By Jon Geddes

THE Shute Shield’s top “metre eater,” Randwick fullback James Hendren, has a lot in common with NRL superstar Tom Trbojevic.

Fascinating stats published by Rugby News this week reveal that so far this season Hendren leads the pack having made 1410 metres, ahead of Souths’ Isaac Ratumaitavukui-Kneepkens (1373.3m) and Warringah’s Ben Marr (1341.9m).

“It is a reflection of how well he has played this year and that he is becoming pretty consistent,” said Galloping Greens coach Stephen Hoiles.

“We are a not a side that kicks a lot, especially off fullback, so he is programmed to run a bit more and we like that.”

FINE TUNING THE FERRARI

THE graduate of St Joseph’s College and Randwick colts is fulfilling his potential after battling his way back from some cruel setbacks, missing the majority of last year with knee, back and hamstring injuries.

That cost him a spot in last year’s first grade grand final squad.

Hoiles described Henden as tall, with a lean and athletic build, very much like the Sea Eagles’ “Tommy Turbo,” who plays in the same position and has had his own well documented challenges with injury.

He said Hendren’s situation was not dissimilar to that of Trbojevic, who was even sent to America by his Manly club for specialist treatment to get his body right.

Hendren has been involved in the Waratahs’ program for the past two seasons and Rugby News understands they want him to hold onto him and see him as a long-term investment.

“How he is managed is really important, I know the Tahs put a big focus on how much he trains with them,” Hoiles said.

“I think they had to put their thinking caps on because he is such a unique challenge.

“He is what they call a Ferrari, he is finely tuned and they have to get things right.”

Randwick also factor in Hendren’s circumstances into his Shute Shield preparations.

Hoiles said like “Turbo”, Hendren is a rangy player who is also a lot faster than he looks, is good in the air and has a good kicking game.

“At the same time, he is also learning fullback and how to master the back play,” he said.                                     

“This year has been really good for him because it is the first time since school that he has had consistent footy.”

There had also been New Zealand Mitre 10 Cup teams sniffing around Hendren this season and Randwick were delighted he decided to stay at Coogee.

GREEN MACHINE HEATS UP 

HOILES said while his Randwick team had a scratchy start, their for and against indicates they have been pretty consistent the whole season.

“It just took some adjusting with personnel changes,” he said. 

“A fair bit of our side from last year isn’t around and we had a high number of injuries early on.

“They weren’t excuses for the losses, but I think we are benefitting from having a few more combinations back.”

Randwick’s performance defeating the third-placed Gordon 15-11 last week showed they are starting to hit their straps at the right end of the competition.

That followed their 50-37 victory over Easts in the local derby at Woollahra Oval in their previous game.

Reflecting on that win over Gordon Hoiles said: “I think the boys would say it was probably one of the more physical games they have played.

“There was 39 minutes of ball in play time which is really high for club footy.

“It was low scoring but it wasn’t like it was a low skill level, it was just a really good defensive effort from both sides.”

Randwick are now ominously sitting in fifth spot on 44 points, just one behind both Gordon and Manly.

But Hoiles was maintaining a realistic outlook on the situation after the Gordon win.

“It could have gone either way. You’ve got to realise while we have done well, there are small margins in winning and losing in this competition, especially when you are playing the top seven or eight teams,” he said. 

On Saturday Randwick play West Harbour at Concord Oval.