Campbell-Gillard had lost both his mother and brother within a year, but he persisted on playing when the Eels defeated the Sea Eagles 28-24 at CommBank Stadium on Sunday.
“He’s just had a tough 12 months off the field,” Arthur explained. “I’m not sure how he does it, but he always puts his teammates first. We needed to put him first today.
“He has never shied away from his obligation to the squad. He’s demonstrated a lot of resilience for us over the last three seasons. We needed to repay him today. “We had to.”
With Junior Paulo again consigned to the bench, Campbell-Gillard racked up 102 run metres in another dominant 56-minute performance.
He was also engaged in one of the game’s flashpoints, being slapped by Sea Eagles prop Josh Aloiai in the final seconds, causing referee Peter Gough to send the Samoan international to the sin bin.
“He’s put us first, and we’ve created an environment in which you want to come to training,” Eels co-captain Clint Gutherson said. “Reg is the type of guy who would never disappoint us.
“As Brad mentioned, the previous 12 months have been difficult off the field for him. We love that guy, and I believe it showed today.”
Manly coach Anthony Seibold was perplexed by an obstruction call in the second half, which prevented a sensational Tolu Koula try.
Sea Eagles forward Jake Trbojevic was adjudged to have impeded Eels substitute Luca Moretti as Tom Trbojevic made a long break near half-way, despite replays showing the Parramatta player little to no chance of actually reaching Tom Trbojevic.
“The rulings are black and white, but watching that one is on the other end of the scale,” Manly skipper Daly Cherry-Evans explained. “I didn’t believe he’d get there, so congratulations to him. “He played by the rules.”
But Arthur insisted that the bunker made the correct decision.
“It’s an obstruction,” he remarked. “You can’t stop in the line.”
The Sea Eagles were down 26-18 at the time and soon gave away a penalty goal to Mitchell Moses before Corey Waddell’s try set up a thrilling climax.
The Eels had already grabbed a second-half lead with tries to ex-Manly players Morgan Harper and Kelma Tuilagi, a far cry from the Sea Eagles’ explosive start, which saw them outpace the clock in the openingTom Trbojevic scored a contender for what normally would be one of the tries of the season if not for Xavier Coates’ aerial effort when a near length-of-the-field effort ended with him scooping up a Reuben Garrick kick.
But the Eels hit the lead in the first half when debutant Blaize Talagi scored his first NRL try.
“The thing we’ve improved is our level of composure and calmness,” he remarked. “We didn’t chase the game and try to score tries. We pursued it with our physicality and effort. We were able to score some points and get ourselves back into the game.”
Seibold stated, “The start of the game was the best we’ve had in my time at the club.
“I need to be very careful what I say here, but the game’s management shifted slightly after 14-0. I believe they began to receive calls, as well as field position and possession.
“I’m not sure why, but that was one of the interpretations surrounding the ruck. They’re a good enough team to capitalize.
