Everybody Loves Hindy

Last week I spent three nights writing the ultimate Parramatta article…then wordpress died and I lost my article. I was going to give up…like most of the players at Parramatta…and write about something else. Then this happened:

Nathan Hindmarsh announces his retirement

That’s when I knew the football gods were begging me to talk about the Parramatta Eels.

Now first let me start by saying that I’ve never once felt ‘sorry’ for Nathan Hindmarsh. I feel like every time Parra lost or were terrible all year people would say stuff like ‘I just feel sorry for Hindy’. Whatever!! He made his bed and he choose to lie in it. You shouldn’t feel sorry for him because he got to play finals footy, be a part of State of Origin and represent his country. What’s to feel sorry for? The kid is as loyal as a dog and that means sticking around during the tough and good times.

The previously written article (now affectionately known around Headquarters as ‘ARGHHHH!!!’) went through what’s wrong with Parramatta this year and why a change is needed. The two reasons I wanted to write an article about Parra was because I’m a huge fan of laughing at Chris Sandow and mainly because my Uncle (die hard Parramatta fan and known affectionately as Bill) pleaded with me to bring to light the woes of the Blue and Gold. To be fair it doesn’t need a bigger spotlight considering they are -97 points and hanging in the basement of the NRL ladder like Hyde and Jackie (outdated reference).  I’m actually glad I didn’t get to publish the ‘ARGHHH” article because this whole ‘Hindy Retirement’ thing has got me thinking otherwise.

If Parra needed the motivation to win games it was just given to them in the form of a bearded 104 kg kid from Bowral. I mean comon, like Raymond “Everybody loves Hindy”. As I already said even the biggest haters of Parramatta have a soft spot for the guy. After tearing Parramatta apart they tend to follow with “…but I love Hindy”. The interesting thing is that I’m certain Nathan knows this. He knew his team needed something to inspire them for the rest of the season so he jumped on the grenade. Not only did he take a bullet for his team mates but he took one for Parra’s salary cap since now they can possibly buy another player who has got potential moving forward…you know like what they did when they purchased Justin Pooore (oh snap…I’m supposed to be writing an article about inspiring Parra and instead I’m slamming them at the same time).

Although having Hindy retire is a great idea it doesn’t solve the fact that as far as talent goes, this year Parra stink. Their biggest signing this year Chris Sandow is struggling. If I may steal a quote from Uncle Bill when he says “he looks like he gave birth during the off season” and his attitude is on par with that statement also. The SOS (that’s ‘same old Sandow’) showed up pretty early this season. All pre-season they spoke about the formidable cocktail of Sandow and Hayne…Sandow as the pilot driving the Hayne Plane around Parra Stadium. Yet what is it about either players form that makes us think this flight won’t be commissioned by ’Tiger’ airlines? I could rattle off countless players (Ben Roberts, the Tonga Brothers etc) who are yet to perform for Parramatta this year but its not why I am writing this article. Certainly you’ve all read articles that continue along these same lines.

No, what I really want to say is that having Hindmarsh retire won’t get them a premiership because they just don’t have the talent to get that. What it will do but is get them the motivation to move off the bottom of the table and get out of this funk they are currently in. Isn’t that the most important thing for them right now? I personally think Parra need to stop the internal squabbles they are having, put faith in the coach they have signed and every player needs to push just that little bit harder. Those things will happen if they can focus on the task at hand…which is ‘doing it for Nathan’

Its hard to be in last place and its even harder to find a reason to not want to stay there. Winning the competition is the last thing on their minds right now because all everybody is talking about is when Kearney will get the sack, if management will sort themselves out or when will the coach make serious changes to the lineup. I have to say that knowing one of the greatest Parramatta players to ever play the game is competing in his last season should mean something to everyone – players, coaches and management. Players can focus on playing football for something besides not being a losing team. The coaches can feed off that energy and make changes based on form rather than just gambling. Finally management can sell to the public the ‘we are doing it for Hindy’ speech they’ve kept locked in a vault for years wanting to unleash.

So instead of being disappointed that Hindmarsh is leaving and feeding into the rumours that management pushed him out, maybe you should be thanking him. Right now he is the only thing in my opinion that can stop this culture of losing at Parramatta.  Hindmarsh just created the spark to ignite a recovery. I just hope the Eels realise and utilise this.

This Saturday’s game will be a good litmus test of Parramatta in 2012. They don’t have any excuses with the return of Jarryd Hayne and of course the Hindmarsh announcement.  I honestly wouldn’t be too surprised if Parramatta don’t get the 2 points this weekend against Manly. The flip side of that is nobody would be shocked if they lost by 40 points again. After this weekend (which happens to be Round 5) you will be able to paint a perfect picture of Parramatta. They will either try their hardest to give Hindmarsh a proper farewell. Or they will drown in a sea of useless attack and woeful defence. No matter if they are celebrating or commiserating the season, they will end up ‘On The Try Line’