Brad Arthur became the second head coach to be quickly dismissed after Jason Demetriou was fired by South Sydney late last month. The Parramatta coach had been under heavy criticism since his team missed out in the finals last year. And after each humiliating defeat, Eels officials opted to fire the guy who had the most caps as head coach in the club’s history.
Brad Arthur fired by Parramatta Eels.
Arthur served 11 seasons at Parra but failed to end the club’s long title drought, with a loss in the 2022 grand final the closest he came.
The 50-year-old took over on an interim basis in 2012, guiding the team through some of its worst days owing to salary cap constraints, before establishing them as a regular finals contender.
“I’ve never walked away from a fight, and we’re going to keep fighting hard,” Arthur remarked after his team’s horrific second-half collapse last week.
The Eels were hammered 48-16 by the Melbourne Storm in Magic Round, which proved to be Arthur’s final game in charge, despite his claims that he could turn things around at the struggling club.
“There hasn’t been any indication from the club towards me,” he continued in the post-match presser.
“All they want to do is get around us and support myself and the coaches and the rest of the staff and the team.
“But at the end of the day, what matters is what we’re doing on that field for 80 minutes and it’s not good enough at the minute.
“The facts are that we’re not playing well enough and I’m the head coach of the team.”
A board meeting the day after their Magic Round capitulation ultimately sealed Arthur’s fate as he was axed with immediate effect.
Trent Barrett has been installed as the interim coach for the Eels with 14 games still remaining of the regular season.
“We will provide a further update as we move forward to appoint a head coach for the 2025 season and beyond,” the club noted upon the announcement of Arthur’s departure.
Who will be Parramatta Eels head coach in 2025?
Jason Ryles
Jason Ryles has been a head coach in waiting for a number of years now, with the former St George Illawarra forward serving his apprenticeship under Craig Bellamy and Trent Robinson.
Ryles knocked back interest from the Dragons last year in order to return to Melbourne and work under Bellamy again with the assumption he’d take charge of the Storm following the veteran’s retirement.
However, Bellamy recently confirmed he would go around again in 2025, putting doubts around Ryles’ long-term future at the club.
The Eels noted how they were looking to go in a “new direction” following the sacking of Arthur, which Ryles could provide.
Benji Marshall, Andrew Webster, Cameron Ciraldo and Craig Fitzgibbon have been the most recent assistant coaches who have graduated to the hot seats at clubs with mixed results so far.
So, Ryles would undoubtedly be a risky move with a number of far more experienced campaigners potentially available.
Josh Hannay
As part of Craig Fitzgibbon’s staff at Cronulla, as well as the Maroons coaching set up under Billy Slater, Josh Hannay has emerged as a possible contender.
2017 when he worked as an assistant at the New Zealand Warriors after he had arrived Down Under initially to work under Robinson at the Roosters in 2013.
Trent Barrett
Barrett will step back into the NRL cauldron when he takes charge of the Eels for the remainder of their campaign.
The 46-year-old signed on as an assistant coach under Arthur and has worked at the club since 2023 following an abrupt exit as Canterbury’s head coach after a disastrous spell in charge.
Prior to his stint at the Bulldogs, Barrett was head coach of the Manly Sea Eagles for two years from 2016 to 2018.
Justin Holbrook
Justin Holbrook was one of the early head coaching casualties last year, when he was axed by the Gold Coast in favour of Des Hasler.
He played an exciting style of footy with the Titans but was undone by consistent lapses in defence, which is only too familiar to the Eels as they have leaked, on average, 29 points per game so far this campaign.
Yet Holbrook is highly regarded despite his failed time on the Gold Coast, taking St Helens to a league title in 2019 and finishing with an 80 per cent win rate in the Super League.
Since his exit from the Titans, Holbrook has been appointed as the coach of the Papua New Guinea national team, who won the Pacific Bowl against Fiji last year, while he works as an assistant at the Roosters.
Be the first to comment