Milestone for Parramatta's big motor
Brent Read |
July 18, 2009
Article from:
The Australian
HE has a reputation as one of the NRL's most laid-back personalities, but Nathan Hindmarsh is a worrier. After more than 10 years in first grade, he still gets nervous.
As coach Daniel Anderson explains, it's why Hindmarsh is the soul of Parramatta. It's why a bloke, once described by his former coach Brian Smith as having a "sway back, fat gut and funny bum", will make his 250th first-grade appearance on Monday night.
Because Hindmarsh still cares. He still frets. And he still worries about letting his teammates down.
"He still gets nervous about how he's contributing to the team," Anderson said.
"He's very honest in his self-assessment. He knows when he goes good and he knows when he has periods in the game when it doesn't go for him. He's given soul to Parramatta. He has been there a long time. He's a bit of glue to our team. He's been like that since he was 17."
Even longer in fact. Before he joined Parramatta, Hindmarsh would play under-16s for Moss Vale and then under-18s with his brother Ian for Robertson on the same weekend.
"Nathan would come into the under-18 team and be doing more work than everybody else on the field," Ian said. "He's always had that motor."
It was Anderson who brought him to Parramatta. He can still remember the first time he laid eyes on the backrower with the game's best motor.
Hindmarsh was playing under-16s for Moss Vale. Typically, he worked the house down.
"He was cut from the same cloth as he is now," Anderson said. "He worked hard for his teammates. In his first trial we almost had to hospitalise him because it was so hot and he got heat exhaustion. He's always been a first-class bloke."
His body shape has been the butt of jokes, although Ian points out his brother is arguably in the best condition of his career.
"The butt sticks out and the hips push forward," Ian said. "But he's never had any fat on him whatsoever. I wouldn't mind looking like that -- 95 per cent of the population wouldn't."
There was a time when Hindmarsh loved nothing more than to return to Robertson and anonymously head to the pub with his mates.
He still enjoys his privacy, only now he spends his time with his three sons -- Archie, Buster and Rowdy.
The three of them will be there on Monday night when their father joins elite company. So will Hindmarsh's mum, Fiona. Ian probably won't make the trip. He'll save the celebrations for when his brother cracks the 300-club.
By then, he will have gone past the only two Parramatta players to have appeared in more first-grade games for the club -- Ray Price and Brett Kenny.
"They're a part of Parramatta history," Hindmarsh said. "It's good to be involved with those type of players. They were players who brought us grand finals and the club to where it is now.
"I saw bits and pieces of both of them. They were great players."
They've also got something Hindmarsh desperately wants -- a grand final win. Hindmarsh went close in 2001 and the week leading into that game remains one of his fondest memories. There is unlikely to be a repeat this year but Hindmarsh has another three years remaining on his contract. Plenty of time to savour a victory lap in early October.
Given his form this season, which prompted calls for him to win a recall to State of Origin, Hindmarsh isn't about to slow down. Barring injuries, he will overtake Kenny and Price.
"What would probably seal the deal for him is a premiership ring," Anderson said. "He's definitely a legend of this club. Some of the players have had good periods and tough periods at the club and they never, ever shirk it.
"They are always the same type of player in whatever period. That's what Hindy has been. He's had some tough periods. This has been a tough season and he's been one of the standout players. "You can't do much more."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25797949-5012431,00.html