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Parramatta Eels coach Brad Arthur refuses to talk about Corey Norman fiasco

Michael Chammas

Parramatta coach Brad Arthur has refused to discuss the future of Corey Norman after the five-eighth was stood down for this weekend's game for drug possession charges.

As revealed by Fairfax Media on Wednesday, the Eels and the NRL were at loggerheads over the punishment for Norman.

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Teammates defend Corey Norman

Corey Norman's teammates have leapt to his defence after the five-eighth was allegedly in a sex tape that was being shopped to media outlets.

The Eels wanted to play the embattled playmaker against Penrith on Sunday, but the NRL intervened, much to the club's dismay. But Arthur didn't want to delve into the Norman fiasco when pressed on the issue on the eve of his side's clash with the out-of-sorts Panthers.

"Twenty weeks we've been focusing on negatives [in the media]," Arthur said. "I want to talk about the positives of the team. The positives are that someone will get the opportunity to step up for Corey. He's one of our better players, but we can't dwell on that.

Uncertain future: Parramatta's Corey Norman is out for the Panthers game.
Uncertain future: Parramatta's Corey Norman is out for the Panthers game. Photo: Getty Images
"Everyone that's had to come into our team so far this year has played their role and done their job, and that's what's required from whoever takes his place in the Penrith game."
 
Despite enduring a season plagued by drama, the Eels have put aside all the controversy to play a brand of football that still has them in finals contention despite being docked 12 points for salary cap breaches.

"It's tremendous the boys have been able to keep fronting up and focus on their job, which is to play football, to play for each other," Arthur said.

"They've still got a lot of belief regardless of a few surrounding issues.

"We do have our fair share of injuries too. Last week we had plenty of players playing out of position, but we had the effort and the energy and desire to go out there and perform well."

Eels centre Michael Jennings – NSW's last-minute try-scoring hero from Origin III – will undergo a fitness test before being cleared to take on his junior club on Sunday.
 
"[Jennings] is another one with a fitness test this morning – we'll see where he's at," Arthur said. "I was really pleased for him on the back of probably his disappointment from game two, and like a true champion player he aimed up and sealed the game for them. It'd be nice if he could do that for us on Sunday."
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The Eels are also hopeful of having Brad Takairangi back from injury, however Arthur said he was still under a cloud.

"There's a bit of doubt over Takaz [Takairangi]," Arthur said. "There's doubt over quite a few of our players at the moment, so we need to try a few things at training today at our captain's run and see where we get to. We do have our fair share of injuries; last week was evidence of that.

"We had plenty of players playing out of position, but the belief and the effort and the energy and the desire is still there to go out and perform well. That's all we can really control at the moment."

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