Parramatta skipper Clint Gutherson has bristled at suggestions coach Brad Arthur is on the chopping block following their disastrous 30-4 NRL loss to Newcastle.
The blue and golds were left black and blue on Saturday after they had injury added to insult following their fifth straight loss which Arthur labelled as “embarrassing”.
Mitchell Moses (knee) and Will Smith (hamstring) both look set for stints on the sidelines after going down at ANZ Stadium.
The Eels finished the game with no fit players on their bench after losing fullback Bevan French to concussion in the second minute and Peni Terepo to a head knock late in the second half.
As well, Tepai Moeroa will on Sunday come under the scrutiny of the match review committee for a shoulder charge on Chris Heighington.
After watching their side’s season hit rock bottom following their fifth loss in a row, some fans are calling for Arthur to be sacked.
However, Gutherson promised to repay Arthur, who has been a pillar of strength for his players as the club lurched from one disaster to the next over the last several years.
“It’s ridiculous you know,” Gutherson said.
“Brad and the staff put so much effort into making it so easy for us to go out there and put in our best performance. It’s embarrassing that we’re letting them down.
“It’s really hard. I love this team, I love Brad and we love this team and I put my heart out there.
“We need to have a hard look at ourselves and play with pride.”
With his side’s finals hopes well and truly extinguished, Arthur said his charges needed to restore some pride to the jersey.
“That’s embarrassing,” Arthur said.
“We’re not proud of that performance, we’re not proud of ourselves, we’ve let a lot of people down tonight. We let our club down, our fans.
“The biggest people we’ve let down is ourselves. We’ve embarrassed ourselves.”
Asked what his side was lacking, Arthur questioned his side’s desire.
“We trained all week,” Arthur said.
“We got here tonight and I don’t know where our mentality was at. But it wasn’t playing some tough footy for 80 minutes.”
The Eels hope to have Corey Norman (foot), Jarryd Hayne (hip) and Tim Mannah (eye socket) when they take on North Queensland in Darwin next week.
