Parramatta coach Brad Arthur wants the Eels to embrace the pressure that comes with the chance to end 36 years of heartache after rising above the “dark days” which left his future balanced on a knife’s edge.
Few clubs are haunted by the ghosts of grand finals past quite like Parramatta as they chase their first premiership since 1986.
While the 2009 fairytale fell short, the 2001 decider was an opportunity lost for one of the best teams of the NRL era. Ask any of that year’s victorious Newcastle Knights and they will tell you the Eels looked far too tense during grand final week to enjoy the occasion before them.
Arthur is urging his side to avoid making the same mistake as they enter Sunday’s grand final against a Penrith Panthers outfit crafting a legacy as one of the greatest teams of the modern era.
“We could be looking from the other side and wondering what it’s all about,” Arthur said.
Arthur took the reins at Parramatta in 2014 and missed the finals in four of his first five campaigns. A wooden spoon four years ago left the Eels mentor in a precarious position, on Thursday conceding the expectation was he would be on the outer.
Eels coach Brad Arthut is soaking up the hype of grand final week.Credit:Getty
But Parramatta bosses stuck solid and Arthur has steered the club to the cusp of a breakthrough premiership. Standing in his way is a Penrith coach chasing back-to-back titles in Ivan Cleary.
While Cleary steered clear of giving his counterpart advice on how to handle the week, Arthur is confident he can get the best out of his side to spark an upset.
“I’ve had plenty of people wanting to give me advice. I feel like I’m the best person to know what works for this group. Whether we’ve been here or we haven’t, I know what makes them comfortable and what their traits are,” Arthur said.
“I’m not nervous, I’m excited. It’s a massive opportunity for us. They’ve worked really hard to get here. It hasn’t just been this year, we got the wooden spoon four years ago and that was pretty bad. They were some dark days for us, particularly myself, I didn’t handle it well. I got a lot of things wrong that year.
“The group stuck solid, they’ve turned it around, and they deserve to be here this week. Just because we deserve to be here, it doesn’t mean we’re entitled to win either. We’re playing against the best team in the competition, that has been for the last couple of years. We’re certainly not overawed by it.”
Nor is Mitchell Moses daunted by the poisoned chalice that is Parramatta’s famous No. 7 jersey, with Eels halfbacks so often struggling to escape the shadow of Peter Sterling.
Moses says he is soaking up the week, which co-captain Clint Gutherson says is crucial to the Eels’ hopes of ending one of the game’s most storied premiership droughts.
“You’ve got to embrace it. We hear it every pre-season, every round, winning or losing, you always hear about it, it’s just about embracing it. You have to use it as motivation, it’s about enjoying it and enjoying the week,” Gutherson said.
“If we’re lucky enough to break it, we can talk about it then. A lot of us have never been here before so we’ve just got to enjoy it. Come Sunday, we’ll go to battle and see what happens with it.”
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