{"id":478579,"date":"2025-11-05T18:09:03","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T19:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=478579"},"modified":"2025-11-05T22:19:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T22:19:30","slug":"why-nrl-axe-was-a-blessing-in-disguise-for-arthur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=478579","title":{"rendered":"Why NRL axe was a blessing in disguise for Arthur"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is quite rare that a coach admits that his sacking was\ufeff "needed" to spark growth, but that is the belief former Eels coach Brad Arthur<\/a> has of his recent NRL exit.<\/p>\n

Arthur was dismissed from his duties<\/a> as head coach of Parramatta<\/a> in May last year and has since been working as head coach of Super League team, the Leeds Rhinos.<\/p>\n

The 51-year-old admits his \ufefftime at the Eels came to an end in just a couple of minutes after stepping into the room with club officials to discuss his future.<\/p>\n

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It was then that it hit him that his 11-year tenure at the club was ending.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"You get sacked from your job that you've put a lot of \ufefftime and effort into, it knocks you around a bit confidence wise," he told 9News Sydney.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"\ufeffBut the (Rhinos) giving me the opportunity to coach here and buying into how I want them to do things has given me a bit of energy again.<\/p>\n

"It has also built back that confidence that I needed, which you know, you need that as a coach."<\/p>\n

Watch the 2025 rugby league Ashes series live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Arthur admitted that the initial shock of his departure left him on an emotional rollercoaster for a short period of time last year.<\/p>\n

But he also conceded it was a relief to finally have a change of pace to his routine.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"Waking up at 4am everyday to go to work … I missed that part straight away," he said.<\/p>\n

"But \ufeffI also felt like it was a bit of a relief. Maybe it needed to – well, it definitely needed to happen for both myself and the club.<\/p>\n

"I had been there a long time, so a change (was needed)."<\/p>\n

\"Brad<\/p>\n

"I wouldn't change any of it at all," he continued, telling the Sydney Morning Herald.<\/p>\n

"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.<\/p>\n

"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'?\ufeff You don't learn from anything unless you make mistakes."<\/p>\n

Arthur had lead the team to contest the grand final in 2022, but the Eels were unable to get the upperhand in that match against the eventual premiership-winning Panthers.<\/p>\n

In 2023, Arthur and the Eels failed to make the eight, with 12 wins and as many losses.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Reflecting on that 2023 season, Arthur admits he may not have been his usual self.<\/p>\n

"Michelle, my wife, said she could see changes \ufeffin me," he told 9News.<\/p>\n

"Maybe for the last six or 12 months there at the club after we got through to the grand final, I wasn't going through the emotions … I just maybe wasn't my normal self.<\/p>\n

"I think maybe at times my loyalty\ufeff, which was one of my strengths, might have been a bit of a weakness."<\/p>\n

Arthur did apply for the head coach role at the Perth Bears but missed out, with Mal Meninga landing the job. He then inked an extension with the Rhinos. \ufeff<\/p>\n

Despite the rejection, Arthur has not ruled out a return to the NRL. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"I'm really committed to Leeds for another 12 months," he said.<\/p>\n

"But if the right job did become available, I would definitely want to get back and test myself at the NRL level."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is quite rare that a coach admits that his sacking was\ufeff "needed" to spark growth, but that is the belief former Eels coach Brad […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":458249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478579"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=478579"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":478584,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478579\/revisions\/478584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/458249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=478579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=478579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=478579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}