Pressure mounts on Eels coach Daniel Anderson

Dan Koch, The Australian, 10/8/2010

DANIEL Anderson's turbulent reign as Parramatta coach is again looking shaky.
Speculation is rife he will face the axe if the star-studded Eels fail to qualify for the finals

On the back of last year's incredible late-season surge, which carried them through to the grand final against Melbourne, the Eels entered the 2010 season among the title favourites.

However, while they have shown glimpses of the breathtaking rugby league that so captivated fans, the Eels' year has been plagued by inconsistency and with just four rounds left they sit in 12th place on the ladder.

With former Test coach Ricky Stuart on the lookout for a new job after parting ways with the Sharks and highly rated assistants such as Melbourne's Stephen Kearney waiting in the wings, the pressure will be on the coaches whose teams miss out on the finals.

However, having dealt with rumours earlier this year that suggested members of the Parramatta board wanted Anderson axed, Eels chief executive Paul Osborne was last night refusing to buy into any talk about who would be in charge next season.

Replies

Jpav August 10, 2010 at 5:11am

interesting but not surprising rumours
Crow August 10, 2010 at 6:15am

Stuart would NOT be my choice, if he isnt the worst he must be close to one of the worst coaches I have seen.
GOlling August 10, 2010 at 6:53am

How does that mean he can coach. Bellamy proved in state of origin he has no idea how to manage anything other than a team of cheats.

Fair dinkum if DA was allowed to spend at least 1.5m more than every other club this forum would knight him.

Bellamy cant coach. He is full of it. Consider it this way. He gets to spend the same cap as everyone else building his squad and the gets to add Smith Inglis and Slater on top. What would Kearney have learnt ? Nothing he would as bad as Stuart
Bargearse August 10, 2010 at 7:49am

If we were to get a new coach I don't think Stuart would be the answer, he was on big coin at the Sharks I dare say a fair bit more than what Anderson is on. I think Kearney would be the obvious choice, his work with the Kiwis has been very good and he would work very well with the Islander population in our club
Beau August 10, 2010 at 8:26am

doesnt fui hate him cuz he left him out of the world cup squad in '08 or a tri nations series? i remember an article on kearney having to beg fui to play for nz
EelLectric August 10, 2010 at 9:26am

Fair dinkum, DA must feel like just packing it in. The strange thing about all of this is that during Hagan's tenure, even in the midst of a horrible season in 2008 when we also title favourites along with the Storm and Manly, there wasn't even 1/10th of the speculation in the media about Hagan being sacked. I know a lot of us on here were calling for Hagan's head but it was never in the papers.

So what does that indicate? I know journos are some times prone to making these sorts of things up or disguising 'speculation' as fact but there is enough smoke here to indicate there is a fire somewhere IMO. To me, it seems pretty obvious that these rumours and innuendo are being fed from someone within the club. That's the major difference between 2008 and 2010 in that there new faces around the footy and leagues clubs with different agendas and allegiances.

Anderson oversaw the team make the GF last year. Admittedly the team hasn't reached those heights in 2010 but with 4 rounds to go they are still a chance. He's already accomplished more than Hagan did and at the same time has made some hard calls and appears to be trying to shape the team in a mould he can work with. The only hard decisions Hagan ever made was whether or not to wear a suit or polo shirt to the post match press conferences.

Sadly, I am starting to get the feeling that DA's position may yet be defined by Cronk's future in Melbourne. Looking back at it now and the timings involved, it would appear that from the minute the Storm's salary cap cheating was revealed, DA made Cronk his #1 target for next year. As soon as the cap drama broke, Ossie comes out announcing no more negotiations with the likes of Mateo, Inu and Keating. And now in the last week stories abound that Cronk had agreed to terms with the Eels but the Storm are digging their heels in.

My gut feel is that I think that if we miss out on Cronk, in addition to losing the likes of Mateo, Inu and KK, DA will be in charge in 2011 and we will struggle. Ricky Stuart will be NSW coach in 2011. Some time after Origin period is finished, if we are going really badly, Stuart will be brought in whether DA likes it or not. Stuart looks a good bet to be in charge of the Eels in 2012.
Roger Truffle August 10, 2010 at 11:04am

I couldn't agree more. I believe Bellamy to be the most over rated person involved in the game of Rugby League. He's had 3 bites of the cherry with NSW (always an outstanding side on paper, irrespective of the opposition) and failed miserably. His reputation has been built on years of 'coaching' a team so in contempt of the rules and spirit of the game they have perpetrated arguably the greatest fraud in Australia's sporting history. What's more he coached his team to develop disgraceful and unsportsmanlike on-field conduct to such a degree that the NRL had to change the rules to prevent them from continuing with these harmful practices i.e. chicken wing and crusher tackles. His pathetic attempt at displaying a siege mentality when the salary cap scandal broke, feigning indignation that the sporting community was aghast at this disgrace, was in itself the greatest disgrace. And finally (and I'll happily stand corrected on this) to date neither he, nor any Melbourne players, have apologised for being part of, even if not contributors to, this deceit to all fans, sponsors, administrators, and participants in the game. He is a fraud of the highest order and for me, his credibility, on any subject, is zero.
Rod Farva August 10, 2010 at 11:24am

And so he should be. The team at the moment is currently mostly Hagans/Fitzgeralds
Dennis August 10, 2010 at 11:40am

I don't think Ricky would be as bad a coach as what everyone thinks, I know cronulla haven't set the world on fire and ricky had free reign as to who he bought and who he let go... But one has to think how many players of the players he was seeking actually went to the club? They chased just about every player in the comp but could only attract the fringe players , or a couple of good players.. The place was and still is basically broke.. I know I would not want my son playing there.. And don't forget he did take his team from the bottom of the ladder to equal 1st and a prelim in his second year, and before that took the roosters to 3 straight gfs ... I think with with the right cultured club he might bring us back to our glory days... But that's only my opinion!!
Djl August 10, 2010 at 11:53am

give stephen kearny a go i reckon hes a top class coach, he did a good job with new zealand