CHRIS Sandow admits he shed tears when he left South Sydney to join Parramatta at the end of last year, but the diminutive halfback is confident he can help bring back the good times to the Eels.
Parramatta have missed out on the top eight for the past two years following their memorable run to the grand final in 2009 and another failure in 2012 would see them miss the play-offs for a third straight year for the first time since 1996.
However, Sandow believes the strength of the squad at his new club should see them improve on last year's 14th-place finish.
"It was really hard to leave Souths, I cried," Sandow said.
"Leaving behind boys like Nathan Merritt (and) John Sutton was hard, they will be my friends for life.
"But I am enjoying Parramatta, the boys have made me feel very welcome and there are some real good players there and I believe we can have a successful season."
Sandow's outstanding second-half to the 2011 season was rewarded with the starting halfback spot for Saturday's Indigenous All Stars game at Skilled Park.
It is somewhat ironic that the 23-year-old will make his representative debut at the home ground of the Gold Coast Titans, the club that released him five years ago.
Sandow was shown the door after he kept missing training as he struggled being away from his young family in the small Aboriginal settlement town of Cherbourg, 150km north west of Brisbane.
Cherbourg is one of the regions that have benefited from schemes generated by money raised made from the All Stars game and Sandow said he has been inundated with requests for tickets for the match with the local hero lining up alongside Johnathan Thurston in the halves.
"Half of the town is coming," he said.
"My mum and dad are going to be here and they are looking forward to seeing me play with these boys and I don't want to let my friends and family down.
"It is every young kid's dreams to play with JT and it is a huge thing for me. Hopefully I can learn things from guys like him as I am still learning the game and take it back to Parramatta."
Sandow said he holds no grudges against the Titans for releasing him and said he would love to return to the club as a player again one day.
"Everything happened for a reason," he said.
"I don't regret what happened, it was probably good for me to grow up, but things have worked out well since.
"I enjoyed living on the Gold Coast and who knows, maybe one day I'll come back and replace Scotty Prince."
