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'It's just part of the job': Booing coach's son has not fazed the team
By
AAP
Parramatta second-rower Shaun Lane says being booed by home fans is all part of being an NRL player, after Jakob Arthur was targeted by sections of the Eels’ home crowd in round 19.
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Parts of the crowd booed Arthur, the son of Parramatta head coach Brad, when CommBank Stadium’s ground announcer read out the Eels’ team before Thursday night’s clash with Brisbane.
The 19-year-old is on the fringes of Parramatta’s first grade side and played five minutes off the bench in only his second game since a brief stint at five-eighth early in the season.
In April, coach Arthur moved first-choice five-eighth Dylan Brown to the centres as an injury cover and played his son there for two matches, in a move that sparked online trolling from Parramatta fans.
Eels teammates said Arthur had not been fazed by the booing and that his low social media profile had kept him shielded from negative comments.
“He copped it a little while ago,” said Lane, “but he’s a resilient kid. He doesn’t read into any of it.
“It’s part of the game. He’s going to have a bit of a target on his back by being the coach’s son. I’m sure he knows that, Brad knows that.
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“It’s just part of the job.”
Speculation that the Eels could lodge a complaint with the NRL about the booing incident has come to nil, the club confirming to AAP on Monday the matter would not be escalated.
Back-rower Ryan Matterson said most Parramatta fans would never think to boo the players on their team.
“It’s not on,” he said, “It’s disappointing. You don’t want that in the game.
“You go to the game because you support your club. The majority of the fans who were there, they were cheering us and supporting us.
“It was a minute part of the crowd that might have been booing Jakey but it didn’t really affect him nor the playing group.”
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