Chris Sandow is a complex football player and I suspect he is also a complex individual, or as Winston Churchill might describe him “A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma” which loosely translated means something very mysterious and hidden.
In May 2011, among much fan fair, Sandow signed with Parramatta on a four-year deal. The signing prompted then Souths chief executive Shane Richardson to say, “Unfortunately for us he has met his Alan Bond” and for club owner Russell Crowe to use his Twitter account to announce to his followers that he was signing for $550,000 a year.
A figure at the time Parramatta wouldn’t comment on but most consider it to be fact. But any player on that type of money needs to bring one thing to the table and that is to play good football consistently. However, since signing with the Eels Sandow’s consistency just hasn’t been good enough and it is, and it continues to be his and Parramatta’s biggest issue.
Yes, he has won games for the Eels in his time in the Blue and Gold and no one can argue that at his best he is a proven match winner. Yet at his worst you just hang your head and think what on earth is he doing in first grade.
One of the biggest signs of his inconsistency is the amount of times since signing with the Eels that he has been dumped to play park football and told to find some form. In four years this has happened three times – 2012, 2013 and most recently in May of this year. While not all the blame can be placed on the number seven I don’t think it’s a coincidence that in 2012 and 2013 the club collected back-to-back wooden spoons and in 2015 they are well and truly in the race to collect it again.
The only year Sandow hasn’t been dumped in his four years at Parramatta was in 2014 when, in fairness, he found good and consistent form which helped the Eels turn things around and they finished just outside the top eight. After two disastrous seasons, that was a fantastic turn around. His efforts did not go unnoticed as he was awarded the Ken Thornett Medal as the Eels players’ player.
Some have also questioned his attitude and where his head is at. Case in point, what first grade NRL player whose team is languishing in the bottom half of the ladder thinks it’s a good idea to test drive a new car only hours before a game instead of getting his game face on and his head around the job that he is being paid to do? The fact that he had an accident and left it by the side of the road as he feared being late for the game are actually irrelevant. He just shouldn’t have been doing it in the first place. Full stop.
But I go back to the key word, consistency, or in this case the lack of it.
In four years and on $550,000 for every one of them, it would be fair to say he has had one good solid year and at this level in the NRL that is just not good enough. I’ve seen coaches with better track records get punted in shorter time periods.
The simple fact is that when your number one choice halfback is so hot and cold the chances of winning a premiership are very slim and that’s being generous. Some have suggested that re-signing him on less money would be a good thing. Yes, it would save the club money, which they desperately need to do, but it doesn’t solve the problem nor mean that he will play out of his skin for Parramatta in 2016. And he has had four years to do that.
The time has now come for the Eels to look elsewhere for a half that can form a first class halves combination with Parramatta bound Kieran Foran that will give them a serious shot at winning a competition sometime in the next two to four years.
The club need it. The players need it. The fans need it. And the NRL need it.
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