Brad and Jake Arthur were in Cairns last year when they watched Ivan and Nathan Cleary embrace after the NRL grand final, knowing it could have easily been them.
Now the Arthurs are 80 minutes away from sharing the same wonderful father-son moment with Parramatta.
The one person who has ridden every high and every low with coach Arthur is his 19-year-old son, Jake, who gave The Sun-Herald a fascinating insight into what makes his father tick.
Jake was left on the bench for 80 minutes against North Queensland on Friday night, and will only expect limited game time next Sunday, but could not be happier for his dad and Eels teammates.
“I couldn’t care less about getting on – the boys got the win, and I’m so proud of the old man,” Jake said. “He’s copped a lot recently, so for us to be in the grand final, it’s unreal.
“It’s hard not to smile. You dream of this stuff.
Panthers pair Ivan and Nathan Cleary after last year’s grand final. Inset: Jake Arthur and his father Brad, who are hoping to emulate the father-son premiership feat next weekend with the Eels.Credit:Getty, NRL Photos
“There are lots of highs and lows in footy. What I love about dad is he stays so level-headed.
“He’s forever working. He’s always out on the phone, watching video until 3am, [and] he’s gone by 4am to go to work. He just loves it. This week will be the same as any other week where he just works his arse off.
“Seeing how much he loves it; there have been times where [he has been criticised and] you think, ‘stuff this’, but because he works so hard you know he’ll always come out on top.
“He’ll get us best prepared as we can.”
The Eels coach has been under plenty of scrutiny in recent months when the blue and golds looked like dropping out of the top eight, then looked set to bomb out of another finals series after the week-one loss to Penrith.
Even if Parramatta had gone down at Queensland Country Bank Stadium on Friday, questions would have been asked again about whether Arthur deserved a 10th year at the helm.
Instead, he is off to his first grand final with his management sending a cheeky text to club officials straight after full-time with a meme of Austin Powers and the caption, “One Billion Dollars”, a light-hearted reference about a contract extension.
Jake has copped his own share of criticism this year, been booed by the Eels fans, and told the Herald earlier this year, “I cop it for me and Dad”.
After bombing out in the semi-finals last year in an epic against Penrith, the Arthurs retreated to a family friend’s place in far north Queensland to watch the Panthers go all the way.
“That was really cool seeing that, and it would be an unreal feeling if we can win a comp together,” Jake said of the Clearys sharing a hug after full-time.
“We watched that game as a family in Cairns. To be honest, we were thinking, ‘This could have been us’. That’s what we were hoping.
“I’d be so happy for him to be the coach who wins it.
“You dream about it as a kid. I won a school grand final a few years ago with Patrician Brothers, and won a few with the Rouse Hill Rhinos when Dad was coach.”
There has been debate about what value Jake adds to the bench, but the young playmaker said: “My role is to cover any injury in the spine and help the boys as much as I can”. He has never disappointed when injected into the action.
Arthur snr almost cracked a rare smile after full-time on Friday and said after the 24-20 win: “When we get there [next Sunday] we’ll have a real crack for 80 minutes, and hopefully I’ve got a smile on my face at the end of the game.”
