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NSW Blues rugby league player Jarryd Hayne trains with the team in Sydney on Wednesday, June 9, 2010. The Blues will play Queensland in the second State of Origin match to be held in Brisbane on June 16. (AAP Image/Paul Miller)
Jarryd Hayne faces one of the biggest decisions of his career over the next 12-months. Should he push for a move to five-eighth at Parramatta or stay at fullback?
If he chooses the latter then his days as a New South Wales player, at least while Ricky Stuart is coach, may be over.
Eight days ago Stuart gave his assessment of the 23-year-old.
“Jarryd Hayne is the sort of player who can play five-eighth, wing, fullback and centre because he is one of the best players we’ve got in our game today,” Stuart said.
It would be easy to think that Stuart was paying Hayne a huge compliment, but he was actually dishing out some free career advice.
Last night, Stuart said Hayne would be better suited to playing five-eighth instead of fullback. It’s the first position he mentioned in the above quote. Most people look at the fact he said Hayne was one of the best, but we should’ve been looking at the order of positions.
Josh Dugan, who was picked ahead of Hayne in the NSW side for game one of the series, is the type of player Stuart said he’s able to coach.
The Canberra young gun has the potential to be a brilliant fullback who supports the ball runner and slices through the line. Hayne isn’t that sort of player.
Hayne’s strength lies in his ability to not only create something out of nothing, but also finish off a sweeping backline move with a bullet pass to a winger or centre.
He has periods where he goes missing in action, but at five-eighth the ball would be coming his way more often.
So where does this leave Hayne’s future as a NSW player while Stuart is at the helm?
The Blues coach made it clear last night that he prefers Dugan and also refuses to pick players out of position.
It seems he can either wait for Dugan to get injured, lose form or ask Parramatta coach Stephen Kearney to move him to five-eighth this weekend.
The chances of a shift to the halves at the Eels looks slim though.
Chris Sandow will be wearing the number seven jersey next season with Daniel Mortimer at five-eighth.
Even if Mortimer moves aside the rumour mill suggests the Eels are keen on signing unwanted Bulldog Ben Roberts during the off-season.
That would leave one of the game’s best players in limbo.
Who would’ve thought that was possible while we were all in the grip of Hayne plane and train fever?
All that is left now, it seems, is not the train or the plane, but plenty of State of Origin pain.
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