Parramatta coach Brad Arthur has defended his recent team selection, amid criticism for moving Dylan Brown to the centres and his son, Jake, into the halves, to manage an injury crisis.
The move worked against Newcastle in round seven, but Parramatta was blown off the park against North Queensland last Saturday.
Teenage playmaker Jake Arthur subsequently copped vile abuse from social media trolls.
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“He’ll (Jake) go back and play Cup and he enjoys playing there, and it’ll be good to have Tommy (Opacic) back and be able to put Dylan back to six,” coach Arthur told reporters.
Tom Opacic is back in the centres for Parramatta for round nine, missing the past couple of games due to a neck injury.
Arthur said there was no way to put the blame of last week’s shellacking on any one person.
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“It’s unfair, but it’s what it is. People are entitled to their opinion. I suppose it’s always harder when it’s your own flesh and blood, but he’s fine,” he said.
“He doesn’t do social media so he didn’t know a hell of a lot was going on until he got some nice messages from people just checking if he was OK… he just moved on.”
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