No he didn't. I noticed yesterdays NZ commentators were wrapping him deluxe also comparing him to both Taumolomo
and Papalii. Now there's a laugh. When was the last time our boy powered over the top of defenders and broke through the line leaving mangled bodies in his wake. Or hit an opponent so hard he lay strewn on the deck for a minute or two? Oh that's right, never. I think they have fallen into the trap of, "geez his big and he looks so busy, he must be killing them like he did in the lower grades", bullshit that many unwittingly would considering his lower grade deeds and rep.
Sure he tackles a lot, but I ask you, which version of Hindmarsh would you like more, the young tackle breaking, free running and high tackling version or the tackle crazy/flopper, older version?
Cos at the moment we have neither, he is just the reasonably high tackling variant of the two. Like I said, I don't want him to be a tackling machine. That would be a waste of his size and power. He needs to start making inroads into the defense. To say that he is young at 22 is a cop out. Many forwards have been internationals and state players at his age for being top notch at both parts of the game. Hindmarsh was just one.
But like I said before, he isn't a bad player per se, it is just that he is a disappointment to me considering the hype and promise, thus far. He still has time on his side, so I still expect more improvement, starting from next season when we should have more muscle and thrust from our very mobile pack. Especially if we can jag a decent hooker from somewhere to get us on the front foot, like the better teams do. It all starts at the ruck people.
