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Bradley Arthur (born 21 May 1974) is a professional
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
coach who is the
head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...
of
Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...
in the
Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...
. He was the caretaker coach at the
Eels Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order (biology), order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 Family (biology), families, 164 genus, genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the earl ...
for the final six games of the
2012 NRL season The 2012 NRL season was the 105th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the first run by the newly formed Australian Rugby League Commission. The main competition, called the 2012 NRL Telstra Premiership due to spon ...
.


Background

Arthur was born in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
,
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. His son Jakob Arthur plays for
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League seaso ...
in the
National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...
, while his other son Matthew Arthur plays for
Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...
, also in the
National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...
.


Playing career

Arthur was a
Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...
junior and played SG Ball and Under-21s for the club.Parramatta Eels appoint assistant Brad Arthur caretaker coach for rest of NRL season but who is he?
''Fox Sport'', 24 July 2012
He then moved to the
Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...
where Royce Simmons advised him he would never make first grade.


Coaching career


Parramatta Eels

In 1997 Arthur, aged only 23, accepted a job as a captain-coach of the Batemans Bay Tigers. In his first season the club didn't win a match; however, the club made the finals in their second year. Arthur then was the captain-coach of the Cairns Brothers club for eight seasons, leading the club to four premierships and six grand finals. In 2007 he was appointed the
Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...
's NRL Development Coach. The side won the competition that year. In 2008 he was appointed the Melbourne Storm's inaugural Toyota Cup (Under-20s) coach. The side won the
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
Grand Final. In 2010 he was promoted to an assistant coach in Melbourne alongside Stephen Kearney. In 2011, he was appointed the assistant coach of the Parramatta Eels, following the appointment of Kearney as head coach. Kearney was fired in 2012 with six games remaining and Arthur was appointed the caretaker coach. Following the appointment of
Ricky Stuart Ricky John "Sticky" Stuart (born 7 January 1967) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of Canberra in the National Rugby League (NRL) and a former rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1980 ...
as head coach for 2013, Arthur was informed that he would not be retained as an assistant coach. Starting in 2013, Arthur was appointed as the assistant coach to Geoff Toovey at the
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League seaso ...
. As of 16 October 2013, Arthur accepted a three-year deal to join the Parramatta Eels as head coach. After being announced as the new head coach Arthur told the media that there would be "No more wooden spoons" under his tenure. In response to one of the reporters Arthur said "Yeah, well we won’t be getting three ... we definitely won't be getting three wooden spoons". In his first season as head coach, Arthur led Parramatta to 10th place on the ladder in The 2014 NRL Season. With two games to go in the regular season, Parramatta needed to win one game out of the remaining two fixtures to qualify but lost to Newcastle and Canberra (who were both lower on the ladder) respectively. Parramatta missed the top 8 by two competition points. In 2015, Parramatta missed out on the finals by finishing 12th. In 2016, Arthur was at the forefront of the salary cap scandal which rocked the club but was praised by the media and the players for his leadership skills and managing to keep the team together. Parramatta finished the season in 14th position but would have had enough points to qualify for the finals if not for the 12-point deduction handed to the club for breaching the salary cap. In the 2017 season, Arthur guided Parramatta to their first finals series since 2009 with the club finishing fourth on the premiership ladder. Even though Parramatta then went on to lose both their finals matches, Arthur was praised for his performances as coach. In 2018, Arthur led Parramatta to the club's 14th wooden spoon claiming only 6 wins all season. Arthur claimed responsibility for the season and the board admitted he would see out his contract which was due to end in 2019. At the start of the
2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...
, Arthur guided Parramatta to consecutive victories over Penrith and rivals Canterbury-Bankstown in the opening rounds of the competition. In Round 6, Parramatta defeated
Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...
51–6 in the opening NRL game at the new
Western Sydney Stadium Western Sydney Stadium, currently known as CommBank Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Parramatta, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It replaced the demolished Parramatta Stadium (1986) which in turn ...
. It was then revealed by the club that talks had begun in relation to Arthur's future at the club. In Round 9 of the competition, Parramatta were defeated 64–10 by Melbourne at
Suncorp Stadium Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Queensland, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rect ...
. The following week on 14 May 2019, Arthur was given a two-year contract extension keeping him as head coach of the club until the end of the 2021 season. Between round 12 and round 22 of the 2019 NRL season, Arthur guided Parramatta to win 8 of their next 10 matches. Parramatta confirmed their spot in the 2019 finals series with a 36–12 win over the last placed Gold Coast side. In round 25 against the
Manly Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League seaso ...
, Parramatta won the match 32–16 which saw the club leapfrog Manly into 5th to finish the 2019 regular season. In week one of the 2019 finals series, Arthur guided Parramatta to a 58–0 victory over the
Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...
at the new
Western Sydney Stadium Western Sydney Stadium, currently known as CommBank Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Parramatta, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It replaced the demolished Parramatta Stadium (1986) which in turn ...
in the elimination final. The victory was the biggest win by a team in finals history eclipsing Newtown's 55–7 victory over St George in 1944. The following week in the elimination final against Melbourne, Parramatta were defeated 32–0 at
AAMI Park The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, currently known as AAMI Park for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct in the suburb of East Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victor ...
which ended their season. At the start of the
2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...
, Arthur guided Parramatta to four consecutive victories which put the club on top of the table. It was Parramatta's best start to a season since 1989. The following week, Arthur guided Parramatta to victory over Penrith. The result meant it was Parramatta's best start to a season since 1986. At the end of the 2020 regular season, Arthur guided Parramatta to a third-placed finish on the table. It was the club's highest place on the table since the Parramatta
Minor Premiership A minor premiership is the title given to the team which finishes a sporting competition first in the league standings after the regular season but prior to commencement of the finals in several Australian sports leagues. Origins The etymolo ...
team of 2005. In the 2020 finals series, Parramatta would once again be eliminated in consecutive weeks. They lost to Melbourne in week one of the finals 36–24 after being up 12–0 early on in the game. The following week they lost to South Sydney in the elimination final 38–24 after being up 18–8 at half-time. Arthur also set an unwanted coaching record, becoming the first head coach in 112 seasons of the game to coach a side for seven consecutive years and fail to make at least one preliminary final. In the
2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...
, Arthur guided Parramatta to a sixth placed finish on the table. The club made the second week of the finals but were once again eliminated from the competition at that stage losing 8–6 against Penrith. On 8 October 2021, Arthur re-signed with Parramatta until the end of 2024. In the
2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season was the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest ...
, Arthur guided Parramatta to fourth place on the table which meant they qualified for the finals. Parramatta would lose in the opening week of the finals against Penrith before defeating
Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
the following week to book the club a place in the preliminary finals for the first time since 2009. Parramatta would go on to upset
North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its Tropical North Queensland, trop ...
in Townsville to reach the
2022 NRL Grand Final The 2022 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2022 National Rugby League season in Australia. It was contested between the Penrith Panthers and the Parramatta Eels on Sunday the 2nd of October at Accor Stad ...
. After going into half time at 18–0 down, Parramatta would lose the final 28–12. On 15 March 2023, Arthur signed a two-year contract extension to remain as Parramatta head coach until the end of the 2025 NRL season. At the conclusion of the
2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season was the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, the longest in league history, followed by a finals series ...
, Parramatta finished in 10th place, missing the finals by two competition points. On 20 May 2024, the Parramatta Eels announced that they had parted ways with Arthur after more than a decade as coach following the clubs 48-16 loss against Melbourne at Magic Round, the club had released in their statement that the assistant coach Trent Barrett would assume coaching duties for the rest of the season. Parramatta were currently 14th on the table with only three wins at the time of Arthur's termination. The sacking also occurred one day before Arthur's 50th birthday.


Leeds Rhinos

On 10 July 2024, Arthur was confirmed as the new head coach for English
Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...
club
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
. Arthur would manage to record five wins from his ten games in charge of Leeds as they finished 8th on the table and missed the playoffs.


Statistics

†-Parramatta were deducted 12 competition points and their for/against tally accumulated between rounds 1–9 of the 2016 season for gross long-term salary cap breaches *-Arthur was named interim head coach for final 6 games of the 2012 NRL season, after Stephen Kearney was sacked. no premiership


References


External links


Parramatta Eels profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arthur, Brad 1974 births Living people 21st-century Australian sportsmen Australian rugby league coaches Leeds Rhinos coaches Parramatta Eels coaches Rugby league second-rows