As the Parramatta Eels look for a new head coach for next season following Brad Arthur’s sacking, a surprising contender has emerged as a potential candidate.
The Parramatta Eels list of potential candidates has gotten shorter over the past two days following Wayne Bennett’s appointment at the Rabbitohs and Brisbane Broncos assistant John Cartwright’s signing with Hull FC in the Super League.
After confirming on Tuesday that they wanted Wayne Bennett as coach, the club will now have to consider other candidates for the top coaching job.
Arthur’s assistant, Trent Barrett, will take over the coaching reigns on an interim basis for the remainder of the season. However, it has not been confirmed if he will remain at the club beyond this season.
As the likes of Jason Ryles, Justin Holbrook and Michael Ennis have been linked to the club, The Sydney Morning Herald has since revealed that Newcastle Knights assistant coach Blake Green has emerged as a potential candidate for the role.
According to sources speaking to the Herald, renowned player agent Isaac Moses is pushing the case for his client Blake Green to take over from Arthur as the Eels’ new coach.
In addition to representing Blake Green, Moses represents Todd Payten (Cowboys), Shane Flanagan (Dragons), Anthony Seibold (Sea Eagles), and Andrew Webster (Warriors), along with Eels stars Mitchell Moses, Will Penisini, and Blaize Talagi.
Now an assistant with the Knights, Blake Green is a former Eels junior who debuted with the club in 2007.
Known as a journeyman during his playing days, the playmaker has stints with the Eels, Sharks, Bulldogs, Storm, Sea Eagles, Warriors and Knights throughout his 181-NRL game career from 2007 to 2021.
Fronting the media on Tuesday, the club revealed they were in talks with Wayne Bennett since the start of May and tried to lure him away from joining the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
“We wanted Wayne Bennett it’s as simple as that and we spent the best part of three weeks trying to convince him to come,” Eels Chairman Sean McElduff said on Tuesday at a press-conference.
“Ultimately he made it clear to us that he had unfinished business at the Rabbitohs and that was the direction he was heading.
“He was interested, we put our proposition to him and he was genuinely interested but I think he felt strongly with his connection to the Rabbitohs.
“We didn’t make a decision on our head coach until May 1 and we didn’t approach Wayne until May 2.”
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