Arthur quiet on Radradra Kangaroos debate
Mar 16, 2017 - 1:27 AM Parramatta coach Brad Arthur has credited Semi Radradra's blistering early-season NRL form to his teammates but declined to say it should result in a Kangaroos recall.Radradra has played a major role in the Eels' undefeated start to the year, bagging four tries last week and averaging a team high 146 metres per game.
It is an impressive return from the controversial winger, whose future is still shrouded by his domestic violence court case against his former partner.
"Semi's in a really good spot now," Arthur said on Thursday.
"We've seen in his first two performances that he is focused and it's our job to make sure he's in a happy place here and he just concentrates on his football moving forward.
"His teammates are really good for him. Our training environment that we have down here.
"It's as place of work but it's also a place they enjoy coming to and if you've got a fun workplace, you can get a lot more out of them.
"That's a credit to the club for providing this for us but also a credit to his teammates for being there and supporting him."
The fourth-year coach stopped short of calling for Radradra be given another chance at cracking the Australian team for the mid-year Test match against New Zealand.
Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga reiterated on Wednesday that Radrara's decision to move to French rugby at the end of the year has worked against him.
Blake Ferguson and Valentine Holmes started on the wings for the Kangaroos' in their Four Nations triumph, however the former is currently sidelined for a month with a rib injury.
Arthur shied away from entering the debate on Radrara's representative eligibility on Thursday.
"I think we've got quite a few players in our team that are good enough to be playing rep football but at the end of the day I don't make those decisions," he said.
"That's Mal's decision. I pick what players play in the blue and gold, that's all that concerns me."
On Saturday, the ladder-leading Eels take on a winless Gold Coast side that will be without former Parramatta icon Jarryd Hayne and winger Anthony Don.
The Eels will be without their own star in Corey Norman, who Arthur revealed had battle through more than half of last week's win over St George-Illawarra with a hamstring issue.
"That's a good sign for us, that he knew it was important that he stayed on the field and really didn't let on too much about his hamstring strain to the staff until halftime," Arthur said.
"He said he could just do the job for us in the second half and steer us around.
"He done that, and once we get him back to full fitness, hopefully he's only going to be better for us."
Source: AAP
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