Some long-awaited Jarryd Hayne magic inspired Parramatta to a 36-24 win over North Queensland in their NRL match on Monday night, with the superstar fullback scoring a stunning hat-trick at Parramatta Stadium.
In round 19 last year Hayne ignited the Eels’ surge to ultimately make the NRL grand final, and the blue and gold faithful will be hoping a similar blitz one round earlier but one year on will kick-start another fairytale run.
Parramatta are now just two competition points out of the top eight, and have moved above Newcastle into 10th place on the ladder.
The Eels began the flashback to their golden run in 2009 when Hayne burst through for a 50 metre dash to the line in the 33rd minute to give the home side a 12-6 lead.
Hooker Matt Keating got away a nice offload to Jeff Robson who found Hayne steaming through the middle of the field. The NSW fullback, who refound his form in the Origin match last Wednesday, showed his electric pace to out-gun Matt Bowen.
There was a down-side to the thrilling try however, in the act of passing, Keating was struck high by Leeson Ah Mau and was stretchered from the field in a neck brace.
Robson and Hayne were in the thick of it again in the 38th minute when the half put up a well-placed bomb for last year’s Dally M medallist to out-jump Bowen, step inside Johnathan Thurston and dive over next to the upright.
The first half carve up was complete 25 seconds from the siren when Krisnan Inu dashed away.
Cowboy Anthony Watts knocked on at dummy-half after the first tackle of the second half, and a blunder cleaning up a kick by Thurston and Bowen behind the goal-line allowed Joel Reddy to score the Eels’ fifth try in 14 minutes either side of the break.
Parramatta lapsed and worryingly conceded two soft tries, before Hayne showed trademark strength to barge over and complete his personal rout.
Arana Taumata, Willie Tonga and Will Tupou scored late tries for the Cowboys.
Watts was put on report for a late lifting tackle on Parramatta’s Nathan Cayless.
Parramatta coach Daniel Anderson described Hayne’s performance as special.
“He was great. As a team we committed to each other and Jarryd made some special efforts,” he said.
“It makes the job easier for our halves when he’s in that really aggressive mood.
“Jarryd was immersed in the team all week. He was very vocal during training and he played superbly.
“It’s only a small step forward. It was good to score some points.”
Captain Nathan Cayless agreed that Hayne was inspiring. “Some of the things he did tonight really gave us a lot of confidence. We need to build on that confidence,” he said.
North Queensland coach Neil Henry conceded aspects of his team’s performance were not up to scratch and said Hayne was massive.
“That’s not NRL standard, that seven minutes (where Parramatta posted tries before and after halftime),” Henry said.
“Those three tries going back-to-back off kick offs, that’s not acceptable.
“There is no doubt we can score some points but you can’t have defensive lapses like that. (On Hayne).
“He’s a difference. It was like he was running with spiders off him.”
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