Brad Arthur

Brad Arthur (born 21 May 1974) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of the Parramatta Eels in the NRL.

Brad Arthur
Personal information
Full nameBradley Arthur
Born (1974-05-21) 21 May 1974
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Coaching information
Club
Years Team Gms W D L W%
2014– Parramatta Eels 168 84 0 84 50
As of 22 September 2019
Source: [1]

Background

Arthur was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Playing career

Arthur was a Parramatta Eels junior and played SG Ball and Under-21s for the club.[2] He then moved to the Penrith Panthers where Royce Simmons advised him he would never make first grade.[2]

Coaching career

In 1997 Arthur, aged only 22, accepted a job as a captain-coach of the Batemans Bay Tigers. In his first season the club didn't win a match however the club made the finals in their second year.[2]

Arthur then was the captain-coach of the Cairns Brothers club for eight seasons, leading the club to four premierships and six grand finals.[2]

In 2007 he was appointed the Melbourne Storm's NRL Development Coach. The side won the competition that year. In 2008 he was appointed the Melbourne Storm's inaugural Toyota Cup (Under-20s) coach. The side won the 2009 Grand Final.[2] In 2010 he was promoted to an assistant coach in Melbourne alongside Stephen Kearney.

In 2011, he was appointed the assistant coach of the Parramatta Eels, following the appointment of Kearney as head coach. Kearney was fired in 2012 with six games remaining and Arthur was appointed the caretaker coach.[3] Following the appointment of Ricky Stuart as head coach for 2013, Arthur was informed that he would not be retained as an assistant coach.[4]

Starting in 2013, Arthur was appointed as the assistant coach to Geoff Toovey at the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.

As of 16 October 2013, Arthur accepted a 3-year deal to join the Parramatta Eels as head coach. After being announced as the new head coach Arthur told the media that there would be "No more wooden spoons" under his tenure. In response to one of the reporters Arthur said "Yeah, well we won’t be getting three . . . we definitely won’t be getting three wooden spoons".[5][6]

In his first season as head coach, Arthur led Parramatta to 10th place on the ladder in The 2014 NRL Season. With 2 games to go in the regular season, Parramatta needed to win one game out of the remaining 2 fixtures to qualify but lost to Newcastle and Canberra (who were both lower on the ladder) respectively. Parramatta missed the top 8 by two competition points.[7][8] In 2015, Parramatta missed out on the finals by finishing 12th.

Arthur in 2016

In 2016, Arthur was at the forefront of the salary cap scandal which rocked the club but was praised by the media and the players for his leadership skills and managing to keep the team together. Parramatta finished the season in 14th position but would have had enough points to qualify for the finals if not for the 12 point deduction handed to the club for breaching the salary cap.[9][10]

In The 2017 season, Arthur guided Parramatta to their first finals series since 2009 with the club finishing fourth on the premiership ladder.[11] Even though Parramatta then went on to lose both their finals matches, Arthur was praised for his performances as coach.[12]

In 2018, Arthur led Parramatta to club's 14th wooden spoon claiming only 6 wins all season. Arthur claimed responsibility for the season and the board admitted he would see out his contract which was due to end in 2019.[13]

At the start of the 2019 NRL season, Arthur guided Parramatta to consecutive victories over Penrith and rivals Canterbury-Bankstown in the opening rounds of the competition. In Round 6, Parramatta defeated Wests Tigers 51-6 in the opening NRL game at the new Western Sydney Stadium. It was then revealed by the club that talks had begun in relation to Arthur's future at the club. In Round 9 of the competition, Parramatta were defeated 64-10 by Melbourne at Suncorp Stadium. The following week on 14 May 2019, Arthur was given a two year contract extension keeping him as head coach of the club until the end of the 2021 season.[14][15]

Between round 12 and round 22 of the 2019 NRL season, Arthur guided Parramatta to win 8 of their next 10 matches. Parramatta confirmed their spot in the 2019 finals series with a 36-12 win over the last placed Gold Coast side. In round 25 against Manly-Warringah, Parramatta won the match 32-16 which saw the club leapfrog Manly into 5th to finish the 2019 regular season.[16][17]

In week one of the 2019 finals series, Arthur guided Parramatta to a 58-0 victory over Brisbane at the new Western Sydney Stadium in the elimination final. The victory was the biggest win by a team in finals history eclipsing Newtown's 55-7 victory over St George in 1944.[18] The following week in the elimination final against Melbourne, Parramatta were defeated 32-0 at AAMI Park which ended their season.[19]

At the start of the 2020 NRL season, Arthur guided Parramatta to four consecutive victories which put the club on top of the table. It was Parramatta's best start to a season since 1989.[20]

The following week, Arthur guided Parramatta to victory over Penrith. The result meant it was Parramatta's best start to a season since 1986.[21]

Statistics
Brad Arthur – coaching results by season
Team Year Games Wins Draws Losses Win % Finals
PAR2014241201250%Finished 10th (out of 16)
PAR201524901538%Finished 12th (out of 16)
PAR2016†241301154%Finished 14th (out of 16)
PAR2017261601062%Lost 2017 NRL Semi Final against North Queensland Cowboys 16—24
PAR201824601825%Finished 16th (out of 16)
PAR2019261501158%Lost 2019 NRL Semi Final against Melbourne Storm 0—32
PAR202013110283%Currently 3rd (out of 16)
Career1678408350%

†-Parramatta were deducted 12 competition points and their for/against tally accumulated between rounds 1-9 of the 2016 season for gross long-term salary cap breaches

References
  1. "Brad Arthur". Rugby League Project.
  2. Parramatta Eels appoint assistant Brad Arthur caretaker coach for rest of NRL season but who is he? Fox Sport, 24 July 2012
  3. Parramatta caretaker coach Brad Arthur tackles NRL's toughest job The Daily Telegraph, 30 July 2012
  4. Arthur job hunting after being ditched Hills News, 21 August 2012
  5. https://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/new-coach-brad-arthurs-promise-to-parramatta-eels-no-more-wooden-spoons/news-story/e918d892a67befbeef95db637f679915
  6. NRL. "Eels Appoint Head Coach". NRL CLUBS. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  7. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-30/parramatta-in-trouble-after-42-12-loss-to-newcastle/5708006
  8. http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/rugby-league-match-centre/canberra-raiders-v-parramatta-eels-20140905-3exjy.html
  9. http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/the-story-parramatta-eels-coach-brad-arthur-never-wanted-told--until-now-20170908-gyddf1.html
  10. http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2016/09/04/eels-end-tough-nrl-season-high
  11. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-01/nrl-parramatta-eels-defeat-south-sydney-rabbitohs/8860160
  12. http://www.nrl.com/eels-2017-season-review/tabid/10874/newsid/112225/default.aspx
  13. https://www.nrl.com/news/2018/08/16/blame-me-and-no-one-else-parramatta-eels-coach-brad-arthur-reflects-on-a-season-to-forget/
  14. "Arthur signs new contract with Parramatta". www.nrl.com.
  15. "Parramatta Eels sign coach Brad Arthur to new NRL deal". www.foxsports.com.au.
  16. "Sivo bags a hat-trick as Eels leapfrog Manly into fifth spot". NRL.
  17. "Moses guides Eels past sorry Titans in NRL". 7 News.
  18. "Parramatta Eels eliminate Brisbane Broncos from the NRL Finals with a thumping 58-0 win". ABC.
  19. "Melbourne Storm crush Parramatta 32-0 in their semi-final to set up prelim against the Roosters". ABC.
  20. "Parramatta hold off Manly to stay unbeaten". www.nrl.com.
  21. "Friday Night Results". www.abc.net.
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