Eels star Ryan Matterson has opened up on his buried feud with Brad Arthur after the pair didn't speak with one-another during the 25-year-old's first stint with Parramatta, perย The Sydney Morning Herald'sย Adrian Proszenko.
While the pair claim they can't recall what started the soured relationship, Matterson discussed the struggles he faced early on in his career under Arthur.
The Eels utility came through the club's ranks as a promising half, with his coach looking to transition the youngster into a back-rower as new recruit Kieran Foran looking to run the show.
With Matterson and Arthur both holding their ground, the apprentice soon found himself playing in the Ron Massey Cup, now recalling the difficult awakening.
"That was the longest three weeks of my life," Matterson said. "I was training first grade, playing Ron Massey. It was a hard one to swallow.
"When I was here, I definitely thought this was the club I was going to debut at. Things didn't go to plan. I genuinely thought my career would be over."
Matterson soon moved to Bondi where he went on to win a premiership with the Roosters, with Trent Robinson soon looking to enforce a positional change on the Kangaroos junior once again.
After a breakout season with Wests, Matterson found himself in the coaches bad books under Michael Maguire and found himself back in Parramatta under Arthur's wing.
When Matterson became open to Arthur, the Eels coach ended his overseas stay prematurely to meet with the him.
"He'd just got back from Bali. He came straight from the airport to meet me," Matterson said.
"I have so much respect for him for doing that. He didn't have to do that, he could have been tired, he could have gone home.
"He wanted to meet me. We all hung out, me, my manager and Brad. The rest is history. It's awesome. Now even outside of football, I'm calling Brad up and we're having chats. It's blossomed into a good relationship."
Arthur recalled the decision to meet with Matterson shortly after his return to Australia.
"As soon as I got back, I wanted to meet with him straight away because he had some other interest," Arthur said.
"There wasn't anything personal about it. I had an opinion about where he was going to play and he had an opinion."
Speaking on Matterson's position with the Eels in 2020, Arthur lauded his player's efforts.
"He is part of our leadership group, the boys hold him in high regard," Arthur said. "He's not afraid to speak his opinion, but everything he says he's going to do, he does. That's great, that's what a leader is."
