The reality is that in the NRL you need at least one elite half, something Parramatta has not had for the past two seasons and it’s why we have struggled. The question is Chris Sandow an elite half?
Clearly, he is talented as a Dally M Rookie of the Year, but the difference between halves and most other positions are it takes years for a talented half to mature to the point where they’re able to play consistently excellent football. My personal belief, is that the game has also changed, and there are some key attributes that a half must have to be effective in the NRL.
Whereas, in days gone by the ability to put a player through a hole or guide a side around might have been the two most important attributes, in my opinion, it is now speed and the quality of a halves kicking game.
Sandow is quick with brilliant acceleration. You must mark up on him, or he’ll beat you with his running game. The importance of this cannot be understated. It means that opposition defences must hold and slide late. Right now, sides are sliding early against us because they don’t think our halves are going to bust them up the middle. That won’t happen with Sandow.
Secondly, you’ve got to have an outstanding kicking game. Sandow’s kicking game is still a work in progress, but it’s getting better and he has the talent to earn his side repeat sets, again something we’ve been forced to mostly work without throughout 2010 and 2011.
When you compare Sandow to other elite halves, I think Cooper Cronk’s game is most similar to his. And like Cronk, I think Sandow is going to benefit greatly by working within a structured environment. Currently, he makes a lot of mistakes, but if he has a structure to work with that reduces the number of decisions he needs to make, I believe he can become a far more consistent halfback.
Thirdly, he’s a confident player so he’ll come to the club and given he is coming on as a prized signing, he should have the authority to take charge of the side and be a dominant half-back. He hasn’t really had that opportunity yet at Souths, where Sutton has arguably the senior partner in their combination.
It’s important to note that Sandow will be just 23 next year but with basically four full NRL seasons under his belt. Halves take time to mature and most won’t really hit their peak until their mid-to-late twenties. Sandow’s best years are ahead of him, and during the three years he’s at our club he’ll be playing with an experienced head on a fit, young body. The alternative of trying to blood a young half, I’m sure would not have brought the immediate turn-around that our club desires.
The next thing to look at, is how Sandow complements our roster. Clearly, our go-to player at this point is time is Jarryd Hayne and I think these two complement each other wonderfully well. As Hayne matures I believe he’s going to develop into the game’s elite playmaker because no other player in the game has both running games and passing games at his level. I of course, see an inevitable move to five-eighth, but even as a fullback, I think it’s still going to be Hayne that more often than not delivers that final pass.
I think Sandow’s signing gives Parramatta greater scope to move Hayne, who will now have the opportunity to play inside a dominant half so that he isn’t burdened with an overwhelming level of responsibility. And if the club can pull off the follow-up signing of Hopoate, it will give them a genuine alternative point of attack so that oppositions sides can’t overmark Hayne.
If the Eel’s go the other route and Daniel Mortimer is kept in the five-eighth role, he’ll also improve because he’ll be in a position to play a genuine supporting role, where he can play to his strengths which is his support game. Either way, I see both as effective, complementary halves combinations.
As for money, we can only surmise exactly what deal has been nutted out, but in the end I’d suggest that it’s impossible to overpay for a component in your side that makes everything else work as it should. Sandow’s signing will allow Jarryd Hayne more freedom, with lesser responsibility and it will increase the value we get out of him, it will increase the value we get out of Daniel Mortimer. It increases the value we get out of our forward pack, as we’ll be able to get a better return from the metres they make. And it will increase the return on the investment we’ve made in our coach, because he’s finally in a position where his ideas and structures can work.
In any business, that’s exactly what you want from any deal you make. One plus one should always equal five, and I believe that’s what Chris Sandow’s signing does for our club.
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Replies
I think it will prove to be a very good buy for our club, as he has shown that this year, he has not let Souths misfortunes plague him, and he continues to go about playing his own game, consistently - something we haven't seen from him for a few years now.
He will be a good buy but if he has a form slump I hope people don't start calling for his head. And please don't get injured Sandow... How many times have we had a halves crisis due to injuries too?
Also with the new TV rights deal coming soon the salary cap will probably get raised so he won't seem as expensive as a proportion of the cap assuming he doesn't get injured.
The winning has started already. Since Sandow signed we've gone from 12th to equal 10th on the competition ladder. And if the Gold Coast Titans win this weekend against the Warriors we'll move up to equal 9th. If Manly also lose this weekend we'll only be 2pts behind 6th spot. Imagine what we can do when he actually plays for us....
Question: When Hayne is in the line he tends to have the ability to throw cut out passes and also take on the line. Sandow takes on the line but I am unsure about his passing game. Can anybody elaborate on this?
PS I will enjoy having another excellent allround kicker in the side, Hayne, Burt, Sandow. Pretty good.
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