I'm sick and tired of failure! You don't achieve these decades of crap without some monumental blunders. Even with highly regarded coaches ( Monie, Smith, Anderson) and premiership winners (Hagan and Stuart), even with different CEOs including Fitzy for most of that time, the club has regularly watched on when it's grand final day. It's never been good enough.
Theres been reviews before. An internal review got rid of Daniel Anderson one year after a grand final appearance.
we've only ever changed individuals.
This time the Eels have an external review. It looks at the club, not the individual.
What does it find?
The club, not the individuals, isn't good enough. Not enough resources. Management structures needed. Pathways are messed up. Facilities are poor. Recruitment not good enough. We need to help juniors transition better into first grade. Coaching support is needed.
Is this a surprise to any of us? Of course not. Has it been this way for too long? Yes.
And we needed a review to tell us? At least somebody has and it's been done properly.
Theres plenty of bagging about the report and calls for blood, especially Arthur's.
But until this report spelt it out and forced change Parra would continue on the same path and it wouldn't matter who the freakin coach is. And as fans we become part of that by still calling for the blood of individuals.
Let's get it through our heads. The Parramatta club has been a long term failure. That only comes from an endemic problem.
So if you want to bag the review that's easy. If you want to bag Arthur and every other coach Parra's had for 32 years that's easy. Ignoring the mess this club has been in has been easy too. The review has recommended a list of structural changes and assistance to the football operation and the board has endorsed it.
Maybe we might be getting somewhere.
Replies
I agree that it's a move in the right direction but I don't think Arthur should be safe.
People that are above average go against the grain, they manage to find a way to get things done when the going is tough and I don't think Arthur has this. You need a vision to be able to construct a different plan from what everyone else is doing, Arthur hasn't done that.
A truly good coach would find a way to get the best out of Parramatta and become a competitive force again regardless of the circumstances.
If Arthur recruited for the future this review possibly wouldn't even have happened, it shows his lack of competence and I think the club should move forward and leave him behind.
Wong I have never once defended Bennett and I agree with you on his efforts at the Knights.
It's easy to look good like Bennett when your coaching the QLD Origin side every season. As a coach I think he should be judged on his time at the Knights, plus if he was really that good the Broncos wouldn't want him gone.
Bellamy is a bit different in my opinion, with the exception of the Big 3 (Smith,Cronk and Slater) his team fires and are competitive whether those players are on rep duties or out injured. His knack of turning mediocre players or even players you thought were past into handy ones is second to none.
Ricky, Bennett and Hagan are all good examples of coaches who look going when the going is easy.
Hagan for example walked into a dream team at the Knights and walked away being labelled a super coach. The clubs been a mess every since he walked in the door at Parramatta.
Bennett did the same thing at the Dragons, the only player Bennett took there was Darius and he was hardly the decisive factor on the field either. Won a premiership with the team Nathan Brown built and is labelled a champion.
It's like our cricketers, they only score runs when the going is easy. You could almost call them flat track bullies.
Maybe there just aren't many good coaches around at the moment but I stick by what I say in Arthur fits into this category and he's had his chance.
Money doesn't buy everything, remember Leicester winning the EPL ? They assembled a good young side and they went on to great things...…. Not many coaches in the NRL have the same philosophy unfortunately.
Could it be argued that he did go against the grain and manage to find a way to get it done in 16 & 17?
Well said Scurfield. The club has been a mess for far too long, and has been waiting for those once in a generation juniors to bring us back to glory. It's going to take much more than some talented juniors to bring success. I'm happy that the club has finally given themselves the opportunity to succeed, as we were not going to do that on the path we have been on for 32 years.
Until we changed club structures and systems we're going down that path of trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. We have to set up for success not failure. Is it any wonder we've had coaches bail on us? Hagan, Kearney and Stuart all bailed.
Well said Scurfield. Good blog.
In all the sea of negativity that abounds, at least this is a voice of reason, sensibility and an open mind.
Some that know me might argue with that!
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