Sandow needs to learn lessons other dropped Eels have shunned
BRAD WALTER
30 Apr, 2012 12:25 PM
Daniel Mortimer and Anthony Mitchell moved from Parramatta to Sydney Roosters to avoid playing NSW Cup but there they were at Henson Park on Saturday helping Newtown defeat Manly 42-10.
Krisnan Inu is another who didn't relish the idea of turning out for Wentworthville and made the decision to join good mate Feliti Mateo at the Warriors last season after it became evident they weren't among former Eels coach Daniel Anderson favourites.
Inu has since spent almost as much time playing NSW Cup for the Auckland Vulcans as he has with the Warriors, but without the negative headlines and stigma associated with being dropped from Parramatta's NRL team.
In 2009, Brett Finch sought a mid-season release after Anderson suggested his position in the Eels top team was not guaranteed, while prop Shane Shackleton is on the lookout for a new club before the June 30 transfer deadline after just one appearance in Parramatta's top grade so far this year.
Winger Luke Burt and lock Justin Horo are others who have been regulars for the Magpies this season and now Chris Sandow has also had the experience of playing at Ringrose Park.
The axing of Sandow, Parramatta's $550,000 per season halfback recruit, has led to claims that the Eels are a club in crisis and sparked speculation about Stephen Kearney's future as coach.
Some have even said it may be a defining moment in his coaching career - depending on how Sandow and the Eels react.
Yet why is a stint in second grade seen as such a low point at Parramatta compared to other clubs?
Manly prop George Rose, a member of last year's grand final winning team, made his first NRL appearance in last Friday night's 12-10 defeat of Canterbury but hardly a word had been written about his situation.
And few people would know that the week before, when Kearney had initially wanted Sandow to play for Wentworthville, six members of the Penrith side beaten by Wests Tigers the previous weekend were named for Windsor Wolves and Tigers centre Blake Ayshford lined up with Balmain-Ryde.
Besides Mortimer and Mitchell, who were both granted releases by the Eels to give them the chance to play NRL elsewhere, winger Justin Carney - lured from Canberra on good money in 2010 - and Tom Symonds, a rare Roosters junior - also played for Newtown last weekend.
Obviously, Sandow's pay packet and the expectations of him at Parramatta justify the attention his demotion to Wentworthville after just seven games has attracted, but comments made by Shackleton and Mitchell on social media highlight a greater issue at the club.
Shackleton responded to a question about why he wasn't in the top team by writing on Facebook that "Kearney is a f--kwit", while Mitchell tweeted before the round two match against the Warriors: "How Horo, [Jordan] Atkins and Shackleton aren't playing 2night is a joke. Even worse is Parramatta legend Luke Burt isn't in the team. Wat's doing?"
Shackleton has since apologised to Kearney and been assured the comments won't be held against him at the selection table but the fact he made them underlines the attitude may Parramatta players seem to have to playing NSW Cup.
Rather than go back to Wentworthville on work on the areas that Kearney believes they need to improve on to force their way back into first grade, many of them have continued doing the same things that saw them dropped.
So far, Burt is the only one to earn a recall after playing in yesterday's 31-30 loss and it remains to be seen what impact Sandow's NSW Cup stint will have on him.
But Parramatta's greatest halfback Peter Sterling believes playing for Wentworthville could benefit the former South Sydney playmaker.
"In the old days if you were struggling for form you went back to reserve grade so I think you can go back there and get some confidence back," Sterling told Triple M.
"He came across with a lot of expectation, he is a big name signing and it has only been a short period of time so he is probably still finding his feet.
"I am hoping he goes back and has a couple of blinders for Wentworthville and he comes back with his chest out, his head up and is ready to go."
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