Brad Arthur did his apprenticeship under Craig Bellamy … so when the Parramatta coach says he hasn’t slept for six years, he’s only slightly exaggerating
Brad Arthur went into coaching with his eyes open — and that’s pretty much how they have stayed as he leaves no stone unturned in his quest for success with Parramatta.
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There was a study done on American football coaches some years back that determined the best two ways for coaches to lower blood pressure were retirement and death.
Taking this into account, let’s have a look at a day in the life of a NRL coach.
Brad Arthur was asked after Parramatta’s win over St George Illawarra if the club’s ongoing contract negotiations with Clint Gutherson had caused any sleepless nights.
“I haven’t slept in six years,” responded Arthur, who took over as Eels coach in 2014.
So I rang Arthur this week and asked if he slept any better after beating the Dragons.
Surely, I thought, after a win that good — 32-18 — he would have slept like a baby.
Turns out Arthur was only slightly exaggerating that he hadn’t slept in six years because he had a little more than two hours on Sunday night.
“I came home with my assistant coach (Steve Murphy) and we watched the game on the TV,” Arthur said.
“Just going over it, back and forth, getting a feel for it.”
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What time did he get to bed?
“About midnight,” Arthur said.
When did you get back up?
“About one,” he said.
You serious?
“Yeah,’’ he said.
“I watched it again on eagle cam. Made some cuts. Got some reviews done. Then I went and had another sleep.”
That was at about 3.30am. Arthur was back up at 4.45, sitting in the dark in front of his computer.
“I wanted to watch it again on end-on (the camera angle taken from the end of the field). That was only for a couple of hours. I had a review with the boys at 10. You want to make sure you have everything ready for them.”
After recovery, Arthur went home and got straight back into preparing to take on Melbourne at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.
“We have a video analyst who works in advance,” Arthur said.
“He has all the information prepared of their previous games. But I always go back and watch two or three of their games in different views to get a feel for it. Make some cuts, send some clips (to assistant coaches Murphy and David Kidwell).
“An attack file. A defence file. Then they pick what they want to use. We all have different jobs to present to the boys (by Wednesday).”
The last time Arthur had an entire day off was at Christmas.
He remembers that clearly because it was the first time since he started as a head coach that the phone didn’t ring about work.
Yet you ask the NRL’s only remaining off-contract coach what drives him to continue and his answer is so pure: “Because I love it.”
This week Arthur goes head-to-head with the coach he credits for teaching him the true meaning of hard work when the Eels take on Melbourne in Magic Round.
Arthur was coaching in Cairns in 2006 when an old mate he played with, Clint Zammit (now North Queensland’s recruitment officer), got in touch with Craig Bellamy.
“He was good mates with ‘Bellyache’ and he just said, ‘I have got a bloke here who might be all right for you’,” Arthur said.
Arthur concedes he was a little “nervous” during his first meeting with Bellamy.
But after initially getting a job as the Storm’s development coach, he spent three years working under Bellamy and then assistants Stephen Kearney and Michael Maguire.
It opened up a view to a world most of us could never truly comprehend.
“As a kid, I was a good worker, I didn’t mind hard work,” Arthur said.
“But when it came to coaching with Craig, and I had Madge and Mooks (Kearney) there, too, you didn’t have a choice. There wasn’t any other way. You just worked hard, all the time. He was just non-stop, Craig, 24/7.”
Not that Arthur ever complained because when he left, his career never looked back.
And regardless of how his team is travelling, his philosophy doesn’t change.
He said he wasn’t working any harder this year than when the team finished with the wooden spoon in 2018.
In his early days as Parramatta’s head coach, there were stories about Arthur falling asleep at work, only for the players to find him the next day.
These days, at least, he goes home and spends a couple of hours in bed.
But he wouldn’t want it any other way.
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Arthur hates talking about himself and least of all his own future, and was clear he did not want to make this interview about putting pressure on Parramatta.
“On a personal level, everyone wants security,” Arthur said reluctantly.
“But it hasn’t made me work any harder, or any less.
“I still have a job to do. I still want to win. I still want to do what is best for the club, nothing has changed there.”
I asked him what effect the hours, and also the uncertainty, were having on his family.
“The kids are good, they handle it OK. And my wife is fine with it,” he said in reference to Michelle and their three teenagers, Jake, Charlotte and Matt.
“It is what it is, and it’s a great life. I love the game and I love what I do. And for our family, we are looked after. There is way more upside than downside.
“My boys are involved in the team. My young bloke is coming up to Magic Round because he helps getting the sheds set up and filling the water bottles and running the kicking tee.
“The older boy can’t come because he has to play on Friday night, but he helps out with the stats, usually.
“And I have good staff around me. My assistants Steve Murphy and David Kidwell are great. And the players make it easy because they are always upbeat.
“Blokes like Gutho and a few of them are always into me about lightening up.
“But it would be the same for every coach. Trust me, everyone works hard. That’s the job.”
Originally published as Brad Arthur did his apprenticeship under Craig Bellamy … so when the Parramatta coach says he hasn’t slept for six years, he’s only slightly exaggerating
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