SYDNEY - They've come from second last to be amongst the last six teams left in the competition, but Parramatta backrower Nathan Hindmarsh says anything other than an NRL premiership will be a failure.
The Eels are just two wins away from what would be a miraculous grand final berth,
miraculous because they were looking like they would be battling it out for the wooden spoon halfway through the year.
Since then the Eels have been on a tear, winning seven straight games to nab a top eight spot before upsetting minor premiers St George Illawarra 25-12 in their qualifying final at WIN Jubilee Oval on Sunday.
Having come so far, Hindmarsh says all the hard work will have been for nothing if they went down to Gold Coast in Friday night's semi-final at the Sydney Football Stadium.
"It would be (disappointing), considering our win against the Dragons on Sunday was probably one of our best wins all year," Hindmarsh said ahead of his side's final training run on Thursday.
"We're not getting too far ahead of ourselves but we think we're quite capable of going all the way.
"(Our position) is better than where we were sitting, but you've got to come first once you make the semis otherwise it doesn't count at all - you may as well have been knocked out before the semis had started.
"Our goal is to win the grand final, and pretty much nothing else is going to do."
A decision on the availability of centre Krisnan Inu is not expected until Friday morning, but Hindmarsh claimed back-up Jonathan Wright proved he was more than up to the task when filling in for the Kiwi ace against the Dragons last Sunday.
- AAP
