Parramatta fullback Clint Gutherson has always backed himself – and for good reason.
The Eels captain lives by a famous adage ‘the harder you work the luckier you get’ and the Eels skipper works bloody hard.
Gutherson has overcome two knee reconstructions and some tense contract standoffs to take his place in the NRL grand final against Penrith on Sunday.
A career that started with just five games in three years at the Sea Eagles is now 80 minutes away from its crescendo – delivering Parramatta their first title since 1986.
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Gutherson controversially joined the Eels just a few months after signing a new deal with Manly in 2015 – and he’s never looked back.
Parramatta won 13 games in his first year at the club, their best regular season return in a decade, but salary cap breaches prevented a trip to the finals.
‘King Gutho’ has taken the Eels to a sixth-placed finish or better in every campaign since 2019 and now to the club’s first grand final in 13 years.
Premiership winner Mick Ennis is on the Eels’ coaching staff and has revealed to foxsports.com.au why Gutherson’s success is no fluke.
Parramatta great Nathan Hindmarsh has tipped the 28-year-old to boot the winning field goal on Sunday, while Panthers icon Scott Sattler declared the Eels cannot win without Gutherson.
Here foxsports.com.au analyses the pivotal role Gutherson plays for the Eels as they chase their first premiership in 36 years.
A TOUGH START
Gutherson made his NRL debut for Manly in the final round of 2013 against Penrith and scored a try in the 26-38 loss.
But injuries struck the following year and he managed only three games before tearing his ACL just 13 minutes into the 2015 season opener.
Just a few months later – having played centre, wing and fullback in his five games – the Sea Eagles extended Gutherson on a two-year deal alongside Tom and Jake Trbojevic.
“I spoke to the brothers and they want to do the same thing as me. They want to keep the legacy built here and to keep going for the next 10 years,” Gutherson said at the time.
But things changed quickly at Brookvale and five months later he was granted a release without playing a single minute after signing the new deal.
Manly coach Trent Barrett deemed him surplus to requirements as he struggled for game time sitting behind veteran fullback Brett Stewart.
“It became clear that Clinton would no longer receive the opportunity to further develop through consistent selection at NRL level with the Sea Eagles,” a club statement read.
Stewart was forced to medically retire after the 2016 season, and his replacement was the man Gutherson re-signed alongside – Tom Trbojevic.
Gutherson was still rehabbing his knee when he arrived at the Eels, but after just one week coach Brad Arthur said he knew he’d signed a future club.
“I know a lot of people thought I was off my head and crazy for signing him. And I knew a lot of fans thought that too,” Arthur said.
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Gutherson made his debut for Parramatta against his former club in 2016 and the star fullback scored half the Eels’ points in a win 20-12.
But it wasn’t always standout performances in the early days and injury struck again in Round 20 of 2017 with another season-ending ACL injury.
“A lot of coaches when I first came to Parra probably would’ve dropped me,” Gutherson said in 2018.
“I didn’t start off too well on the wing, I copped a bit of abuse and that.
“But Brad stuck by me, he saw something in me and I’m thankful that he did. If I’d been dropped back then you never know what could have happened.”
Ennis joined Arthur’s coaching staff last summer, just before Gutherson signed his latest $770,000 per season deal, and the club captain made an immediate impression.
“The thing with Gutho is I always appreciated his commitment to his teammates and just his effort,” Ennis told foxsports.com.au.
“My first day working at Parramatta was a mid 30s summer day, he came back just prior to Christmas. You often see with some guys it takes one or two or three weeks to really get their lungs but Gutho’s training ethics were just phenomenal. He was out in front with Jake Arthur for every single run.
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“No matter what the high-performance team asked of him when it came to conditioning, often on the back of scrimmage sessions, he would be out the front leading the way.
“You quickly understand why he’s had the success that he’s had, his work ethic is just phenomenal.
“He’s just constantly trying to improve and look after his body, he had a number of injuries earlier in his career and he’s just been so durable and that’s because of the work he puts into his body.”
HITTING HIS STRAPS
Despite the injury troubles, Gutherson has been one of the most reliable players for the Eels.
The durable fullback has played 161 of Parramatta’s 183 games since his debut, appearing in 88 per cent of clashes.
Gutherson has scored 67 tries and has missed only three games over the past three seasons.
The utility played five-eighth, centre and fullback before cementing the No. 1 jersey ahead of the 2019 season.
Since then Gutherson has become one of the best fullbacks in the game and played all three games for New South Wales in the 2020 Origin series.
“Gutho is just Mr Consistent for me,” Hindmarsh said on the Fox League Podcast.
“He’s had an outstanding season once again, you know what you’re going to get with Gutho, you know he’s going to turn up and give 100 per cent every week and he’s shown that.
“He’s had a really good year again and it’s been up there with one of his best, definitely.”
Ennis echoed the sentiment and pointed to some massive plays Gutherson produced in Parramatta’s comeback win over the Cowboys in the preliminary final last week.
“Gutho is so reliable,” Ennis said.
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“There was a grubber that came in last weekend about 30cm from his own goal line and Gutho picked it up off his feet at full speed. It’s moments like that when his teammates just breathe a sigh of relief and go ‘thank god we’ve got Gutho’.
“He’s just that fierce competitor that will put his body on the line and put it in positions for his teammates where others hesitate.”
THE CONTRACT SAGAS
Gutherson has been one of the competition’s most consistent performers but has also demanded he’s well remunerated for his services.
His staunch stances on what he should be paid has seen several lengthy contract standoffs with Parramatta powerbrokers, which has at times left fans frustrated.
After months of talks in 2019, negotiations blew up publicly and Gutherson admitted he was “sick of hearing about it” in what was a bad look for the club.
Gutherson eventually signed a three-year extension after the Eels gave his management a deadline to make a final decision.
The circus began again last year as talks began for another extension with Gutherson’s management holding out for up to $1 million a season payday.
Gutherson denied that price tag but there were fears at the club he would follow Isaiah Papali’i and Marata Niukore out the door.
He put pen to paper last November on a three-year extension worth $2.3 million that will keep him at the Eels until the end of 2025.
“I wanted to stay. I always said that,” Gutherson said at the time.
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“I didn’t want it to drag out, I wanted it done before I got back to training. These things take time to fit exactly where the player and club want to be.
“We’ve all got one goal and I’m going out there every single day to try and better myself to be there on grand final day when it comes.
“Over the last five years I feel I’ve really grown as a player and a leader and if I continue to do that over the next few years here, we’re going to be in a very good spot.’’
THE LEADER OF MEN
Gutherson was appointed Parramatta’s captain for 2018 in what proved a tough season for the Eels as they collected their 14th wooden spoon in club history.
But the skipper rallied the troops and mounted a charge back up the ladder the following season to finish fifth on the ladder and make the second week of finals.
It came just three years after the club’s infamous salary cap scandal which stripped the club of a finals berth their 13 wins would have secured.
Ennis praised Gutherson as one of the best leaders in the NRL due to his sheer commitment to the cause every week.
“There’s not much that he doesn’t throw himself at Gutho and that’s why the Parramatta blokes love him as captain,” Ennis said.
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“He’s a phenomenal defensive organiser, his attention to detail, organising his defensive line and the pride in which he takes in saving tries, that’s inspiring as a teammate.
“His talk is great, he’s not one that rants and raves but he’ll hit his points. He’s more of an actions man and he probably doesn’t say a heap in team meetings but when he gets out on the field that’s where he looks most comfortable.
“He’s demanding of his expectations of his teammates, particularly defensively, and they love that.”
THE DROUGHT BREAKER?
The Eels are playing in their first grand final since 2009 and trying to end the longest premiership drought in the competition.
They haven’t won since Peter Stirling was the halfback in 1986, but Gutherson is determined to etch his side’s name into the history books.
Sattler believes Gutherson and Panthers fullback Dylan Edwards are the unsung heroes of their sides and the grand final will be decided by their performances.
“If Gutho or Edwards don’t play for their side then their side can’t win,” Sattler said.
“They are the rocks of their sides. Their field positioning is outstanding, getting themselves in the right positions every time, they’re safe on kick return, they’re safe with high balls.
“You can’t split them and how important they are to their sides. They’re both underrated in a lot of areas but not by their teammates and supporters, they know how important they are.”
Hindmarsh, who played in the 2001 and 2009 grand finals for the Eels, backed the 2022 side to finally end the drought.
“I think the Eels win 17-16,” Hindmarsh said.
“I think it’s going to be Gutho who kicks the winner. They’re going to dummy to Mitch and Gutho will be there to slot it.
“He’s been so good the past couple of weeks, he runs out and you just know he’s going to deliver.”
Ennis revealed if it comes to that, Gutherson will be more than ready and step up to the plate.
“I think he’d love that moment Gutho, he’s often joking around at training nailing field goals,” Ennis said.
Hindmarsh also lifted the lid on a hand injury Gutheron was carrying in the first week of finals when the Panthers won 27-8.
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“He would have been disappointed with his performance in that first week of the finals, just given how much he throws himself at the contest,” Ennis said.
“They had so many big blocks of possession for Penrith because of the amount of errors that Parra made, so he didn’t get that chance to get into that set for set football that he loves.
“You often see with Gutho late in games that he really puts the football when others start to gasp for air an he finds another gear.
“We saw that on the weekend in Townsville, all the talk was how are the Parramatta blokes going to handle the conditions and at the back end of the game they’ll be hurting. Gutho had more runs in the second half then he did in the first and ended up with over 150 metres and just continued to stay in the contest.”
“The one thing the Eels have been really good at is not putting themselves under pressure this year by making errors and I felt like they made too many last time they played Penrith.
“At other times they’ve controlled the ball really well and Mitch has kicked really well and on the back of that they’ve been able to go toe-to-toe with Penrith in the power game.
“It’s going to be a cracker.”
– with Tom Sargeant
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