Brad Arthur says the Eels win over North Queensland is one of the toughest he’s ever seen

BRAD Arthur has declared Parramatta’s gutsy victory over North Queensland “the toughest win I have been involved with”.

BRAD Arthur has declared Parramatta’s gutsy victory over North Queensland “the toughest win I have been involved with”.

And showing even more signs of the tremendous resolve building within the playing group at the strife torn club, courageous hooker Nathan Peats has also vowed not to let a dislocated elbow stop him taking on Canterbury’s giant pack this Friday night.

Less than 12 hours after leaving the field in immense pain late in the thrilling 20-16 win, Peats backed up at the team’s recovery session yesterday and told Arthur that he wouldn’t be handing over his No. 9 jumper to Isaac De Gois this week unless he had absolutely no choice.

Nathan Peats could miss significant time for the Eels.

“He is tough,” Arthur said of Peats.

“He has already told me that there is no chance he is missing this weekend.

“He already swam this morning.

“Obviously we are still waiting for his scan results but unless there is really bad ligament damage he says he will be right.”

It was that sort of courage that inspired the Eels on the field on Saturday night after another week of off-field upheaval.

With the NRL this week ready to move in with a team of salary cap auditors, forensic accountants and the integrity unit, there is a very real threat the club could be stripped of competition points in coming weeks if claims of dodgy third-party deals are proven.

Nathan Peats could miss significant time with an injury.

But Arthur said the performance on the field indicated the attitude within the team.

“We played tough, we controlled the game,” Arthur enthused.

“We didn’t let the emotions get the better of us. We stuck to our plan.

“How we wanted to kick, we stuck to that.

“In terms of execution of our plays it wasn’t at its best, but our discipline was very good.

“And I know they made a few errors overall in the whole game but if you go and watch where their errors are we forced a lot of them too with pressure and being in their face.”

Asked if it was the toughest win he’d been involved with at the club, Arthur said: “Last year when we played St George, we had the same problems going on with the salary cap stuff and there was rumours of pressure on me and we aimed up.

Matt Scott and Ethan Lowe tackle the Eels' Kieran Foran.

“That was a pretty tough win but (on Saturday night) we were playing against last year’s premiers and a team that has got plenty of belief.

“So that was probably the toughest win I have been involved with.”

But he knows it will count for little unless the Eels back it up against the Bulldogs, who have a proud history of playing tough and have issued their own statement over the opening two rounds.

“We certainly haven’t been consistent with backing up performances in the past so we need to make sure we come with the same attitude and intensity and energy with our defence next week,” he said.

Arthur also assured fans skipper Kieran Foran would be fit to take on the Dogs, despite obviously struggling with his ongoing hamstring problem against the Cowboys, although Foran’s attitude in defence was inspirational.

“He will be right. It is just going to take time (to get 100 per cent right),” Arthur said.

Originally published as Brad Arthur says the Eels win over North Queensland is one of the toughest he’s ever seen