Brad Arthur shaping gritty Parramatta Eels in his own image

There’s an old adage that a team often reflects the personality of their coach and that is true of the Parramatta Eels.

Eels coach Brad Arthur, at training at Kellyville Park, is the second-longest serving coach in Parramatta history, behind only Brian Smith. Picture : Adam Yip

There’s an old adage that a team often reflects the personality of their coach.

So as Parramatta prepare for a statement game against Sydney Roosters at Bankwest Stadium on Saturday night, perhaps the best way to get a handle on the improving Eels is to dig a little deeper into the backstory of coach Brad Arthur.

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“We first met when he came down (to Batemans Bay) from Penrith,” Newcastle coach Adam O’Brien said.

“We didn’t win many games the first year but we gelled. It was clear right for the start — training was organised and well planned.

“He was always ahead of his time in that regard, in terms of how he prepared his team. We had a little bit of success the second year.

“I went up to Cairns Brothers and joined him a few years later. He was a full-time coach up there. Most of his time was doing stats, cutting videos. We were a local A grade team but we were that well prepared.

“He won plenty of premierships up there. He was clearly a bloody good coach.

“He was tough as teak on the field, I remember I played with him and we played Atherton up at Atherton Showgrounds.

“He broke his arm in a tackle and he got himself back in the defensive line, and stayed for two more sets.

“He defended the whole lot with a broken arm. He would go deep in the line. Blokes would be trying to smash him. He was tough but he had skill as well.

“I think that is how he coaches — he very much coaches to his personality. He is a hard worker.”

The hard work is paying off for Arthur and the Eels. There have been lean times in recent years, most notably when the club was ravaged by the salary cap scandal.

Only a year ago, Arthur was scrapping to earn a contract extension. As he heads into Saturday night’s game against the Roosters, there is talk that he warrants another extension to the deal that runs until the end of next year.

There were even whispers this week that rival clubs were eyeing off Arthur, no doubt tempted by the revival job he is doing at a club that has been starved of success for years. He appears to have transformed the Eels in a short time. Yet that sells Arthur short. He is now the second-longest serving coach in Parramatta history, behind only Brian Smith.

“I did a lot of captain-coaching for 10 years,” Arthur said.

“I was doing it with them. I continued that motto when I went into coaching at a high level. I have to be prepared to do what I am asking them to do. My players have to see me lead — whether that be working hard, being disciplined. I can’t ask them to do something if my actions are different.

“My first year of coaching in Batemans Bay we didn’t win a game. I didn’t take it serious enough and that reflected in our team.

“The next year I got serious and we made it through to the finals. Adam was there for the start with me. He was trying to make a go of it and I wasn’t doing him any favours.”

Arthur is reluctant to build Saturday night’s game into more than it is. It is only Round 6 and the key in Arthur’s eyes is to keep doing what they are doing.

They have been relentless and well drilled since rugby league’s return. With each win, hope rises among Eels supporters, who have waited more than 30 years to taste success again.

“We want to be really good at what we’re good at,” Arthur said.

“The challenge for guys is that it doesn’t matter the opposition we are playing. We have to respect all of them and the way we respect them is by playing a certain way every time we take the field. That is what we want to be known for.

“People might call that consistency. It is just about repeating what we do over and over and over, whether that be training session to training session or half to half. That is the goal and our focus at the moment … not worrying about who we are playing.”

Arthur and O’Brien remain good friends. O’Brien is godfather to one of Arthur’s children. Their wives are close. For a time, before he met his own wife, O’Brien lived with Arthur and his wife in ­Brisbane.

It was Arthur who urged O’Brien to join him in Melbourne when the pair took charge of the Storm’s inaugural under-20s team.

From the outset, Arthur set a standard that was ultimately rewarded with a premiership. His coaching history suggests he knows what it takes to win titles. The Eels are hoping this is the year he helps them break one of the sport’s most celebrated droughts.

“We had no juniors down there (in Melbourne) and Brad was outstanding at setting it up,” O’Brien said.

“We won the comp the second year. He has won plenty of premierships. He knows how to get a team winning and how to get a team together.

“The culture we had up in Cairns was as good as any — we drank together on the weekends, had a bet and a beer, but we trained really hard and we were well ­prepared.

“He gets a team together. He knows how to gel a team. He did the same in Cairns. But we trained bloody hard. He got us fit.

“He gets them happy, he gets them playing for each other, but he gets them fit and he works hard. Your coach’s character will come out on your team.

“He has a hardworking team.”