In the moments after Parramatta’s last grand final win, amid all the tears and Tooheys being shed in the dressing room, the late, great Jack Gibson made a beeline for the victorious coach.
Taking over from Gibson was like batting after Bradman, but John Monie had got the job done, overseeing a gripping grand final win against arch rivals Canterbury in 1986 that, until at least next Sunday, remains the club’s last. As Monie was quietly savouring the moment in the corner of the sheds, “Big Jack” approached.
“The main thing I remember about it was when we got home 4-2, he came straight in and shook my hand at the back of the change room,” Monie told the Herald on Sunday.
“He looked at me, smiled and said: ‘You nearly blew that’.”
Parramatta have blown subsequent chances to add to their premiership tally, but there is a growing confidence among the club’s old boys that it won’t be the case against Penrith. Even though his successor steered the club to glory, Gibson’s shadow remains over the Eels.
There’s a WhatsApp group comprising former Parramatta players from the 1980s and, just as the current crop secured a preliminary final win over the Cowboys on Friday night, John Beecher, a former back-rower who made 11 first-grade appearances in the premiership-winning 1981 season, sent the following message to his comrades: “Another chance to kill the wicked witch”.
John Monie celebrates as the final whistle sounds in the 1986 grand final.Credit:Fairfax Media
Monie knows the sweet relief that will come if that transpires, having experienced it himself.
“It was actually a relief for me because I worked for Jack Gibson in ’81, ’82 and ’83,” Monie said.
“Then I took over in ’84 and lost a close one. I was always confident with the squad we had there, the calibre of the players, that we would get the job done [in 1986]. I was very happy.”
Now Brad Arthur has the opportunity to experience that same feeling. Not only does the current coach get the chance to break the club’s drought, but also to do so during the Eels’ 75th anniversary celebrations.
Ray Price, John Monie and peter Sterling celebrate at Parramatta Leagues Club after the Eels’ victory.Credit:Fairfax Media
“I think he’s done a remarkable job,” Monie said of Arthur. “The hardest thing in rugby league is to be in charge of all that. You need to get the pre-season right, the recruiting right, the trainers right. You have to get everyone going in the right direction when there are a few guys who might not want to go in that direction. It’s a difficult job.”
And yet, Arthur’s critics remain. They have gone silent after he guided the club to the decider, but will undoubtedly find their voice again if Parramatta fails to win it.
“I don’t think there’s a coach in the business who doesn’t get criticised from time to time, we’ve all had our fair share of that,” Monie said. “You need good self-belief, good staff and be confident that what you’re doing is the right thing and that you can get the job done.”
Gibson didn’t dispense too much advice to Monie. In turn, Monie hasn’t got much for Arthur, either.
“Just stay true to yourself and your own beliefs,” Monie said. “You have to have confidence you can get the job done.
“He’s obviously done a lot of things right. The head coach doesn’t need people from outside coming in and trying to tip to him. He knows the players, the organisation, he knows his coaching staff.
“It’s certainly not a one-man job and he must have the right people around him doing the right thing by him and the team. It’s a hell of a team effort.”
During his tenure, Monie had at his disposal one of the greatest club sides of all time. Peter Sterling, Brett Kenny, Ray Price, Mick Cronin, Steve Ella, just to name a few. Knowing when to coach and when not to was the key to success.
“Every bit of knowledge I had about rugby league, I put into Sterlo because he was running the show,” Monie said.
As for Sterling’s enigmatic halves partner – Kenny – that was an altogether different proposition. The extent of Monie’s coaching of the great five-eighth was limited to: “You just play. Just do what you want to do.”
Whether the current halves Mitchell Moses and Dylan Brown have what it takes to follow in their footsteps remains to be seen.
“Generally the six and the seven, if they are good enough, they can carry the team,” Monie said.
“The things they’ve done at training, they’ve got to do in the game. But you’re not under that much pressure at training, but in a game situation there’s plenty of pressure there, somebody else doesn’t want you to do what you want to do.
“They’ve handled that stuff pretty good.”
Whenever the Eels go deep into September, comment is sought from Monie. Until the drought is broken, he will be known as the Last Man To Steer Parramatta to Glory. The 75-year-old is happy for someone else to carry the tag.
“It’s been a long time between drinks, hasn’t it?” he said, before chuckling: “It would be fantastic to know I won’t get guys like you ringing me up all the time.”
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