Eels Blogs

After an emotionally charged week in which Parramatta legend Nathan Hindmarsh announced his retirement the Eels turned up on Saturday night and pulled up one of the upsets of the season by defeating the reigning premiers, Manly, 29-20. All eyes were on Jarryd Hayne as he looked to play his first full game in the NRL after a knee injury in Round 2. The Eels looked a different side to the one carved up against Penrith and most would say it was due to Jarryd Hayne's presence.

However, it wasn't just Hayne. It was the club legend who pulled off one of the inspirational plays of the night. With the match still on the line at 26-20 Chris Sandow found the ground from a long kick and Manly custodian Brett Stewart picked the ball up and ran at Hindmarsh, expecting a usual solid tackle but solid was not on the mind of the Parramatta skipper. Instead Hindmarsh lined up the former representative fullback and hit him with everything he had. A big hit is not something that is usually aligned with Hindmarsh but this show of strength and power brought a huge cheer from the Parramatta faithful and showed his teammates that it was their game. After that hit Parramatta was able to pressure Manly for the rest of the match. But more was yet to come. David Williams thought he'd chance his hand at running at Hindmarsh who tried a repeat of his Stewart hit. Although he didn't Williams as hard he again showed his determination to close out the match. And with those 2 hits the team lifted as nearly every Parramatta player was looking to smash and bash Manly every time they had the ball. When Parramatta had the ball they were looking to belt Manly players and that came in the form of a rampaging Moimoi.

However, Hindmarsh was able to drag Parramatta over the line and win a hard fought match. A match, had it been played last year, Parramatta probably would've lost. But in that match, an inspired Hindmarsh took it upon himself to lead the way for the Parramatta defenders and show what Parramatta can do when the play with heart and passion. Many will say that Parramatta won because Hayne was back but I'd say it instilled a confidence in them but it was the grunt work that Hindmarsh and his fellow forwards did towards the end of the match that kept the team going when they could've easily lost their way and surrendered the lead. Hindmarsh is the heart and soul of the team. He's the inspirational Parramatta captain who leads by example and knows how to get the job done.