NRL: Coach Anderson gives Eels a good shake-up

Daniel Anderson concentrated on fitness. Photo / Getty Images

Many adjectives have been used to describe Parramatta's 2009 NRL campaign but dull is not one of them.

Boardroom squabbles and lame performances were the story of the first half of the season with exciting new signings and some exhilarating displays the tale of the second.

And while new Dally M Medal winner Jarryd Hayne has been the spark on the field and recently appointed chief executive Paul Osborne lauded for his role away from it, the contribution of coach Daniel Anderson has slipped under the radar.

Despite enjoying success as coach of the Warriors, guiding them to a first grand final in 2002, and a trophy-laden three-year spell in England with St Helens, eyebrows were raised when Anderson was handed the Eels job last November.

His return to the club where he cut his teeth as coach of the SG Ball side in the mid-1990s while still working as a schoolteacher was not easy. With the season three months away, Anderson had little time to stamp his mark on the team or bring in new faces following Michael Hagan's resignation.

According to Eels icon player Nathan Hindmarsh, Anderson's initial approach was to go back to basics, starting with a punishing pre-season fitness programme.

"The first thing he did was make sure we had bigger arms," Hindmarsh said.

"He pretty much sat us down and said 'you have your moves, I have mine, so we are going to start from scratch'."

Under Hagan, Parramatta had finished a disappointing 11th in 2008 and according to Hindmarsh, Anderson worked out very quickly that things needed to be shaken up.

"It was definitely different to what we had done in previous years," said Hindmarsh.

"It wasn't super hard, but it was long, the longest days I have had for a long time, double-day sessions ... but I think we are benefiting from it now."

Before last week's 37-0 reverse against St George Illawarra, the Eels had won seven successive games, to qualify for the finals, and they will face the Dragons again tomorrow at Kogarah. It is an achievement that's all the more impressive considering the Eels won just four of their first 14 games, including defeats to both 2009 cellar dwellers Sydney Roosters and Cronulla.

Ousted as chief executive mid-season, long-serving Denis Fitzgerald has since enjoyed seeing the appointment bear fruit.

"I am not surprised that he has turned things around," said Fitzgerald. "He is a very good coach and has managed to get the best out of the likes of Jarryd Hayne and Eric Grothe and he should be applauded for that.

"He has not been afraid to make tough calls like he did when he decided to move Brett Finch on."

Another person not surprised by Parramatta's improvement under Anderson is his former boss, St Helens chief executive Tony Colquitt. Anderson guided Saints to three successive Challenge Cup final wins and to victory in the 2006 Super League grand final - an achievement that saw him become the only man from league to win the BBC's prestigious Coach of the Year award.

"Ando was brilliant for us and his contribution will not be forgotten by the supporters of the club," said Colquitt.

"What he did brilliantly was to come in and quickly get the trust of the senior players, and [he] had fantastic man-management skills.

"What he does is empower his senior guys off the pitch but he will also give youth a chance and our academy system, which he helped put in place, is now really starting to bear fruit."

Colquitt also said Anderson's spell in England helped him mellow from the intense figure who reportedly clashed with some of the Polynesian contingent at the Warriors to a calmer individual.

"I think he is certainly more rounded now and that comes with experience and he has been involved in a lot of high-profile games both here and Australia and that helps."

Hindmarsh, who was coached by Anderson in the lower grades, said the coach still cuts an intense figure before games, but his refusal to press the panic button this season during the side's bad run has been a factor in making the finals.

And according to Colquitt, the intensely private Anderson, who prefers to let his team do the talking rather than talking up his own achievements, can emulate his Super League success in the NRL.

"In many ways he is a typical teacher, very organised and very formulated," said Colquitt. "He will do his media when he has to and that's your lot, but don't ask about his family. It is off limits."

- AAP