Parramatta is banking on Dylan Brown to deliver his best year yet in what shapes as a make-or-break year for both the playmaker and his coach Brad Arthur.
Arthur is contracted until the end of 2025 but has been around long enough to know the spotlight will be on his future should the Eels miss the finals for a second straight year.
Brown will have a huge say on the Eels’ success, and it was no coincidence the club’s campaign started to capitulate once he was stood down for seven weeks after pleading guilty to two counts of sexual touching without consent at a Double Bay hotel.
“There’s never one incident you can blame for a whole season, but that did put a real dampener on things,” Arthur said.
If Brown’s pre-season attitude is anything to go by, the Eels – and Arthur – have nothing to worry about.
“Dylan is 23 now, and he hasn’t played his best football yet,” Arthur told this masthead on Friday while watching his players train on Shelly Beach, on the NSW Central Coast.
Dylan Brown leads the way at a training session at Shelly Beach on FridayCredit: Parramatta Eels
“Before Dylan was rubbed out last season, he was one of the best players in the competition. Then look what he did in that last Test for the Kiwis [in November].
“We just need Dylan to play like that all the time. When you’re getting paid the sort of money he is, we need him in the team every week.
“If you talk about X-factor, Dylan has that, he brings that to our side. It’s what he does for us defensively as well.
“He’s so important to this team, and he needs to understand that. We’ve had some good conversations about it.
Smoked Eels: Parramatta players brave the heat on FridayCredit: Parramatta Eels
“He wants to repay his teammates for what happened last season, he wants to repay the fans and repay his family.
“He’ll be very good for us next year.”
Arthur is entering his 11th season in the top job, and despite reaching the grand final in 2022, the early exit last season re-ignited debate about whether he is the best man to deliver the club a first premiership since 1986.
“I’ve got a great coaching staff, and we know how to coach,” Arthur says.
‘He wants to repay his teammates for what happened … He’ll be very good for us next year.’
Brad Arthur on Dylan Brown
“We’ve made players better. And this club is in a better position than when I first started.
“I also know the administration wants me here, the players want me here, and that’s all that matters to me.
“When my time is up I’ll know. I’m not delusional. I know it’s a results-driven business. That’s what we sign up for.
“But I’m super confident in the group I’ve got, and know we’ll have a good season.
Reagan Campbell-Gillard has been a standout in the pre-seasonCredit: Parramatta Eels
“I’m hungry for the ultimate success this year. I’m hungry every year. I want to make these guys better people and better players on and off the field.”
J’maine Hopgood, a standout forward in his first year at the Eels, said Arthur had challenged him to go one step better and play Origin football for Queensland.
“Brad said to me at the end of the season how it was good to make the Queensland squad, but ‘do I want to make the squad, or be in Queensland’s 17?’,” Hopgood said.
“I have some goals there. We also have expectations as a team. We want to play in front of 30,000 for our first game [at CommBank Stadium], then make sure we play in front of 30,000 each week by putting on good performances.”
Clint Gutherson missed Friday’s beach session as he recovers from knee surgery, but will be fit for round one.
Meantime, Wests Tigers life member Peter Hardgrove passed away on Friday. Hardgrove was chairman during the club’s 2005 premiership season.
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