 3 years there may be little left and bugger all to salvage.
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