Arthur: All we are doing at training is working on our defence
Parramatta Eels coach Brad Arthur spoke after his side’s 14-0 win over the Melbourne Storm.
Here’s what he had to say following the match.
On the Eels’ win
“We knew we had to defend well and it has been a focus for us for a while now and we haven’t done a great deal of work at training with the ball and I reckon that showing a bit. We have to make sure we can defend long periods and trust our systems and I reckon we’re getting better at it. Tonight was good a good display, they threw plenty at us and I know they’ve got some quality missing but we can only defend what’s in front of us. The back end, 20 minutes, we made some line breaks but we have to be more patient there,” Arthur said.
On the Eels’ attack
“All we are doing at training is working on our defence. We’re doing bits and pieces with the ball but we have to make sure our defence is working together and it is, it’s getting better. We’ll start to spend some more time on our attack as we go. We feel like it’s (defence) is really important and we’re getting there,” Arthur said.
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On whether the Eels’ are playing a bit clunky
“Not really. We have had some wet games, but yes we need to spend some more time on it (attack), definitely,” Arthur said.
On Reed Mahoney’s time off during the game
“I just thought Stoney (Ray Stone), when he came on, did a really good job defensively and we have to look after Reedy too. He plays every minute, every week. So it’s good for Stoney, just in case, to get some experience there and I thought he did really well, he was strong defensively,” Arthur said.
On Sivo’s 22nd try in 20 games at Bankwest Stadium
“He likes playing here. He could have had another one last week, but it’s good for him and good for his confidence and we need him to score tries. It will be nice when we can fill the stadium again, but yeah he certainly gets the crowd going. He’s still learning difference pieces of the game, but defensively his decision-making is pretty good and he’s got a good educator inside of him in Michael Jennings. His strike rate in finishing off tries and movements is pretty good; he doesn’t bomb many, which is great. There are still a few things there like we would like to see more from him out of the backfield, but I thought he carried the ball pretty strong tonight,” Arthur said.
On taking the two points over playing on
“Yeah they were (under the pump), but we need to learn to be able to grind out a full 80 minutes and there are still parts of our game that we are not on top of. Part of that is making sure we can get three tries out and defend our way to a win,” Arthur said.
On keeping the Storm to nil
“Yeah that’s good but I do understand they have some quality missing, but like I said we can only defend what’s in front of us,” Arthur said.
On Marata Niukore’s face knock
“I think he might have a broken nose, but he’s alright,” Arthur said.
