Parramatta Eels Head Coach Brad Arthur says there is no extra motivation needed for his side this week, as they look to come away with the two points in their Round Six clash against the New Zealand Warriors.
Speaking to the media this morning (Saturday 8 April), Arthur says the side is motivated to return to the winners circle.
“They are always tough at home in front of their home crowd. Steve has them concentrating a lot on their completions, I think they are second or third in the league for completing, and we know how dangerous they can be with an even share of football. “ Arthur said of the opposition.
“We will have to make sure our attention to detail is good with the ball and we have a bit of urgency with our defence.”
“Foz is a class footballer and straight away made a difference for them. A lot of control in the way they played and I am sure that now he has had a run under his belt, he will be better again this weekend for them.” Arthur added.
“He is a quality footballer and we wish him well but there is no extra motivation because of him. There is plenty of motivation for us.”
“We need to get back in the winners’ circle.”
With fullback Bevan French sustaining an injury this week, ruling him out of the clash, Arthur said ahead of this morning’s Captain’s Run that the side had plenty of different options available to replace him.
“Bevan had a training injury in our last session on Thursday, still waiting for some more results but he will probably miss a month of football,” Arthur said.
“We haven’t been able to train since then, but we will see where we get to today. We have a few options in our 21 man squad.”
With plenty of talks in the media this week, Arthur said he would not comment on the Club’s recruitment.
“We don’t discuss our recruitment and retention and won’t start now.” Arthur said.
“Our focus at the moment is on this weekend against the Warriors.”
“We have interest in Mitchell and he has interest in playing at Parramatta, but until we get a registered contract, he is not a Parramatta player. He is a Wests Tigers player at the moment.”
The Eels take on the New Zealand Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium for Round Six of the NRL Telstra Premiership on Sunday 9 April. Kick off is at 4pm NZ local time (2pm AEST).
