Arthur in a photo finish
Eels coach should take top award
YOU could make a compelling case for any of the six remaining coaches in the NRL finals race to be crowned Dally M coach of the year. I certainly don’t remember a closer field.
But for mine, Brad Arthur takes it in a photo finish ahead of Des Hasler and Ricky Stuart.
At the start of the year I don’t think anyone outside each club’s most loyal supporters would have had Parramatta, Manly or Canberra alive heading into week two of the finals.
Not ahead of clubs like Penrith and Brisbane, St George Illawarra and Cronulla, even Newcastle.
I still marvel at what Craig Bellamy has done in Melbourne to take the Storm to another minor premiership, and you just can’t dispute the astonishing work of Trent Robinson at the Roosters.
To have the reigning champs as short-priced favourites to become the first team since Brisbane in the 1990s to win back-to-back titles is exceptional. If it eventuates, it will represent one of the great coaching achievements of the salary cap era. Then there’s Wayne Bennett. Sacked by Brisbane to make way for Anthony Seibold, the game’s oldest coach arrived at South Sydney with his many critics believing the modern game had passed him by.
Yet those who still think Bennett has done no better than Seibold simply because the Rabbitohs finished third last season have seriously no idea.
Just look at the impact Jack de Belin’s suspension had on the Dragons’ season. As good a player as de Belin is, he is no Greg Inglis.
But not only did Bennett have to contend with losing his influential skipper so early in the season, he has also played large chunks of the year without all three Burgess brothers through injury and suspension.
Yet the Bunnies are still alive with a fired-up Sam coming back from suspension to take on Manly on Friday. Look out. As for Ricky, where are the haters now?
Last year Jack Wighton and Josh Hodgson only played one game together the entire season, this year they have been the Raiders’ backbone.
As Ricky said after the memorable win over Melbourne, no coach wins without the right cattle. That the Raiders are now second favourites in premiership betting is a fair representation of Stuart’s claims for potentially his second coach of the year gong in four years.
Then we come to the socalled mad scientist who it seems is not so crazy after all.
When Hasler was punted from the Bulldogs I really thought he’d never get another head coaching job such was the bad rap.
Yet what he has done with almost the same squad and just as crucially same out-of-date facilities that Trent Barrett left behind has been astonishing.
And you really don’t need to look further than the development of a player like Brendan Elliot to sum up Hasler’s coaching genius.
Last year Elliot could hardly crack a start on the Gold Coast.
Last weekend in a sudden death final filling in for Tom Trbojevic, Elliot scored two tries in the shock win over Cronulla. That’s coaching. But after watching last weekend’s record win over Brisbane, I drove home from Bankwest Stadium totally blown away by the expansive and free-flowing style of football Arthur has last year’s wooden spooners playing.
It is refreshing to see a former Melbourne Storm assistant develop his own style.
What’s more, Arthur has been able to do this with the NRL’s youngest spine.
Clint Gutherson and Mitchell Moses are both only 25, while Dylan Brown is 19 and Reed Mahoney 21.
None of them have ever played State of Origin or Test football with a top ranked nation.
In fact, Arthur only has one current Origin player in his entire squad in winger Blake Ferguson, while none of the other players are currently playing Test rugby league for a top tier nation.
Arthur has also had to make some really tough calls along the way, like dropping former captain Tim Mannah, while he has unlocked the potential in others like Kane Evans. Maika Sivo is another. When I heard the Parra crowd again chanting Sivo’s name last Sunday, I wondered what Penrith fans must have been thinking.
Arthur saw something in Sivo that the Panthers’ brains trust obviously missed.
Fellow recruits Ferguson, Shaun Lane and Junior Paulo have also been outstanding.
What I also admire about Arthur is the dignity in which he went about fighting to save his job this year, while keeping the players focused despite more than half the top squad also coming off contract.
At every turn there was a potential timebomb. And yet, like a good Melbourne Cup stayer, they are starting to show their best at just the right time.
It seems every time Arthur is faced with a tough situation it always brings the best out of him.
A few years ago during the salary cap scandal he was the only bloke at the club brave enough to put his head up to take the heat. Now everyone wants to be on the bandwagon.
But in the good and bad times, Arthur has handled himself with class and character.
And it is really starting to be reflected in this football team that Parramatta fans should be proud of. After so many years of disappointment for the club with the longest premiership drought, it seems the future has finally arrived.
And it’s Arthur’s fingerprints that are all over it.
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ARTHUR SAW SOMETHING IN SIVO THAT THE PANTHERS’ BRAINS TRUST OBVIOUSLY MISSED. PAUL CRAWLEY