Arthur’s honest two-word reply sums up Eels’ biggest problem
EELS coach Brad Arthur has been left frustrated and baffled following his side’s 26-16 win over the Sydney Roosters.
A week on from the club’s most abysmal performance of the season, Arthur said Parramatta’s consistency was a factor that could hold them back from achieving premiership glory.
While Arthur found the 34-4 loss to the Bulldogs as “embarrassing”, the 10-point victory over the Roosters displayed flashes of what the Eels can do on their day.
“It’s frustrating,” Arthur said, knowing exactly where the journalist’s first question of the press conference was going, cutting him off before he could finish.
“We just had a chat in there and I don’t want to keep talking about it.
“Only a couple of weeks ago we were on a five-day turnaround and we went out and played like that against Penrith who have been the best team over the last couple of years. “So, it’s there. It’s in us. “We’ve got to have that killer instinct and drive to want to do it every week. “
Junior Paulo and Reagan Campbell-Gillard were clear standouts for Parramatta, combining for 444 running metres through the middle.
“I think they carried for over 400m, which is pretty silly,” Clint Gutherson said in the post-match press conference.
“Mitch (Moses) and Dylan (Brown) playing off the back of that makes my job pretty easy.”
Arthur said Saturday night’s performance simply can’t be a one-off if the Eels have their sights set on silverware come September.
“We were close to the best version of ourselves tonight and we’ve got to do that every week,” Arthur said.
The Eels face the South Sydney Rabbitohs following the competition’s representative round on July 2 at Accor Stadium.