Sack Ando and answer to Hindy
* By David Riccio
* From: The Sunday Telegraph
* August 29, 2010 12:01AM
PARRAMATTA co-captain Nathan Hindmarsh has sought assurances that coach Daniel Anderson will be at the helm next season.
Hindmarsh also guaranteed the players' full support for the embattled coach after they fell out of the finals race with the 24-16 loss to South Sydney on Friday night.
The champion back-rower admitted he was "nervous" about leading the Eels into a new era without long-serving captain Nathan Cayless, who will retire after next weekend's match against the Warriors.
Hindmarsh believes it is crucial to the club's future that Anderson sees out his term.
"He'll be around next year," Hindmarsh said. "I've been given that assurance from people within the club. He'd want to be here next year, put it that way."
Anderson and the entire Eels coaching structure will come under review at the end of the season.
But Hindmarsh remains adamant that the club should stand by Anderson.
"You try to build a side, you need a coach that's going to bring stability and that's where players rely on the coach," Hindmarsh said. "When you're chopping and changing the coach, you get to know a coach, then all of a sudden a new coach comes in, that type of stuff.
"It's difficult to get settled.
"Especially the last couple of years when we went from Brian Smith, to Jason Taylor, to Michael Hagan. It's been a bit unsettling.
"Different ideas come in and you think it wouldn't bother you, but it's difficult.
"We just think he should stay.
"He's got the full support of the players."
A shattered Hindmarsh could hardly hide his disappointment in the dressing rooms after the loss to the Rabbitohs.
The defeat spelled the end of a Cayless's lifelong dream to win a premiership and that hit all the Eels hard.
"I'm very disappointed we couldn't have done it for him," Hindmarsh said of his close mate. "I can handle losing games, but I would've loved to have seen him hold the premiership trophy.
"I'm very nervous about next year to be honest, clearly because we've lost Nath and he adds so much to the team.
"He's a bit of a security blanket for me actually. I tend to panic when he's not there because we're looking for someone I can rely on. I know that doesn't sound too good, but I know I can turn around and expect Nath to be there."
As part of his post mortem, Hindmarsh said that Parramatta's players often struggled when the pressure was on and it was something that needed to be addressed.
That pressure is only intensifying.
"It has a lot to do with making the grand final last year, but also where the club stands," Hindmarsh said. "It's a very respected club with what it did in the '80s.
"People want us to do that again and we understand the fans want the best, just like the players do. But it's just not possible all the time.
"We sometimes feel the pressure that we don't have the Sterlos [Peter Sterling] or anything like that and how good they were in the '80s. We'd love to replicate that, but it's very hard."
