The indifferent start to their latest campaign has put the spotlight on Arthur. However, the team’s star players said the coach was not the issue.
“I’m more than happy for the media to come at us players instead of Brad,” Campbell-Gillard said.
“I understand that he’s the head of this club and will always put himself out there before the players. But the onus is on us as players, and we get judged on that performance every week.
“I’d die for Brad. It’s not nice seeing him getting fed through to the wolves. I’m more than happy for the media and reporters to come at us players instead of him.”
Arthur has overseen more Parramatta games than any other coach (255) and Gutherson said he was still the man for the job.
“Oh, definitely,” the captain said. “He’s done it before. Him and his staff, they do a fantastic job to get us ready each week and give us the tools we need to be ready.
“But at the moment, the players aren’t delivering on what they signed up for or what they want to do. We’re letting him and the staff down, the whole club.
“We’re 3-4, it’s not the end of the world at the moment. We need to just be consistent, we’re not being the team we know we can be.
“I’m sure him and the staff will say the same thing.”
Paulo said the players were still had confidence in Arthur.
“Absolutely, we probably wouldn’t be turning up to work every day if we [didn’t],” Paulo said.
Loading
“We know how hard Brad works and the time that he puts into this team. It’s only right that we’re able to respond and put in a good performance because we understand how much he means to this club and how much he means to this team.
“He’s not the one out there. We’re the ones that have got to be able to go out there and play for 80 minutes.
“We can’t turn up for 60 minutes and then just let the game turn on its head the last 20 minutes. It’s a matter of us just going out there, not chasing the result, but just chasing a full 80.”
NRL is Live and Free on Channel 9 & 9Now
Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
