Eels Blogs

On Friday Night Chris Sandow will be the 28th halfback to pull on the blue and gold jersey for Parramatta since the great Peter Sterling. Sandow comes with a lot of hype and optimism around him. Many supporters and his teammates see him as the missing link that Parramatta has had since the retirement of Sterling. Very few halfbacks have been able to fill the void and none have been able to do it for an extended period of time. Of the 28 halfbacks since Sterling only 2 have really made an impact at Parramatta. Former record point-scorer Jason Taylor lead the team to a Minor Premiership and Grand Final appearance in 2001 only to be beaten by the greatest halfback the game has ever seen. While some will argue the importance of the next halfback I name I maintain he could've been a great player at Parramatta. I speak of course of former Eel and Rookie of the year Tim Smith. Smith played brilliantly in the first 2 years of his career. In both those seasons Smith lead the team to 2 finals apearances. In his first season he combined with Jason Taylor (as coach) mid-season to lead an Eels revival that saw them win 9 straight games and cruise into the finals.Unfortunately Smith's battle with alcohol and mental illness quickly ended his promising career.

At South Sydney Sandow earnt a reputation as a game winner and someone who would put his body on the line. Blessed with lightning speed, quick hands and a great kicking game Sandow was exactly what the Eels were missing. Even though Parramatta had managed to reach a Grand Final without an experienced and brilliant halfback the genuine game winning halfback was not at Parramatta. Sandow was arguably the biggest signing announcement of the 2011 season. Sandow's kicking game is one that Parramatta has missed for years. His kicks frequently hit the ground and put pressure on the opposition. What Parramatta has really lacked though is a halfback that can direct an attack and has experience in winning high pressure games. Sandow provides an abundance of experience in both these facets. At Souths he played with a player of both the genius and inconsistency of John Sutton. He took the majority of playmaking pressure on himself and still did an outstanding job. However, behind a supposedly strong forward pack that had a horrible run of injury Sandow found it hard to continually win games.

Moving to Parramatta placed him behind a quality forward pack with very little injury concerns. Now he is at Parramatta he is teamed with former Bulldog and exciting five-eighth Ben Roberts and Parramatta excitement machine Jarryd Hayne. Sandow can finally take some playmaking off his own shoulders and concentrate more on just doing his job and executing his game plan. This shouldn't however mean he goes into his shell. I believe he should play the brand of football he was at Souths but know that he isn't the only match-winner on the team. This can only benefit him. He can direct the forwards and play make without having to come up with a match winning play if needed. What excites most fans is his combination with star fullback Jarryd Hayne. Both have amazing ball playing skills, fantastic kicking games but it's Hayne's ability to play off the back of someone else is what makes him most dangerous. His combination with Ben Roberts is also seen by many as a positive one. Roberts himself has a lot of talent but has struggled with consistency in recent seasons. Sandow's ability to control and organise is something Parramatta has missed in recent years. In many games Parramatta's direction was lost and the attack broke down, often resulting in Hayne attempting a wonder play with mixed results. Sandow has developed a footballing brain where he recognises when and where to force a repeat set or try to set up a scoring play. What Parramatta mainly struggled with was forcing repeat sets. Often turning the ball over without building pressure or scoring points. With Sandow's ability to create he has the potential to fill the void left by Sterling 20 years ago. In a way Sandow was blessed with a mixture of Sterling and Kenny. He has amazing pace and a sense for the try-line but also good organisational skills, ball-playing ability as well as a kicking game Parramatta desperately needs. Truly Sandow is Parramatta's missing link.