Former Parramatta Eels coach Brian Smith has reportedly thrown his hat in the ring for a shock return to the club. Smith, who coached the club for 243 games between 1997 and 2006, has held talks with the Parramatta board, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The 70-year-old is now in the running, along with highly rated assistants Josh Hanney, Jason Ryles, Dean Young and interim coach Trent Barrett.
“But it hasn’t really affected the players too much. “They are professionals and it’s not something you go through regularly, but they do have to go through it. “Their job is to play and to play well. “We haven’t quite got the results we wanted over the last few weeks, but they are playing a good style of footy at the moment, we just can’t get over the line. “We’ve been quite unlucky the last three weeks, a really good win over Cronulla and we could have won the past three games.