Penrith coach Ivan Cleary is getting very used to Grand Finals and preparing for the biggest game of the year, but this is new territory for Parramatta mentor Brad Arthur.
Under pressure for his Finals record in recent years and with his job somewhat in question, Arthur has guided Parramatta to their first Grand Final since 2009 and is now a shot of ending the club’s 36-year Premiership drought.
Arthur said he was thrilled to qualify for the season decider after nine seasons in charge of the club.
“I’m really happy for the boys. They made a lot of sacrifices along the way,” he said.
“We wanted it real bad. You could see that.”
Parramatta has got to the Grand Final the hard way, losing their first Qualifying Final to Penrith, losing the opportunity for a week off. They then thrashed Canberra at CommBank Stadium before heading to Townsville to take on the Cowboys.
North Queensland appeared headed for victory when they took an eight point lead but Parramatta simply wouldn’t go away.
“They’re a very good team and they’ve played well all year but I felt like we were in control,” Arthur said after the game.
“I felt like they looked a bit tired and out on their feet. We felt if we got possession and field position we would finish over the top of them.”
Arthur will forever enter Eels immortality if he can guide the club to its first Premiership since 1986 on Sunday night.
It would definitively end talk that Parramatta are too inconsistent to win a title.
Despite rumours that his head was on the chopping block if Parramatta didn’t make the Grand Final this year, Arthur is adamant he hasn’t been distracted by it.
“I haven’t been worried about my future because I know the boys have got my back,” he said.
“We need to be excited about the opportunity that we’ve got and the occasion that it’s going to be during the week and enjoy it.
“I’ve got no idea how to handle it because I haven’t been there before but we’re just going to take it a day at a time and when we get there we’re going to have a real crack at that 80 minutes and hopefully I’ve got a real smile on my face at the end of the game.”
Arthur said he knows how much a Premiership would mean to the fans.
“I know they’ve been waiting a while,” he said.
“It’s a reward for them in supporting our team, but we’ve still got 80 minutes ahead.”
Troy Dodds is Parra News' Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia’s leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.