Parramatta have included former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika on a shortlist alongside Jason Ryles and Josh Hannay as they begin setting up interviews with potential candidates to take over as head coach of the Eels.
Cheika, Ryles and Hannay were shortlisted along with interim coach Trent Barrett and NSW coach Michael Maguire, who is in the midst of preparing for the Blues for the opening State of Origin game.
The Eels are expected to begin interviews with the candidates as early as this week, having failed in their earlier attempt to convince seven-time premiership winner Wayne Bennett to turn his back on South Sydney and take over from Brad Arthur.
Arthur was sacked a fortnight ago after more than a decade at the helm of Parramatta, the club reaching the decision to make a coaching change on May 1 but keeping it under wraps for three weeks.
They used that time to mount a chase of Bennett but after coming up short, have opted to pursue a more formal process. The Eels shortlisted the candidates at a board meeting last week and contacted the contenders on Monday morning to arrange interviews.
The hope is that Parramatta will be in position to announce a new coach in a matter of weeks. Cheika is the most intriguing option, having made no secret of his desire to try his hand in the NRL.
It is understood a number of parties have contacted the Eels on behalf of Cheika and the club is keen to speak to him as they finalise a replacement for Arthur.
Ryles and Hannay, assistant coaches at Melbourne and Cronulla respectively, are considered the frontrunners for the role while Barrett did his cause no harm as Parramatta bounced back to their best with a win over Cronulla last Thursday.
Replies
No surprises there really. They are the only feasible options.
Overall my preference has swung and settled on Ryles. Experienced but young, and has media attention which can make players wanna play for him AND give him some clout over our boardroom people in order to force them to correct some of the footballing decisions.
But Cheika intrigues me, him plus Barrett and a defence coach as his assistants might be something.
I dunno.
Think if Barrett misses the head role, will be kept as assistant to whoever
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Does anyone know if they reached out to Sam Burgess and if so, was he interested?
Burgess couldn't coach and egg and spoon race
Yeah he's rubbish, only has Warrington in top 4 and in a Challenge Cup final
😂😂
When Souths knifed Demetriou, Burgess was asked and he openly came out and said he's seeing his contract out at Warrington, which runs until thrle end of next year.
He seems to know that he needs to earn his stripes before taking on a bigger club role.
So there's no chance of Burgess coming unless we want to wait until 2026 at the earliest.
How Ryles and Hannay are front runners is absurd. What have they actually accomplished except Didly Squat? The only valuable prospect out of that list is McGuire end of story. Barrett has failed in both attempts at Manly and Dogs and Chieka hasn't coached NRL
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