A round of golf was ruined but Brendan Hands will always cherish Brad Arthur’s phone call

Brendan Hands had one of his worst days on the golf course but for good reason after a life-changing phone call.

Brendan Hands lays a tackle against the Bulldogs (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

Eels coach Brad Arthur has guaranteed Josh Hodgson the starting role for Friday’s game against the Broncos in Darwin, but Brendan Hands is breathing down his neck after ticking off a major milestone in the win over Canterbury.

The 23-year-old capped off a memorable week in which he inked a new two-year-deal by getting through the full 80 minutes in just his fourth NRL appearance to help Parramatta to a 30-4 win at CommBank Stadium.

His coach wasn’t too thrilled with the team’s performance, saying they were flat in the sheds after they invited the Bulldogs back into the contest, but it was hard to keep the smile off Hands’ face after an eventful 24 hours leading into his run-on debut.

“I wasn’t feeling too flat. I was pretty stoked with that,” he said after the game.

“Just to get through the full 80 (was good). My body felt pretty good, my lungs felt good so I was pretty happy with that.

Hands got through plenty of work . (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

“Brad called me yesterday (Saturday). I was out with one of my mates playing nine holes. I played two holes and then he called me and said I was starting and playing 80.

“I was hitting them all over the place. I was hitting them into the water, into the trees.

“I was still wigging out all day yesterday and I struggled to sleep last night. I tried to stay as cool as I could and I kept telling myself to not play the game before I got here. I feel like I did that well and did my job well today.”

Hands assumed he was going to come off the bench again but was told he’d be starting because Hodgson had the flu.

His efforts on Sunday showed his coach that he has the fitness to play 80 minutes if required, but Hands is expected to return to the bench with the English veteran set to slot straight back in.

“I’d love to do that (start games) but I know who Josh is,” he said.

“Josh is a world class hooker and he was brought to the club to be that guy. I’m still happy to learn off him and there’s a lot I still need to improve on because I’m new to first grade. But in the future, I’d love to lock down the nine spot here.”

Brad Arthur has already said that Hodgson will start Friday’s game at dummy-half. Picture: NRL Photos

Fitness is not an issue for Hands who has an exercise science degree and says training well is what gives him confidence to become a better player.

It’s why he was able to play 80 minutes in all three NSW Cup games earlier in the year – albeit two were at five-eighth – prompting Arthur to hand him an NRL debut to take the load off Hodgson who has failed to fire in his first few games at the club.

“To be honest, I haven’t done it a whole lot since I’ve been at the club,” Hands said.

“Last year I spent a whole lot of time in reggies coming off the bench. If I was playing 80, it’d be in the halves or something like that.

“The last game I played in Cup before I came into grade was 80 minutes at hooker and in the middle, and I felt pretty good. It was good to have three weeks preparing for this.”

Parramatta’s bench has been criticised heavily for the past 12 months with Arthur reliant on his stars in the middle to get through mountains of work, which often results in interchange players seeing very little game time.

But Hands has warmed to the task since he scored a telling try on debut against the Panthers, something you couldn’t have scripted after he parted ways with Penrith at the end of 2021 because he was stuck behind Api Koroisau and a few others.

What a moment for Brendan Hands.

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“It wasn’t too difficult. It was an opportunity thing,” he said.

“I left Penrith pretty amicably. Ivan (Cleary) spoke with me and said there wasn’t much of a pathway for me, which I understood. Api was playing well, Mitch Kenny was playing well, and there wasn’t much there for me.

“Brad gave me a lifeline because they were the only club that really showed much interest and they gave me a train and trial deal here.

“I did what I could with that and fell back onto my training, and I was lucky enough to turn that into another year and then another two years.

“I wig out about it. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do. I’ve always wanted to be here. When all the doors seemed to close on me, I tried my hardest and I got here. I feel like I’ve done the work so I deserve to be here.”