Eye, eye, captain: Eels look to Hindmarsh to lead truly
December 12, 2010
Nathan Hindmarsh tells Adrian Proszenko about inheriting a certain air - and stare - of authority.
Nathan Hindmarsh is still perfecting the look.
Nathan Cayless, the last man to skipper Parramatta, had it down pat. Cayless, a man of few words had the look for every occasion.
Depending on the indiscretion, errant teammates could expect to cop the ''you could do better'' look, the ''shut the hell up'' variety or a seemingly endless amount of death stares which led to a head instantly being pulled in.
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Hindmarsh, who is making the transition from co-captain to sole skipper of the Eels in 2011, will be borrowing from his predecessor.
''A lot of the boys know the look already,'' Hindmarsh chuckled.
''A few of the young blokes don't know it, but they'll soon find out [from me].
''It's not that Nath didn't like talking; he just felt he didn't need to talk too often. When he did, we all listened. That was the good thing about it - he didn't overtalk and when he did, we all shut up and listened. I like that.
''That's one of the things I'll take from Nath, definitely.''
Like his best mate Cayless, Hindmarsh is considered the consummate professional. But with the captain's armband now solely his, it's time to take things up a notch.
''[Cayless] had a hard work ethic,'' Hindmarsh said. ''He was no fuss, just a bloke who worked very hard on the field and off it. There was never any complaint and that's what I'm trying to do this year.
''In the past, I've whinged about something here or there under my breath. This year I'm focused on trying not to do that because it can really rub off on the rest of the boys and that's not a good thing.
''[Captaincy] is still a learning process for me.
''I've taken on more responsibility this year already when it comes to discipline, team events, what we're looking to do on the field, all that sort of stuff.
''Instead of leaving it all up to Nath, which I did last year, it's more on my shoulders. I'm taking more of an active role.''
The tireless back-rower won't be doing it all on his own. Incoming coach Stephen Kearney has appointed an Eels leadership group - a concept he oversaw with great success alongside Craig Bellamy at Melbourne. Hindmarsh, Ben Smith, Luke Burt and Tim Mannah have been handed the responsibility for the upcoming season.
''When you see the captains who have done it before, it's such an honour a great club like Parramatta,'' Hindmarsh continued.
''I haven't had much time to think about it but the more I talk to you, the more I think about it and the more excited I get.
''I don't feel different; I'm not going to change the style of football I play. Of course, I'm going to say I want to carry the ball more and do less tackles but I've been saying that for 10 years.
''I'll be the same old me. I'll probably have a bit more to say on game day and at training as well, but other than that I'll be the same.''
What about the look? Has there been need to shoot one off this preseason?
''The way we're training this year, the team is doing that,'' he said. ''If someone is not having a dig, it's the team that is pulling guys up.
''It could be a young person like Jacob Loko, who sees someone is not putting in. He's got the authority at the moment to give them a hurry-up. That's the team mentality we're taking on this year - don't let anyone down.''
Nathan Hindmarsh, in his own words
On new coach Stephen Kearney
''Very good. Quiet. Very thorough. Easy to get on with. We're still sussing him out, what we can get away with, a bit of cheek here and there. The first thing he did when he came in here was set the rules. The main message was 'If you want to be here, you've got to work hard - if you don't want to, you can go right now.' We all sat up in our seats and realised this was serious. A good bloke.''
Pre-season training
''It's the toughest for quite some time now. It's not enjoyable when you're doing it but when you finish you get a nice sense of satisfaction after completing such a hard task. We've gone back to more traditional stuff for Parramatta, more hills, more longer-distance running than what we've been doing in the last five or six years. The boys don't get too much sleep on Sunday night thinking about that Monday morning [hills] session.''
On representative football
''I've retired. I didn't make this year's Four Nations side so that's pretty much it. I'll never say never. If they're looking for a 31-year-old back-rower to fill a spot, I'm always available.''
On expectations for 2011
''We're hoping to improve on last year but that's as much as I can say. The start of the season is still a long way away. At this stage we're just trying to get as fit as we can before Christmas. We haven't set any team goals yet. It's just heads down, bums up and we're trying to run as fast as we can for as long as we can.''
He's already handling the role superbly.
