The 2016 Dally M Awards have been presented and Ricky Stuart is the official recipient of “Coach of the Year”. Certainly the performances of his Raiders outfit put forward a strong case for him winning this gong, and being a media darling wouldn’t have hurt his chances. At “The Cumberland Throw” we are unabashed Brad Arthur fans and, like many of our cohorts in Eels supporter land, believe that he should have received this award. We present to you our case.
A Clarification
In a modest moment, Ricky Stuart last night paid credit to all staff who work under the coaching banner at the Raiders. Similarly, when we refer to the achievements of Brad Arthur, we also refer to the coaching team which he has assembled, notably Peter Gentle and Steve Murphy. Coaching is no longer a one man role, and in these blokes BA has two of the most knowledgeable, skilled and loyal assistants that any head coach could hope for. Other staff such as Joey Grima, Nathan Cayless, Luke Burt, Steven Hales, Craig Sultana, Nathan Beutel, Brett O’Farrell, Craig Crossman and Jason Stewart are the nucleus of a team of personnel responsible for preparing the Eels every week. Knowing how Arthur is always the first to acknowledge others, he would no doubt pay tribute to the value and contributions of his staff. The Cumberland Throw also acknowledges the entire Eels football department and thanks them for being so welcoming to our presence at training this year.
The Obstacles
Has any coach ever faced the obstacles that the Parramatta club encountered this year? Consider the following:
* Starting the year with a salary cap investigation looming
* Constant media speculation about a points penalty
* Media calls that focussed on off-field issues rather than football matters
* The dramas and eventual departure of marquee recruit and chief playmaker Kieren Foran
* The mid-season exits of Nathan Peats and Junior Paulo
* The stripping of 12 competition points
* The NRL enforced stand-down of Corey Norman
* The speculation surrounding Semi Radradra
* The de-registration of the five administrators/directors and the increased workload placed on the coach
* The ensuing NSW Government appointment of administrator Max Donnelly
* The much publicised rejection of a Parramatta contract by Jarryd Hayne
This season from hell is likely to be a blessing in disguise, but for a coach trying to prepare his team in the toughest football arena in Australia, the weekly toll must have been enormous. Recent coaches have walked out on their contract with the Eels when faced with far less challenging circumstances. Hagan, Kearney and Stuart all resigned from their contracts. Fortunately Brad Arthur has a passion for the Eels and is made of sterner stuff.
The Great Roster Challenge
Like many teams who did not feature in finals football, Parramatta has been forced to use an extended roster of 28 players. However, this is not an accurate reflection of the difficulties faced in presenting a team this season. Parramatta has been forced to use the following diverse group of players in the key spine positions:
Fullback – Gordon, French (Gutherson mid-match)
Dummy Halves – Peats, De-Gois, Pritchard, Nelson
Halves – Foran, Norman, Kelly, Takairangi, Edwards, Robson, Gutherson
That’s 13 different players across those four positions. Having to call upon seven different players to play in the halves is quite absurd. No team would ever expect to use so many players in a season in such a key role. It’s a tribute to the team and the coaches that Parramatta continued to produce on a weekly basis and indeed finished the year with their best attacking performances of the season.
The True Reflection
At the beginning of the year, Brad Arthur set out to qualify for the finals. The 13 victories were the best result since 2007 and were it not for the points penalty, the Eels would have qualified for finals football. In a year that might be expected to put the club on the back foot for future seasons, the Eels have extended the contracts of key players and attracted significant recruits to the roster for 2017. It speaks volumes for the regard that the players have for Arthur that their signatures soon followed the announcement of his contract extension.
The Dally M Awards may not recognise him, but we would not swap our coach for any other. Brad Arthur is our coach of the year.
Eels forever!
Sixties
Credit to the Parramatta Eels for the images used.
60’s an excellent and value post indeed.
Today I looked at the ratings for the players, and Corey Norman was the highest on scores for the eels, could not find the margins for Brad though. Did Ricky deserve the award, in many ways yes but who else would have got the award anyway?
While impossible to prove, but I suspect with all the issues at the eels this year, Brad was behind the 8 ball as was every player in the team to come into contention for an award last night.
Just my thoughts and belief.
Superb read Sixties. I really enjoyed this post, and again it highlights the hard work faced and then delivered by the team. I could not agree more, the people with BA on staff deserve huge recognition.
Col my coach of year would’ve been Neil Henry hands down. If you compare the half
Best he had to any others and I think he did a superb job. Yet no mention down here. I think Hayne actually derailed them a bit….I also think Stuart got v lucky with injuries and also acquiring Tapine and Junior.
Also had to coach wenty at one stage champ ,
Yes, I forgot to add that when Joey Grima had to step down, BA had to look after Wenty until Cayless took on the role.
Plus coaching the Rouse Hill U14’s, I am just hoping he doesn’t over do it .He did say it is pure enjoyment with the young boys, we are blessed having Brad, no wonder other clubs were after him.
And ray hadley bags him for coaching kids ,name another nrl coach that does or has ,dont understand youd think he would be applauded for it unless “dennis” hadley has a hidden motive .
Yeah Grumpy I better not start because I think Forty or Sixtie will censor me, what a waste of space the bloke is.
Hadley has a hidden motive? Surely not! No agendas with Raaayyy.
From my perspective I believe that if every NRL coach took a page out of BA’s coaching the kids it might make a huge difference in their attitudes. and more so for the egg headed experts of the media, who in the main would make more sense if they had a permanent zipper attached to the mouths in the closed position.
Hadley bags him for coaching kids???? Why? What possible justification does he have for that? What a clown.
His time will come.
Very sorry I posted it here but the comment wouldn’t post on the player watch. This is for those that can’t currently access 1EE (Joe Briffa). The summer squads of the Harold Matthews and SG ball.
http://api.ning.com/files/5R3yBX2dACXQQsCqHfXxJJ1NMCslW-eQE5CJ7YIyBCil99B2lQcnqVhj2yKX3ODwthKBBWqPusGc2Nd51TeW5QvZDGP7nlNR/HaroldMatthewsDepth2k17.jpg Harold Matthews
http://api.ning.com/files/5R3yBX2dACVW7qTf3qCHhS7PARBkDcs2VmAIwEVJGW03N8FRAoOPgntW3kuiAotm5UzI174aCgBvioEp8iuJSE8s94cojXRQ/SGBallDepth2k17.jpg SG ball
The accolades probably matter little to Brad, though as fans we can’t understand how he didn’t even rate a mention. When the Eels play finals football next year, BA will probably be recognised.
BA’s the real MVP
or even the MVC!
It is interesting in that the Raiders played 3 finals games for 1 victory against Penrith. I am looking forward to see what the Raiders can produce in 2017. His history shows that he struggles to back up.
The Raiders got a good run with the draw this year but I can’t deny some of the form of their players. They won’t fly under the radar next year.