“He’s wanted this forever”: After the father’s fall, the son rises

Matt Arthur, Parramatta’s latest debutant, has dealt with the constant barbs about his size and famous surname.

“Even from a young age, kids on the field would pick on him, telling him, ‘your dad is about to get sacked’, or ‘you’re only in teams because of your dad’,” his mum Michelle Arthur said.

“He’s had to learn to handle that. But every time he’s gone up a level, he’s proven himself and got better.”

In a bittersweet evening for the Arthur family, Matt will debut for the Eels on Saturday, five weeks after the club sacked his father Brad as head coach.

Brad will be at McDonald Jones Stadium for Matt’s game, but passed on taking part in Friday’s jersey presentation.

He left that job to Michelle and Matt’s older brother, Jake, who plays with Manly.

Newcastle’s coach, Adam O’Brien, is a close friend of the Arthurs, and godfather to their youngest child, Charlotte, who will also be at the game.

Brad was reluctant to talk about Matt for fear of taking the spotlight off the 19-year-old’s debut.

“I do believe my two boys have been at a disadvantage at times because their dad was a coach,” Brad told this masthead. “They have had to work harder because they’ve been under the microscope more than others. They have to be a 10 out of 10 every time they’ve played. That’s why I’m so proud of both of them.

“If I was still coach, I probably wouldn’t have played Matt this year, purely because of his surname. But I’m proud of him.”

Matt is a dummy-half who has been a standout in the NSW Cup, and helped lead the NSW under-19 side to Origin victory against the Queensland last Thursday.

NSW under-19 coach and former Eels star Andrew Ryan said he elevated Matt to co-captain because of his professionalism and the way he brought the middle forwards together in a short space of time.

Matt has a similar running and passing style to Melbourne’s Harry Grant, one of three hookers, along with the Dolphins’ Jeremy Marshall-King and New Zealand Warrior Wayde Egan, he makes a point of studying each week.

Known as “Boods”, because of his buddha-like chubby cheeks when he was born, Matt was described by Michelle as a “Brad clone”.

“They’re both intense, determined, and ‘Boods’ doesn’t doubt himself at all – if he says he will do something, nothing will get in the way of it,” Michelle said.

“He’s always been the smallest on the field, but he’s never had any fear. He’ll pick the biggest kid on the field and tell them, ‘I’m coming for you all game’, and get in their face.

“He has wanted this forever. Football comes first for him, no matter what. It’s been an interesting six weeks for the family. We’re OK with it [Brad’s sacking] now.

“We’re just happy for Boods. He’s been running around at that club since he was five years old. He was a ball boy. [Prop] Junior Paulo has been there the whole time, and guys like him have had a hand in helping us raise Boods.

“I tried to convince Brad to come [to the jersey presentation], but I understand why he didn’t want to do it.”

Eels interim coach Trent Barrett said he was more than happy to give Matt his debut.

“We thought a few of the younger guys in the NSW Cup would push for a debut this year, and Matty has probably been their best and most consistent player all year,” Barrett said.

“I think he can help us. It’s as simple as that.

“He’s a tough little bugger who competes on everything. He’s got a pretty complete game.”

Arthur senior has since been linked to the head coaching job at Leeds, while he also met with officials linked to the Perth expansion bid on Monday.

Parramatta are still conducting their own search for Arthur’s replacement, with Josh Hannay, Jason Ryles and Dean Young the front-runners.

The Eels head into the weekend anchored at the bottom of the ladder, but will be boosted by the return of NSW Origin II hero Mitchell Moses.

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