PARRAMATTA discard Chris Sandow reported for duty at Warrington Wolves on Monday to a warm reception from fans and officials, but couldn’t resist a parting shot at Eels legend Peter Sterling, claiming the former champion halfback had relied on his all-star teammates to do his tackling for him.

Sterling, who played in Parra’s four premierships in the 1980s, was scathing in recent comments about Sandow as he fought the club over a release to the Super League.

Speaking on Channel 9 after Sandow had put in a seemingly disinterested performance against the Bulldogs, Sterling said Parramatta was better off without him.

“You cannot be responsible for setting up two smashing tries but then be directly responsible for conceding three,” he said.

Sandow, standing on Warrington’s home ground Halliwell Jones Stadium after receiving his first Wolves jersey in front of around 200 cheering fans, said Sterling benefited from the quality of the players around him during his playing days.

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“Sterlo is a legend of the game,” he said. “He’s got his own opinion but he’s probably done that a bit in his time too, set up a few tries and let a few in. He didn’t play with any slouches in his team. He played pretty much with a whole Australian team behind him.

“With Ray Price in the forwards and Mick Cronin and Steve Ella doing all their stuff, Sterlo probably didn’t have to do much.”

VIDEO: Peter Sterling has told @RushHourMMM the time has come for the Eels to part ways with Chris Sandow. https://t.co/xL6DDMwGjo — Triple M NRL (@TripleM_NRL) July 21, 2015

Which, he said, was in direct contrast to the situation at Parramatta this season where he was criticised by fans and media alike.

“It’s been a tough year,” he said. “People have got to realise it’s not a one man team. There’s 16 other people out there on the field. It’s tough to take the criticism on board; frustrating too as a player, because I can only do my best. It’s up to the other boys as well to work together as a team.”

While Sandow’s teammates were reportedly fuming with his performance against Canterbury, he and Eels coach Brad Arthur have not seen eye to eye for much of the season. Sandow said there was no one incident that caused the breakdown in relations.

“I don’t know when it happened to be honest, but you can sense things,” he said. “Brad’s a good coach but he had other opinions on how he wanted to play me. You can’t change the way you play. I’m an instinctive player and that makes it hard.

It’s just the culture of the NRL. All the boys like to have a beer and a punt and I got caught up in the middle of it.

Chris Sandow

“There were some times he wanted me to do stuff I wasn’t comfortable with. Sometimes you have to listen to the coach but it’s hard to teach what I do.

“That’s why I wanted to come here. (Warrington coach) Tony Smith spoke to me on the phone and we’re on the same page. The Wolves play a pretty good brand of footy and that’s the style I’m going to fit into. That’s my game.”

Sandow had a chance to watch the Wolves in action in their losing Challenge Cup semi-final against Hull KR on the weekend and said the passion of the supporters was an eye-opener.

“I had goosebumps the whole time,” he said. “I asked Tony if I could run on.”

Hailed by former Eels captain Nathan Cayless at the time of his transfer from South Sydney in 2012 as “the biggest signing in the club’s history”, Sandow struggled both on and off the field after making the move.

He said his much- documented issues with drinking and gambling are a thing of the past.

“That’s behind me,” he said. “It’s just the culture of the NRL. All the boys like to have a beer and a punt and I got caught up in the middle of it.

“It’s what football players like to do in their time off, and we’re entitled to our time off and to do whatever we want, when we want. There were plenty of blokes at my last club, and the one before that, that were probably worse than me, but I’ve got it under control and it’s all a fresh start here.

“I’m pretty happy with my game. I just have to work with my teammates. Sometimes I try to do my own stuff but that’s the type of player I am, I hate losing. Johnathan Thurston hates losing too, but he has the good players around him. I think I’m going to go real well with the players they’ve got here at Warrington.”