Brad Arthur has declared Parramatta players finally have the belief needed as they fight to end the NRL's longest-running premiership drought.
Boasting what he claims is the strongest squad of his nine-year tenure, he wants his players to embrace the talk of ending the 36-year wait in 2022 without being consumed by it.
Sunday's season opener against Gold Coast comes after a difficult off-season, with Reed Mahoney and Isaiah Papali'i headlining in a list of five players signed elsewhere for 2023.
But clear in Brad Arthur's mind is the way the Eels exited last season, narrowly beaten 8-6 in a high-quality semi-final against eventual premiers Penrith.
"Coming into this pre-season is probably the best I have seen them in terms of actually knowing they are good enough," Arthur said.
"In the past we have tried to believe it, but still had a bit of uncertainty around it.
"But I think we showed in the way we played the finals, with the right intensity under a lot of pressure. I've seen that hunger, that real determination and drive."
Arthur said he'd seen good attitude signs in the pre-season, particularly after a 36-0 win over Penrith where players took the performance as the expectation rather than the exception.
Arthur also pointed to the three years of experience of the team's spine playing together as a reason why they were better placed to deliver a title after four finals finishes in the past five years.
"We can't hide it, this is the best squad we've had," Arthur said.
"You need a lot to go right between now and the end of the year, it's a long season.
"The boys haven't talked (about the drought). I'm sure they want to (end it) and I am sure as a group they know they are good enough.
"This current group right now, it's not their fault its a 36-year drought. And someone at some stage has to break it.
"We have just got to embrace that it is going to be talked about. All we can do is control the 80 minutes each week."
Arthur also said he had a plan to manage the Eels' second half of the season, after battling through late-season dips in recent years.
But he has long remained insistent he will not apologise for having his teams start the season well.
"We work hard all pre-season to start well and it's not going to be any different this year," Arthur said.
"We've got a few ideas around what we can do differently when we get there.
"But we can't worry about that right now, because we won't have rep players if we don't start well."
Arthur confirmed lock Nathan Brown had been given time to build up match fitness with long game spells in reserve grade after off-season surgery only allowed him return to unlimited training last week.
