‘I needed it’: Arthur reflects on Eels sacking and his desire to coach in NRL again

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Leeds: Former Parramatta coach Brad Arthur says he’s a better coach now than the one who was sacked by the Eels last year, admitting it was time for both him and the club to go their separate ways.

This masthead caught up with Arthur at a cafe near his home in Leeds, where the Kangaroos are based ahead of the third Ashes Test, and the Leeds Rhinos coach revealed his ambition to one day return to the NRL.

A candid Arthur reflected on his 11-year tenure at the Eels, which included a grand final appearance in 2022, in fondness and holds no grudges against the club that gave him his first crack at top flight coaching.

“A lot of people said I looked relieved and happy, and I felt like I was at the time,” he said about his mid-season sacking.

“I was grateful for the opportunity they gave me. Eleven years, it was a great life and my family got to live a great life. There were negatives with it, but there were plenty of positives with it. I wouldn’t change any of it at all. Probably there’s some lessons there that I maybe knew or some things that I knew I needed to change or got wrong. But sometimes you don’t make those until you get sacked or terminated.

“I’ve looked at it from a perspective of ‘it is what it is, I’ve had a good life and enjoyed it, but what can I learn from it’? So if I got any opportunities again moving forward, is there anything that I could do differently? But I feel a lot of that just comes with time and experience. You don’t learn from anything unless you make mistakes. It’s just making sure you don’t make them over and over.”

Arthur has had an immediate impact since joining the Rhinos last year. When he took over, the team was languishing in ninth position. He led them to third this year and were only eliminated after a miracle last second try to St Helens in the finals series.

He applied for the Perth Bears job but missed out in favour of Mal Meninga. He’s since signed an extension with the Rhinos but feels he has a point to prove in the NRL after falling agonisingly short with the Eels against the Panthers in the ’22 decider.

“I’m really comfortable with my lifestyle I’m living here right now, I’m enjoying it,” he said.

“It’s a different challenge of coaching. The scrutiny is probably not as heavy as it was in Australia, but I’m very grateful to the Leeds Rhinos for believing in me and the players embracing me when I arrived. It’s a great club and it’s reignited my passion for coaching.

“If the timing was right and, and the job come available, I’d certainly like to try and get a few things that I got wrong, right. But I’m not desperate for a job, but I could certainly want to coach at the highest level of our sport and it’s obviously in the NRL. I think I can be better.

Brad Arthur with Mitchell Moses and Clint Gutherson.

“I started out as a rookie coach in a big club and had to learn a lot on the run. It’s not just about going in and what you know about footy. There’s way more to it - dealing with people. I got plenty of it right and I got plenty of it wrong. And I think every coach will probably say the same. There’s some good lessons that I’ve taken out of it, that I would make sure I wouldn’t make the same mistakes.”

The Eels have undergone a major rebuild under new coach Jason Ryles, which included the departure of skipper Clint Gutherson and experienced prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard.

Arthur says he wants to see the club do well and recognised that his tenure needed to come to an end.

Brad Arthur with his sons and ballboys, Matt and Jake Arthur before they made it to the NRL as adults.

“Definitely. 100 per cent, I needed it,” Arthur said of his sacking.

“And I felt like it for a while. But I don’t quit anything and walk out on anything. But I’d been feeling it for 12 months that everyone just needed a change. I suppose they were the brave ones who made the change. As a coach and all coaches, we think we can fix everything, we can fix every player. You can fix every issue. And that’s the other thing I learnt, sometimes you can’t.”

Arthur also reflected with regret over the way he handled his life as a result of life in the limelight.

He said his family suffered as a result and he didn’t learn to prioritise, such was his intense focus on leading the Eels to glory. He’s since gained more perspective moving to the other side of the world and gaining an appreciation for how good his life has been.

“Maybe sometimes I hid from it, which again, I feel like that’s putting the job and me before the family,” Arthur said.

“I hardly went out to dinners. We had good strong friends at the start of our Parramatta journey then by the end of it, we hardly did anything or went anywhere. I used to take it very personally if we get beaten or if you played poorly.

“You wouldn’t want to show your face, and I think every coach goes through that. You just got to – not move on from it quicker – but just be comfortable that you’re doing the best you can. It’s a tough job. Elite sport is tough to win every week. Sometimes you might carry that body language into work, and then it rubs off on everyone else.”

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