Dyldam Parramatta Eels Head Coach Brad Arthur says he’s been focusing on an attitude adjustment with the side this week, leading into tomorrow’s clash with the Newcastle Knights at Hunter Stadium.
Following two disappointing losses, Arthur says his boys need to all bring their best performances.
“Defensively [last week] we weren’t great, and continued to turn the ball over and at the moment we are in hurry to get things done,” Arthur said.
“Every time we get down near the try-line we expect to come away with something; so we need to hang in the battle a bit longer and work a bit harder.”
Giving his opinion on what needs to change to get back in the winners’ circle, Arthur said everyone needed to keep playing as a unit.
“Firstly it’s individually, we need to make sure that every week we’ve got 17 players willing to roll their sleeves up,” he said.
“If you’re going into the game with only five or six, or eight or ten, that’s very hard to win a game of football, so if we can get closer to 15 or 17 players performing at their best, we’re going to give ourselves a chance.”
With a few players nearing their return from injury spells, Arthur said he’s hesitant to rush any back into the first grade side.
“We’ve had a couple train with us this week, but it’s a long year and it would be silly for us to risk them, but injuries can’t be an excuse for us this year,” Arthur said.
“Taka [Brad Takairangi] is a chance, he’s trained this week but he trained last week too, so we won’t know more until tomorrow.”
After naming Richie Fa’aoso as 18th man, Arthur said he’s a chance of playing from the bench at Hunter Stadium tomorrow.
“It’s a credit to Richie, he’s had his boots laced up a couple of times thinking he was ready to go and we’ve had to pull to rug out from under him, but he hasn’t dropped his head or been a distraction to the players,” Arthur said.
“He’s been very positive and everything he’s done has been about the team.”
Click here to buy tickets to cheer on the Blue and Gold at Hunter Stadium tomorrow!
