Another game, another milestone

On monday July 20th 2009 Nathan Hindmarsh played in his 250th career game.

Over his years as a Parramatta Eel, Hindmarsh has been the face of consistency. Every single week, no matter how bad the Eels are playing, you can count on him to have a stat line of 45 tackles and 15 hit ups ... easy. If an opposing player was on the fly to score a try, he'll be there. If an opponent is trying to barge over the defensive line and score from close range, he'll be the one lying underneath the ball to hold it up. There was nothing spectacular about the game he had against Melbourne, but guess what, he had 48 tackles and 13 hitups while inspiring his team to a hard fought victory. If every player on the team played with the same commitment that Hindmarsh does, Parra would be a much better team.

Did I also mention all 250 games were with the Eels? In this day and age where club loyalty isn't a big thing, that kind of milestone is just unheard of. I'll throw in some examples:

- Craig Wing signing with Japanese RL (wtf?)

- When Willie Mason, Mark O'Meley went to the roosters (cmon now .. )

- Tahu to union

- Brett Finch (enough said)

I'll just say that not too many of these deals went down too well in public opinion, except maybe for Tahu, only because he's such a cool guy.

Let's not forget Hindmarsh is only 30 years old, there's plenty more mileage left in those legs and I have no doubt that he will make it to 300 games AND end his career with the Eels. When it's all said and done, Hindy will go down as one of the greatest forwards, second rowers, Eel to ever play the game.

Yes, he still hold the record for most tackles in a single game: 75 tackles vs ... Melbourne Storm in 2007. What kind of monster finds the strength to make 75 tackles? He has got to be the most underrated player in the league right now, he's so good that people take him for granted. The last 2 years he's been snubbed from Origin for players like Laffranchi and Learoyd Lahrs (how many people even know him?), yet he continues to play like a man inspired night in night out.

Good on ya Hindy, the way you play the game is a testament to rugby league.

And another thing ... he blogs too

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A rare victory

After editing so many photos from the Wentworth Falls trek, today seemed like a very ordinary day. Wake up, shopping, work, home. The day took a drastic turn when I switched on the TV and saw the Parra Eels leading 4-0 against the Brisbane Broncos. It was a great game to watch, with a grand stand finish and resulted in a 21-14 Parra victory. You can get the recap here.

It was a game dominated by sons and newphews of past rugby league greats and current electric in form players. The first try featured an off-load by Joel Reddy (son of the great Rod "Rocket" Reddy) to Eric Grothe Jr (son of parra great Eric Grothe Sr).

The second try involved Grothe Jr breaking multiple tackles before off-loading to Reddy for a sprint to the finish line.

The last, and perhaps the most unexpected try came from young Daniel Mortimer (nephew of Steve Mortimer) slicing through some tired Broncos defense to seal the deal. As with any other Parra game, we can't ignore the work of Hayne (267 run meters) and Hindmarsh (47 tackles, 13 Hitups).

In another match, it was the nephew of another great that sparked his team to victory.

And that, of course, is none other than Canberra's Terry Campese (nephew of Rugby Union great David Campese). So far this week has been a round full of upsets, and hopefully the Eels will keep up the recent improvement in form to make the top 8 for finals footy.

The photos were all taken with my Canon EOS 50D + EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS USM

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