NRL 2024: Ryan Girdler slams Parramatta Eels after Dolphins loss, as pressure mounts on Brad Arthur

NRL legend Ryan Girdler has slammed the Eels over their calamitous loss to the Dolphins, suggesting that coach Brad Arthur could come under the microscope in the coming weeks.

Ryan Girdler says pressure is building on Brad Arthur.

Ryan Girdler, who played for 14 years at the elite level and in 227 first grade games, says he’s never witnessed a loss like the Eels suffered against the Dolphins last Friday night.

Girdler’s damning statement speaks to the gravity of a defeat that prompted Parramatta head coach Brad Arthur to slam his players as “part-time” footballers.

The coach isn’t removed from the criticism with Arthur’s future at the club suddenly a focal point of discussion.

“How the Eels fell away in the second-half, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a performance quite like it,” Girdler said on Triple M.

Ryan Girdler has slammed Parramatta after their loss to the Dolphins.

“The amount of players left laying on the ground after contact, their inability on-contact to win that part of the collision, was just incredible.

“The Dolphins were having a field day.

“The amount of talent they had on the sidelines, these were young guys that were coming in, still working the NRL out.

“They put a side like the Eels to the absolute sword.

“Mitchell Moses was out, we get that.

“But if you go through the experience they had, you can understand Brad Arthur’s frustration, so the players need to be held accountable, but I get the feeling there’s going to be a lot of chat about the coach in the next couple of weeks as well.”

Girdler believes there will ‘be a lot of chat about Brad Arthur in the coming weeks’. Picture: Getty Images

What is cause for alarm from inside the Parramatta club is that the Eels 44-16 defeat came just two weeks after Parramatta’s poor 41-8 loss to the Raiders.

It gave reason as to why after the shocking 44-16 loss in Darwin, which included tries every three minutes in the second-half by the Dolphins, Arthur held the players to account like never before in his 11-years at the helm. “What’s wrong with our season is that we are a part time footy team at the moment,” Arthur said.

“We pick and choose when we want to play and we pick and choose in the 80 minutes when we want to make a tough choice or a soft choice, because that second half wasn’t good enough.”

“It just all got too fast for us and too hard and we gave up, simple as that.

“There’s only a handful of players at this club at the moment that choose to come every week to play with the right mentality and toughness … and want to be an 80-minute footballer and the want to be an NRL player every week.”

Post-match, it’s understood Arthur was equally as scathing inside the dressing rooms. Outside of a forced change due to HIA fears over back-up half Daejarn Asi, Arthur is unlikely to make major changes to the side for two main reasons, including the lack of pressure and form from the lower grades and a desire to see if the current playing group are willing to respond to the current crisis.

The Eels tackle arch rivals Manly at 4 Pines Park on Friday.