Brad Arthur fires up amid NRL reports linking Wayne Bennett to the Parramatta Eels

Parramatta coach Brad Arthur has fired back at speculation around his NRL future and bristled at reports linking Wayne Bennett to the club. Arthur's position as head coach at the Eels has come under frequent scrutiny over his 11 years at the club, with Parramatta experiencing the longest premiership drought of any club - dating back to 1986.

Arthur is Parramatta's longest-serving coach but has only delivered the proud club one grand final appearance in 2022 during his tenure. The Eels followed up that success with an underwhelming 2023 season that saw them finish outside the top eight and miss out on finals footy altogether, heaping pressure on Arthur to turn things around this season.

However, the Eels have slumped to back-to-back defeats following a foot injury to Mitchell Moses that is likely to sideline the halfback for at least eight weeks. That's left the Eels at 2-3 this season and languishing in 14th on the NRL ladder, with Arthur struggling to settle on a halves pairing after asking Dylan Brown to shift into the No.7 role in the absence of Moses.

Wayne Bennett mentioned in coaching discussion at Eels

With pressure mounting on Arthur, Dolphins mentor and master coach Bennett has been heavily linked with the Parramatta head coaching role, and the panel on NRL360 said they think the 74-year-old would be a perfect fit. “I’ve got to say, the elephant in the room is Wayne Bennett with Parramatta,” Brent Read said. “There was a link with them earlier in the season... If Parramatta want to go down that path, he would seem a perfect fit for that footy club and that squad.”

Bennett has also been linked with a return to coach Souths, amid reports Jason Demetriou is set to be sacked by the Rabbitohs. And Paul Kent says he is "certain" the master coach would want to see what was happening at Parramatta before making a call about any potential role at Souths.

“I’m absolutely certain that Wayne is just sitting there waiting to see what happens with Parramatta,” Kent said. “That’s why I don’t think he’s in any hurry to get to Souths. I think Souths is going to be his last option. If it’s Wayne’s choice, he goes to Parramatta because they’ve got two good halves. They’ve got the basis there as a club to rebuild.

"They’re starting mid-table, you put a couple of real choice picks around those two halves, they can get you there. They’ve got the fullback who can get you there. They are premiership-winning calibre, those guys. And Souths, I would argue, don’t have that. Souths, you’ve got the problems you’re going to inherit with Latrell (Mitchell) at fullback, with Cody (Walker) – his age, he’s only got however many more years left; and they’re still trying to find a halfback.”

Brad Arthur brushes off talk around Eels future

But Arthur is adamant his job is not on the line at Parramatta and insists club bosses would be open and honest with him if it was. "I've been here 11 years, and every year there's some (external) talk of it," Arthur said before Saturday evening's clash with North Queensland.

"I get it, it's part of the job. We need to win. It's round six, and what puts me on my toes is I want to win. I'm sure if there was something I needed to be concerned about I'd be the first person to find out. Knowing how the club operates, they know my approach is to be up front - and they're the same."

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Arthur also bristled at the idea of working under someone like Bennett, following reports earlier in the year that Parramatta were considering bringing him in as a coaching director. The Eels coach was bullish when asked if he would benefit from such a scenario. "No. That's not me being arrogant, but I've been here for 11 years. I don't need anyone holding my hand with how to coach," Arthur said.

"Either the club thinks I can coach, or they don't. Whether I coach here or wherever, (working under a coaching director) wouldn't suit me." Arthur said the decision to bring Daejarn Asi back into the halves for Saturday's Cowboys clash was brought about by a need for maturity and communication at No.6. Asi's selection has left Blaize Talagi in reserve grade after only two games at five-eighth alongside Brown.

"It's really important with halves that they communicate well," the coach said. "That's always the hardest thing for young halves when they come into a team to have the gumption to tell forwards that have played 200 games what to do."

with AAP