Chris Sandow should never play for Parramatta again according to Eels great Peter Sterling, after another below par effort against Canterbury on Friday night.
Sterling believes Eels coach Brad Arthur should cut the struggling halfback, with Sandow also under scrutiny from the club over an expletive laden outburst on Facebook.
That issue has also put Sandow’s playing future at the Eels in doubt.
Speaking on Channel Nine’s Sunday Football Show, Sterling accused Sandow of not trying at times during the 28-4 loss to the Bulldogs.
The Eels premiership winner was asked if Parramatta coach Brad Arthur should play Sandow in the No.7 Eels jersey ever again.
“No,” he replied.
“I’ve been a critic of Chris for a long time now, he’s easy to fall in love with when we see what he can do on a football field,” Sterling said.
“Obviously I can show you, I’ll put together clips of the things people don’t see, what he doesn’t do in games, and the defence he comes up with.
“You cannot be responsible for setting up two smashing tries, but then be directly responsible for conceding three.”
Sterling called to question Sandow’s continued inconsistency.
“I’ve said so many times, the difference between Chris’s good games and his not-so-good games, and there are too many of those, is too vast a gulf.
“In the NRL, if you have a No.7 on your jersey you’ve got to be 7.5 (out of 10), at worst, every week. And that’s where Chris has struggled.
“The first thing’s that a coach has to do when looking at a player is ask the question ‘can I win with him?’
“I think Chris Sandow has shown that Parramatta struggle to win with him and they are better off apart. How that’s facilitated, well that remains to be seen.”
On Saturday afternoon on Triple M Arthur said he would allow Sandow to leave the Eels immediately to join the Super League if the club was not required to pay him any severance package.
In what appeared to be a swipe at Arthur, Sandow posted on Facebook shortly after Arthur’s comments were aired: “I’m sick of these big mouth c**** down here they think I’m one on my own should we run a muck or what I’m over the bulls***.”
The post was later deleted but it has become the subject of an Eels investigation.
Paul Gallen, who was fined $35,000 last year over an abusive Twitter post aimed at NRL management said on Triple M on Sunday, Sandow’s comment could open the way for punitive measures from Parramatta or the NRL.
“I don’t know if there’s a clause, but my experience over the last 12 months with contracts is there’s a heap of stuff in there,” Gallen said.
“From what I understand it (any punitive measure) comes down to the discretion of the CEO of the NRL.”
