Across the course of the year, there's a fair chance you're going to have to go into games with at least one of your six, seven or nine missing through injury, suspension or (less likely for Parramatta) representative duty.
As such, having a player who can ably fill in for any of those positions is an enormous asset for any club. Losing players to these key positions has sunk many a team's season.
It does seem apparent that Brad Arthur is keen to build a spine that includes Luke Kelly. In a team that has a lot of flashy players, Kelly's calming influence appears to provide a bit of balance to the Eel's side.
As such, regardless of what Chris Sandow does playing for Wentworthville, I just don't see him replacing Kelly unless Arthur has his hand forced.
However, I think it is rubbish to think that does not mean Sandow can not make a massive contribution to the Eels side. He can play any of those three positions in the spine, and being able to call in a player of Sandow's class when you have one of those player's down is going to make a massive difference to Parramatta's ability to push for a finals berth this year.
It would be pretty unusual that Sandow wouldn't play a fair swathe of the season, if he was to cover those three positions.
Now, I realise that Sandow may have some issues playing in the middle, but with some of our new heavy hitters in defence he'll get a decent level of protection and he's never been one to shy away from the tough stuff, in any case.
Having Sandow as a constant stand-in for our hooker/halves will provide another level of stability to this side and enable us to make effective use of one of our most talented assets.
Replies
His defensive issues have almost always come down to getting isolated one-on-one. I've seen him play a couple of times around the middle and his defence hasn't represented a problem.
When we buy a halfback, they don't perform with us. ( Sandow, McFadden, Green )
Tim Smith worked for us until he realised he loved a beer.
We gotta stick it out with Sandow / Kelly and let ZDC come through the ranks.
Ive got a feeling the club and BA are trying to move past Sandow, for obvious reasons and some not so obvious reasons, i wouldnt be surprised if we dont see him in any shape or form in 1st grade again for us, that is barring a massive injury toll.
Do i think he is good enough for hooker, NO.
Just on Zac Docker Clay I hope someone gets into him about hogging the ball. I really rate him but he bombed about 3 tries yesterday due to trying to score himself.
-
1
-
2
-
3
of 3 Next