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Hindmarsh-inspired Eels back on track
Ben Blaschke NRL.com Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:40:00
Daniel Anderson stops short of demanding a State of Origin recall for evergreen workhorse Nathan Hindmarsh but if he was in charge, the Parramatta coach has no doubts which name would come up first at the NSW selection table.
Hindmarsh was at his relentless best in yesterdays crucial 21-14 win over Brisbane, running for an impressive 166 metres to go with the 47 tackles that has become a mainstay of his game in recent years.
And while most of the plaudits afterwards were reserved for fullback Jarryd Hayne, Hindmarsh continues to work himself to a standstill for the Eels each weekend.
Im not the type of person that will try and second guess Craig Bellamy and I dont like throwing those things out there, but in terms of my own team I know that Nathan is a top-quality back-rower and someone that you want to have alongside you in the trenches, Anderson said today as speculation continues over potential changes to the NSW side for Origin III.
Id certainly have him in any team I put together.
Craig will pick the side that best suits his style of play and Im not going to question that but I wouldnt swap Nathan for anyone.
Everyone knows what he brings to the table so it shouldnt really be a surprise that he played such a big role for us again yesterday.
Anderson said he was particularly pleased with Hindmarshs attack this season.
The 29-year-old has been criticised at times for focusing too much on his defence but made some key plays with the ball in hand yesterday, including a late run down the left touchline in the lead-up to Parramattas match-sealing try.
I think he is starting to improve a little bit in attack, Anderson said.
The thing with Nathan is that you have to continually prod him to back himself with the ball in hand.
For a guy with 250-odd NRL games to his name he still plays quite a conservative attacking style because he absolutely hates making mistakes he hates letting his team-mates down.
But having said that, people often overlook the fact that he continues to rank among our leaders in offloads, so perhaps his reputation as a defensive player isnt really deserved.
Parramattas upset win over the Broncos kept the home side in contention for a top-eight berth this season but was pleasing more for the nature of their performance than the final result.
Despite only securing victory in the final minutes, the Eels looked far more threatening throughout and dominated the offload count 39 to 7 eliciting memories of their 68-22 thrashing of the Broncos at the same ground two years ago.
I have always found that Parramatta Stadium as a night field is quite slippery and greasy so I think daytime football really suits us, said Anderson, who had been critical of his sides lack of enterprise in going down to Wests Tigers 23-6 in Round 14.
Its funny, I was talking with my brother (former Eels gear steward Jared) the other day and he mentioned that we used to be unbeatable at Parramatta Stadium at night but I said to him: We used to notch up some pretty huge scores on a Sunday afternoon too.
Particularly with some of the young players we have, I think it gives them a lot more confidence that they can throw the ball around.
Anderson was also pleased with the efforts of centre Krisnan Inu, who produced a series of telling plays through the 80-minutes including a remarkable tackle on Brisbane forward Josh McGuire to prevent a certain try.
That was a huge play in the context of the game, Anderson said.
Players are expected to go out and do things for their team-mates and thats what we saw from Krisnan yesterday.
It was certainly his toughest performance of the year.
He was picked up and dumped a few times but he jumped straight up and gave it back with some big hits of his own.
It looked to me like he was really enjoying his time out there.
http://www.nrl.com/newsviews/latest...arsh-inspired-eels-back-on-track/default.aspx
Ben Blaschke NRL.com Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:40:00
Daniel Anderson stops short of demanding a State of Origin recall for evergreen workhorse Nathan Hindmarsh but if he was in charge, the Parramatta coach has no doubts which name would come up first at the NSW selection table.
Hindmarsh was at his relentless best in yesterdays crucial 21-14 win over Brisbane, running for an impressive 166 metres to go with the 47 tackles that has become a mainstay of his game in recent years.
And while most of the plaudits afterwards were reserved for fullback Jarryd Hayne, Hindmarsh continues to work himself to a standstill for the Eels each weekend.
Im not the type of person that will try and second guess Craig Bellamy and I dont like throwing those things out there, but in terms of my own team I know that Nathan is a top-quality back-rower and someone that you want to have alongside you in the trenches, Anderson said today as speculation continues over potential changes to the NSW side for Origin III.
Id certainly have him in any team I put together.
Craig will pick the side that best suits his style of play and Im not going to question that but I wouldnt swap Nathan for anyone.
Everyone knows what he brings to the table so it shouldnt really be a surprise that he played such a big role for us again yesterday.
Anderson said he was particularly pleased with Hindmarshs attack this season.
The 29-year-old has been criticised at times for focusing too much on his defence but made some key plays with the ball in hand yesterday, including a late run down the left touchline in the lead-up to Parramattas match-sealing try.
I think he is starting to improve a little bit in attack, Anderson said.
The thing with Nathan is that you have to continually prod him to back himself with the ball in hand.
For a guy with 250-odd NRL games to his name he still plays quite a conservative attacking style because he absolutely hates making mistakes he hates letting his team-mates down.
But having said that, people often overlook the fact that he continues to rank among our leaders in offloads, so perhaps his reputation as a defensive player isnt really deserved.
Parramattas upset win over the Broncos kept the home side in contention for a top-eight berth this season but was pleasing more for the nature of their performance than the final result.
Despite only securing victory in the final minutes, the Eels looked far more threatening throughout and dominated the offload count 39 to 7 eliciting memories of their 68-22 thrashing of the Broncos at the same ground two years ago.
I have always found that Parramatta Stadium as a night field is quite slippery and greasy so I think daytime football really suits us, said Anderson, who had been critical of his sides lack of enterprise in going down to Wests Tigers 23-6 in Round 14.
Its funny, I was talking with my brother (former Eels gear steward Jared) the other day and he mentioned that we used to be unbeatable at Parramatta Stadium at night but I said to him: We used to notch up some pretty huge scores on a Sunday afternoon too.
Particularly with some of the young players we have, I think it gives them a lot more confidence that they can throw the ball around.
Anderson was also pleased with the efforts of centre Krisnan Inu, who produced a series of telling plays through the 80-minutes including a remarkable tackle on Brisbane forward Josh McGuire to prevent a certain try.
That was a huge play in the context of the game, Anderson said.
Players are expected to go out and do things for their team-mates and thats what we saw from Krisnan yesterday.
It was certainly his toughest performance of the year.
He was picked up and dumped a few times but he jumped straight up and gave it back with some big hits of his own.
It looked to me like he was really enjoying his time out there.
http://www.nrl.com/newsviews/latest...arsh-inspired-eels-back-on-track/default.aspx
