There are 3 inevitabilities in life, death, taxes and someone abusing BA on this site. Added to that is the point that a lot of the abuse stems from added expectation that is evolved from an NRL team who are going into their 4th finals appearance in 5 years. Now to a moderate to limited Parramatta/NRL fan those stats are promising, though the expectation is now we need to win a premiership is this the person to get us there hence the abuse levelled within the fanbase.

On the other end are the defenders of a coach, in this case i will stick with Arthur due to him coaching my current club so i know the perceptions of him more than any other coach in the NRL, the fans that protect BA are more so inclined to reference two replies to those who have opposing views; 1) i see no coaching games under your name so you cannot have an opinion, 2) His is not the one who missed the tackles or dropped the ball. All terrific cop outs, in my eyes, that are usually from those who see the score upon scrolling past it on social media or are good sports and some who generally do watching every minute who feel that way and are passionate to their club and everyone involved, which is fair enough. Then there are also those who reflect upon the old Parramatta in the early 2010's where we collected back to back wooden spoons with 4 coaches in 4 years. They see the way the club was and see how it has evolved under Arthur and how he never given up in order to bring relevancy back to Parramatta.

 

Now, in this sense are those who abuse a coach warranted in their views? well i'll start by saying my views on the matter in regards to BA. The views i have on him are purely based on my thoughts of him getting us to a GF, nothing personal as he has been nothing but a gentleman both times i have met him, neither his actual knowledge and ability in the game as i do believe he is a good coach and is NRL quality. However i would be lying if i said i didn't want him moved for 2022. But then when my views are passed on i recieve the addage of can you do better or who are you going to get instead or he doesn't lose you games or the simple we are winning. Yes we are winning but at what cost?

For every club, the goal is to win a premiership, for some it might be get in the top 8 first then go for a premiership but that is every clubs goal is to win a title. For this reason is where i see the point of views of those who want him gone as it isn't the fact he's not good its that he cannot get us to that end goal. However, there are still those who abuse the abusers for even mentioning the idea of moving on from a coach or even worse criticise the coach.

 

Is a coach to blame for a loss? sometimes yes. Is a coach the reason for winning games? yes sometimes. Though in the eyes of some, especially those in the media when a coach is being sacked, every coach is not at fault for their losing, ever. Though if they lead their team to a good season the coach is praised about the great job they did. To that i say you cannot say a coach is helping a team win when they can never be a reason for them losing. It is one or the other, either a coach is a reason for a teams win or they are a reason for them losing, or the other side they do not help your team win or lose to which i say what is the point of a coach?

Now is that always the case where if Parramatta win or lose BA had something to do with either? no of course not. Take the St. Geroge game in RD5 i believe the players let us down in the game by not sticking to game play of winning the ruck through the middle choosing to play around them no through them. BA mentioned how disappointed he was, kicked them up the arse and then we picked up a great win v the Raiders. That loss wasn't his fault but the win in RD6 was helped by him. Than take Manly in RD11, refusing to acknowledge the defensive definciency of that right side with Blake, Ferguson and JA. simply costs us the game, not entirely his fault but still should have noticed it in 2020.

 

What i am referring to in this blog is to those who believe a coach can do no wrong is yes they can, are they always at fault? no but they can be, and when we expect better it is because after 8 years we expect us to at least improve upon the second week of the semi's and when we don't we will call it out. Why don't we go and coach them then? well we werent sought out to coach like BA was, if you're hired in a role to meet a certain goal and do not achieve it after a certain amount of time you should be moved on, im a believer of that, not moving them on from lack of trying or lack of ability just simply a change of direction. I am not saying either that the supporter of a coach should be quiet and not say their opinion, them stating their opinion makes talking sport interesting.

 

Overall, in my eyes a coach is not defended against criticism and yes there is unwarranted criticism, though some is justified and it is presented due to fans wanting a premiership. The longer BA is here and the less finals games he wins the worse the abuse becomes. A prelim this year can bide those criticisms to cease and let BA see out his contract towards getting to a title and i hope so and hope im proven wrong.

 

I want to know if anyone agrees with my points of view or if im way off, again don't bombard me like some do to BA just a personal point of view though if you disagree i would love to hear what you think about coaching criticisms.

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  • The talent pool of very high calibre NRL Coaches is shallow. BA is an extremely good coach. Don't believe me? Watch the Tigers doco then the 2019 YouTube clip of behind the scenes Eels vs Manly and compare BA to Premiership Winner Madge. 
    What BA has done with this club is quite extraordinary. 
    The question is, given his tenure and Finals record, can BA take us all the way or do we need someone else to carry the baton the final leg of the race? That's it.  
    Changing BA now may be the final piece of the puzzle perhaps. Or maybe a new Coach would oversee a decline. 
    Whatever the case we need to be extremely careful with our next Coaching move. IMO only properly credentialed Premiership winning Coaches need apply. Bennett, Bellamy, Robinson.
    There's lots of examples of some very ordinary Coaches winning a comp with a once in a generation champion player or a stacked side gifted to them by someone else who did all the heavy lifting. Green, Stuart, Maguire, Hagan all spring to mind. We need to be careful we don't replace BA with someone worse purely because they were lucky to win a comp. 

    Should we be looking at replacing BA? Totally depends on what we do in the Finals but also more importantly, who is realistically available to replace him if we choose to do so. Bennett is available for 2022 btw. 

    • As much as I can't believe I'm saying, if we were to move BA on this year, the only logical replacement would be Bennett.

      • This reply was deleted.
        • I think you'll find the NRL is seriously considering postponing any expansion as a result of the uncertainty around COVID.

    • This reply was deleted.
      • Oh yeah i agree, there are times i absolutley go off over Arthur, then some i say no the team let him down but there have been times where we have played well and the abuse still comes in and i think it is not even warranted and just saying it as apart of an agenda.

      • Brad guided us to a spoon after being finalists the season before.

        There's a fact for you.

        Scott

        • This reply was deleted.
          • That's right, Brad was absent that year in your mind, on season long leave or something along those lines.......

            Thanks again,

            Scott

            • This reply was deleted.
              • Brissy.... you do realise Brad claimed responsibility for the 2018 trash?

                Grow up and face the facts champ.

                Warm cheers,

                Scott

                • This reply was deleted.
                  • Thanks Doc for the insight into the 2018 situation as it's definitely a different angle your coming from and very plausible.

                    Unlike Brissy who just points the finger at others without any facts.

                    Thanks Doc,

                    Scott

                    • Send me a link to your information then......

                      Scott

                  • 100% Doc. I have been saying the same thing also.

                    A very similar thing is happening this year but in reverse. They introduced the 6 again rule to make the game faster yet we have invested in a larger pack. Luckily we have a large mobile pack with some skill.

                    Brissy has also mentioned this in the past as well.

This reply was deleted.

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