Parramatta coach Stephen Kearney had two choices this week when it came to Chris Sandow - and he's made the wrong call.
The
little fella requested a few days' R&R back with family and friends
in Cherbourg to escape the big smoke, clear his mind and forget about
the trials and tribulations of what has been a forgettable start to life
at the Eels.
Souths granted him leave to do just that and a
rejuvenated Sandow returned a different player, almost lifting the
Bunnies into the finals.
Parramatta could have been similarly rewarded but instead Kearney dug his heels in and banned Sandow from returning home.
A disillusioned Sandow will now play park footy for Wentworthville where he will be on a hiding to nothing.
Those
brickies, tradies and truck drivers lining up against him will take
great delight in smashing the Eels' million-dollar man each and every
time he touches the ball.
Let's hope for Kearney's sake that the
No.7 escapes uninjured because that's a big whack of your salary cap
sitting on the sidelines if he gets hurt.
Can you imagine Manly sending Daly Cherry-Evans to the NSW Cup or Melbourne telling Cam Smith to have a run in the park?
Of course not.
And what if Sandow stinks up Belmore Oval on Sunday like he has in the NRL so far?
What will Kearney do then?
He's got no choice but to stick him back in first grade with Sandow's confidence even lower than it is now.
This decision has shown Kearney's lack of experience and man management skills.
Sandow went off the rails a couple of times at Souths but they knew how to handle him.
Parramatta have no idea.
Talking of joints with no idea, what on earth is going on there at League Central?
How have they left us with no club matches this weekend?
And the two games that are on - New Zealand-Australia and City-Country - are not on live television.
Name me a major sporting code in the world that is not televised live these days.
It's a joke but I'm getting used to rugby league bending over backwards and copping it from Channel 9.
For
what it's worth, I expect New Zealand to beat Australia and Country to
knock off City in what should be the last of that once great but now
meaningless rep fixture.
