Hindmarsh to fulfil his dad's dying wish

parragirl

Blue and gold heart, Hindmarsh to fulfil his dad's dying wish

Dad's wish … Eels star Nathan Hindmarsh.
Photo: Phil Hearne

Greg Prichard | March 27, 2008

NATHAN HINDMARSH has long been regarded as the heart of the Parramatta side and tomorrow night he will prove his mettle when he plays just two days after the death of his father, Bill.

Mr Hindmarsh died yesterday morning after a battle with cancer, and Hindmarsh stayed at the family home at Robertson in the Southern Highlands, last night. He won't make it back to Sydney for the team's final training session today but vowed he would turn out for the Eels against Newcastle at Parramatta Stadium.

"I'm going to play," Hindmarsh told the Herald. "Dad's gone. There's nothing I can do now. He'd been ill for a while with cancer and it really took off in the last month or so. I'd been bracing myself for it for a while.

"The only way I wouldn't play is if it really hit me all of a sudden and I didn't think I would be any good to the team, because of the emotion. But, yeah, I'm playing."

The Eels issued a media release late yesterday, saying it had been the wish of Hindmarsh's dying father for his son to play.

Hindmarsh was a shock withdrawal from Parramatta's team for last Sunday's game against the Warriors. The news of his withdrawal emerged only when the Eels gathered at Sydney airport on Friday for the trip to Auckland. The club said its star second-rower had a flu virus.

Rumours circulated early this week that the real reason Hindmarsh hadn't played was because his father was gravely ill, but Hindmarsh said the virus had forced him out, and it was clear from his coughing down the phone yesterday that he was still feeling the effects.

"I was already out with the flu," he said. "I was too crook to play.

"My dad took a turn for the worse after that. I was on the way back down to Robertson this morning. I wasn't able to get there before he passed on - I got the news when I made a phone call to home - but I was able to spend time with him last week.

"I'm in a tipping competition and dad usually did my tips. He was going pretty well, too. He was five for five on the weekend. We didn't get any of the last three, but five turned out to be a pretty good score in that round.

"I haven't got the shakes or the sweats from the flu anymore, that's gone. I'm still coughing a bit, but that won't stop me from playing. I'm going to wear a black armband and I'd like the rest of the boys to wear them as well.

"It would be good if you could put the funeral details in. It will be at St John's Church at Robertson, at 2pm on April 1."

Hindmarsh's brother, Ian, retired at the end of last season, after a career spent mainly with Parramatta. He also joined the family in Robertson yesterday.

The fact Hindmarsh is playing should not surprise Eels fans, who have previously seen him overcome difficulties to play.

Newcastle's former long-time Parramatta coach Brian Smith had no doubt he would play.

"It doesn't surprise me at all," Smith said yesterday. "He's always been able to put all sorts of things aside and play - and always to his typical high standard. He's a great guy and I'm feeling for him and his family at the moment."

http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/n...ish/2008/03/26/1206207207999.html

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parragirl · Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:23 pm Post subject:

Nathan battles on for his dad

By Nick Walshaw | March 28, 2008 12:00am

BILLY Hindmarsh only watched his boys play live three times. Maybe four, tops.

"Yeah, because mum hated taking him," Nathan recalled recently with a smile. "He'd be chain-smoking all the way from Robertson to Parramatta Stadium."

This is just one of the countless memories Eels superstar Nathan Hindmarsh will carry into tonight's emotional game against Newcastle.

Memories of the knockabout dairy farmer who valued hard work and persistence. Bumper milk prices. And beers down at the Robertson bowlo.

Memories that ensure the black tape around his right arm has never carried more significance.

"And I think Nath will be OK with it all, will be able to carry that," older brother Ian confirms.

"I mean, we've already spoken about it. About what sort of stuff he'll be thinking about when he runs out there.

"And Nathan has said that, just like most matches, he'll probably be concentrating first and foremost on his breathing.

"It's hard to think about too much else when your backside is hanging out."

This is the way it's always been for the Hindmarsh clan. Dealing with the tough stuff as best you can.

It was October 2007 when The Daily Telegraph first revealed that Bill Hindmarsh was caught up in a worrying battle with throat cancer.

The knockabout farmer undergoing radiation treatment, chemotherapy, breathing through a hole in his throat and communicating via notepad and pencil.

"But at least we know he will talk again," the NSW back-rower enthused at the time. "Because at one stage there . . . mate, they wanted to take out his tongue."

And so old Bill battled on. Fought like fellas do in that particular part of the world when milk prices fall but the rain just won't.

Fought until there was nothing left to give. To a point, says Ian, "when you just don't want to see them suffer any more".

And it came on Wednesday.

Speaking after training last night, Parramatta coach Michael Hagan said he was "more confident in Nathan playing than not".

And Hages should know.

Back in 1992, he led the Newcastle Knights into battle only hours after learning that his own father, Tom, had also died of cancer.

He has since conceded that, even an hour before kick-off, he didn't know if he should play. Didn't know if he could.

"Getting through these things really depends on the individual, how they cope with these sorts of situations," Hagan conceded.

"Nathan Cayless, for example, was in a similar situation with his mum last year. He took a couple of weeks to process that stuff and when he came back, I think he would tell you still didn't feel great.

"So everyone is different. Trying to guess how someone will be, it's hard to say."

And so tonight Hindmarsh will go through the motions. The boots, the warm up, the huddle, eventually running out onto the field knowing that once again his old man won't be in the crowd. And never will he have been more missed.

http://www.news.com.au/dailyteleg.../0,26799,23443652-5006066,00.html

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