Parramatta prop Tim Mannah admits he was upset at criticism levelled at teammate Chris Sandow this week and says the halfback’s fitness isn’t an issue for the battling NRL club.
Mannah defended claims from legendary Eels halfback Peter Sterling that the new Parramatta No.7 was four to five kilos overweight.
“As a teammate it’s upsetting. I guess everyone’s entitled to their opinion but when you’re struggling and things aren’t going well people find everything to pick on,” Mannah said.
“If it’s not going to be Sandow, it’s going to be someone else that they’ll find something wrong with.
“It’s just a matter of us sticking together as a tight unit and getting through it.”
Mannah said Sandow is definitely fit ahead of Sunday’s clash with high-flying Cronulla at Toyota Stadium.
“He ripped in over the summer and trained just as hard as everyone else and we definitely back Chrissy to get us through games 100 per cent,” he said.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Sterlo and he’s entitled to say whatever he likes but as a teammate of Chrissy’s I back him 100 per cent to get a job done for us and his fitness isn’t an issue for us.”
Coach Stephen Kearney, who refused to give an assessment of Sandow’s performance at the press conference after last Sunday’s 14-6 loss to Newcastle, said critics had to single out somebody and Sandow was the man this week.
“It’s easy to pick on someone when the team’s not going so good,” he said.
“From Chrissy’s point of view in terms of form, he’s not there by himself … I don’t think anything was said the week before when we played OK … we all need to lift our efforts.”
Kearney has no problems with Sandow’s fitness.
“It’s not an issue from our point of view, we need to perform better as a team and that’s everyone not just Chris,” he said.
The last-placed Eels looked to have turned their season around two weeks ago when they beat Manly 29-20 but followed it up with a dreadful effort against a very flat Knights side.
“We were very embarrassed with the performance on the weekend. I guess the Knights weren’t that crash hot either but the fact we played like we did shows that we’ve got a lot to work on,” Mannah said.
Cronulla are coming off a 12-0 victory over local rivals St George Illawarra and are aiming for five straight victories for the first time since 2008 – the last year they made the finals.
“I think the way they are playing is great. They’re defending with a great deal of energy and you see the whole Shire is getting behind them. They had a full house against the Dragons last week and deservedly so,” Kearney said.
“We need to be at our best to be really competitive.”
