‘That’s out of my pay grade’: Clint Gutherson calls on Eels officials to keep Trent Barrett as an assistant next year

Eels skipper Clint Gutherson has echoed Mitchell Moses’ calls for the club to keep interim coach Trent Barrett around next year when Jason Ryles takes over after it was confirmed he’d be leading the team for the next four seasons.

After a lengthy interview process following Brad Arthur’s axing after Magic Round, the club announced on Monday morning that Ryles would step up from his assistant duties at the Storm to take over a team that is fighting to avoid the wooden spoon just two years after they played in a grand final.

Ryles has a wealth of experience having worked with the Storm, the Roosters and with a couple of national rugby sides, with his defensive nous set to help a team that has conceded the most points in 2024.

The decision to get rid of Arthur didn’t sit well with some of the players, but they’re just relieved it’s all finally sorted after Ryles edged out Josh Hannay for the job.

“It’s good that they’ve finally come to a decision and we can move on with where the club wants to go in the next three or four years,” Gutherson said.

“It probably took a little longer than everyone thought, but they had to be thorough with the decision they were going through.

“It’s just good that it’s done. We can move on now and focus on the rest of the year.

“The teams that he’s been involved with and the coaches that he’s been under say enough as it is, but all you hear are great things about him.”

Gutherson said the decision to appoint Ryles had nothing to do with the players and he was “sick of losing” heading into this weekend’s game against the Titans.

“It was all the front office. They went through everything they wanted to do and kept us in the loop over the last few months,” he said.

“The decision had nothing to do with us. That was all their decision and they knew what they were doing and what they wanted and which direction they wanted to go in.”

Ryles has a few months to look at Parramatta’s roster to see what needs changing, with Gutherson looking forward to working alongside Blues winger Zac Lomax, who has “called him weekly” to chat about joining the blue and golds next year.

With one Dragons star coming, Gutherson hopes a former St George Illawarra great stays, with Barrett’s future at the club up in the air once the season finishes up.

The attacking coach has filled in as their interim boss since Arthur was sacked, and the players have made it clear they want him to stay.

“It’d be great to keep ‘Baz’ around. He’s been great for us the past two years, and the way he’s handled the past two months, I think it shows the type of person he is,” Gutherson said.

“He just wanted us to be better and to win games, but we haven’t been able to win as many games as we would have liked over the past couple of months.

“It’s up to Baz and ‘Rylesy’ to discuss. I’d love to have Baz around, but that’s out of my pay grade.”