Dyldam Parramatta Eels Head Coach Brad Arthur says the Eels’ Round 10 win was helped by some tough lessons learned in the Blue and Gold’s loss to North Queensland in Round 8.
The Cowboys despatched the Eels easily in Townsville, with the Parramatta side struggling to back-up after a their Easter Monday clash with the Wests Tigers.
Arthur said the commitment his side showed on Saturday afternoon was more of a bonus than the scoreline.
“I’m happy more about our effort on the back of a 5 day preparation [than the 36 points],” Arthur said.
“We went up to North Queensland a few weeks ago off a 5 day prep and for us, as staff, we didn’t get it right; we were a little bit soft.”
“We toughened up this week with our preparation and we played tough. That was the pleasing result for me.”
Despite the commanding scoreline, Arthur said there was still plenty of work for the Blue and Gold to do in both defence and attack.
“I don’t know if we were nervous, but we were a bit tentative at the start with the ball. I thought it took a while for us to find our groove in attack,” Arthur said.
“But the second half we turned it around; we just stuck to our structures.”
“If we can keep defending like that and keep turning up for one another we might have a little bit more time to find our groove.”
