With the re-signing of Brad Arthur and Clint Gutherson, the contract circus has now calmed down and we can seemingly get back to the footy.
Gutho's contract brings him to the end of 2022 while Arthur's will see him through to the end of 2021. Which brings me to the premise of this blog.
What's the plan over the next two and a half season and what is the club planning for beyond 2021?
One would assume that a KPI for BA is to have the team in the finals in 2020 and 2021.
Much has been made of BA's coaching record, especially following last season. He had the side finish equal eighth (10th on F/A) in 2014, 12th in 2015, 14th in 2016 (8th on win/loss record), fourth in 2017, 16th in 2018.
So in three of his five full seasons, the Eels have been in the eight or thereabouts. 2014, 2016 and 2017 are all strong years in their own right. In 2014 he took over a side that had finished no better than 14th over the three previous seasons. In 2016 he managed to galvanise a team penalised of 12 points to continue playing consistently well and had they retained their points, would have been in the finals. In 2017 he pulled off what seemed a minor rugby league miracle in having the side finish fourth in the club's best season since 2009.
2018 though saw BA lose much of the patience and time he had built up over the preceding four seasons. The Eels were diabolical throughout the year, culminating in another wooden spoon and the release of half Corey Norman.
So far the Eels have had a solid start to 2019, placing themselves in the eight for the opening nine rounds but have slipped back after being demolished 64-10 by the Melbourne Storm.
The decision to upgrade BA's contract did come as somewhat of a surprise given the team's most recent performance, however CEO Bernie Gurr is very clear the decision has been in the works for weeks.
So, there are a few scenarios for the Eels that could play out before the end of 2021.
Firstly, the Eels could bomb the 2019 season, start poorly in 2020 and you'd imagine that would likely be the end of BA's time with the club.
Parramatta could scrape into the eight this season and carry that momentum into 2020 and 2021, becoming an established top eight side. BA's contract would be extended here, no questions asked.
The side could do the same as above but then slip back in 2021 and miss the eight. That would provide a conundrum for the board as two finals appearances in three years isn't bad, but they'd want to have confidence the club is moving forward.
I firmly believe, that if you remove BA, whether it's in the middle of his new deal or at the end, the club needs to recruit a proven coach. Not a rookie, not a journeyman, but a bonafide, probably Premiership winning coach. I wouldn't really have an issue with an Australian coach returning from Super League like a Justin Holbrook or Tim Sheens.
The greatest concern for me, is that we remain an inconsistent side. That would stunt the development of talented juniors, see them poached by other clubs and always make it difficult for us to be playing finals and attract quality players.
As much as TPAs and salary cap space plays into player recruitment, at the end of the day, quality players want to play in quality sides so they get the opportunity to win trophies and play in representative sides. You could have an entire blog deciding what comes first, TPAs or successful sides. Is it the successful side that attracts TPAs, or the TPAs that build a successful side?
In an ideal world, the Eels build into a Premiership force in the next 2.5 seasons. That we see gradual improvement year on year and we're fighting it out in September on a consistent basis. For mine, that's the level we have to be looking at being at by the end of 2021.
The most important part of that is we must be top four, or very close to it by that time. Not scraping into the eight on the last weekend of the season. Because if that's not the case, we're in danger of becoming like the Dragons where we should be a lot higher than we are.
If we're in the top four come the end of 2021 then that signals we've become a more consistent side, our junior development has done its job, our recruitment has done its job.
If not, then the BA experiment has failed. That would have been eight seasons under BA and would also make him the second longest serving coach in Eels history.
Don't get me wrong, I believe BA is our best option at the moment and stability for our club is probably the most important thing at the moment given the issues we've had with coaches and boards in the past.
But I'd also hope the club is prepared for the possibility of this being BA's final contract. Because at the end of the day, the most important thing for us is a Premiership.
Replies
God you can spin some crap
‘So in three of his five full seasons, the Eels have been in the eight or thereabouts.‘
Did well in 3 from 5 seasons Hahahaha..... Did you forget to mention that in 2014 we missed the finals due to a massive 183 points difference?
2016 yeah sure we won more than we lost but would we have won that many if we actually had something to play for? It’s too simplistic to say we would’ve made the 8.
Looking at BAs record simplistically we have failed 4 years out of 5 - spin it anyway you like, the facts don’t lie.
2016 was our best year in ba reign of terror. Yes we made the four seventeen. We have plenty of damaging middle forwards we need some with mongrel with a do or die attitude
I agree the side was up every week in 2016 but sometimes when stuff like losing competition points for salary cap come into it, it tends to galvanise a side - not unlike what we saw from Melbourne after theirs.
I was thinking the same, what a spin doctor, only one ok year, no good years! One year 4th and thats ok, the rest were rubbish. God some people aim for the low bar while others shoot for stars.
BA has no idea how to build a team
We need 2 alpha props and a cleanout of the 2nd rowers. Our pack dont dominate, are soft and wont cosistently back up the ball carrier. Lazy.
We see it week in,week out. The Alpha teams are hard and persistent to the end.
You have nailed it don Robinson , b.a. has little idea how to put an aggressive pack on the field. Even Pricky has realised you need a group of mongrels that hunt together.
Don, who are the two alpha props we need? also who are the 2nd rowers to be cleaned out and who would you replace them with?
Go over to https://www.zerotackle.com/rugby-league/players/off-contract-2019/ and there is a list of all players off contract end of this year, every so often its updated but who would you pick?
Of our current 2nd rowers Lane and Niukuria are doing ok and still young, we have other young players coming up and come next month the development players can be chosen as well. Are you on the Burgess and Tapou bandwagon?
We have one big signing in the front row and has been less than stella in some of his games but he has been heavily marked as well.
Parra were looking good at the start of 2016 and would have made the finals. We had a pretty good side but probably lacked a few key players. I don't think we have recovered yet from that, and are still in the process of rebuilding with younger players. That means we are still 1-2 years away from where we could have been in 2017.
Make no mistake, the sagas since 2016 have hampered the club big time and remember the club still has an administrator hanging around its neck. As Jack Gibston stated, success starts from the top. Once we get the front office in shape the club can take advantage of that on the field. The contract extensions we saw this week should align well with a growing club over the next 2 years and I agree that by 2021 Parra needs to be a genuine top 4 side. Everything we do now has to help lead towards that goal.
You don't know? It was years of mismanagement which started back in the early 2000s.
I don't know what you are getting at Fong. Certainly the past recent boards we have had were clearly not up to standard. This goes back further than just the Sharp board, and as I see it the club had a chance to remain at the top from their success in the late 1990s, but they blew it after about 2005. That tells me the club was not managed properly to achieve sustained success. If the club was so well run in the late 1990s and early 2000s, how did we end up in a situation that led to years of failure, corruption and factionalism? How did we get boards of self-interested people who put most of their energies fighting off other club people? A well run club would not have allowed that to happen and the members would not have been out with pitch forks demanding change. Parramatta should be one of the jewels in the NRL crown yet we have been under-achieveing for most of the club's existence. That is an utter disgrace, and something the club needs to finally make right.
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