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David Smith could well quote HRH Queen Elizabeth and call 2014 an Annus Horribillus. Apart from amusing the more juvenile among us – and I certainly hope there is more than just me – it’s pretty true.
We started the year with superstar Sonny Bill Williams deciding to return to rugby after the 2014 season. We also still had ASADA hanging over the Sharks like the sword of Damocles. Then we lurched to Russell Packer’s jailing for viciously beating a prone person.
We then had the absolute tragedy of Alex McKinnon breaking his neck in March. To rub salt into that wound in May Nathan Tinkler walked away from the Knights – who had to be feeling cursed by this point. Also in May a video was available on line that showed Konrad Hurrell apparently having sexual contact with a woman in a car.
Mitchell Pearce then had an unfortunate ‘interaction’ with a woman in a fluoro yellow dress on the dance floor of a Kings Cross night spot which got him into hot water.
At the end of June Todd Carney brought himself and the game into further disrepute by being photographed performing a vile act. In August we had a ball boy blamed for losing a team a game.
These are just the ones I can come up with off the top of my head.
By far and away the worst thing to have happened was Alex McKinnon’s injury. If I could go back in time and stop one thing from happening in the last 20 seasons of league that would be the one. I’d be surprised if you could find a league fan who thought otherwise.
However, the second worst thing to happen to the NRL this year is Jarryd Hayne leaving to go try his hand in the NFL.
Losing a player of Hayne’s calibre is a tremendous body blow to the game. He is not just the best player in the game right now, he’s also a role model.
While so many star players are getting into trouble, Jarryd Hayne is a well-behaved individual and a dedicated Christian. Now you may or may not agree with or share his faith, but Christians tend to avoid trouble, and Hayne certainly has. Apart from an issue with being shot at back in 2008, the only publicity the former houso from Minto has garnered has been positive.
As well as being a good role model he is a superb player. Only Johnathan Thurston and Greg Inglis are really in his league right now.
At 31, Thurston is still great but surely nearing the end. There is no question both he and Hayne were very deserving winners of this year’s Dally M medal. Hayne and Inglis are both at their peak. Both started playing at the age of 18 and made immediate impressions. However, right now Hayne is playing the better footy.
Like Inglis, his freakish skills of youth have been finely honed by extensive experience. Now you’ve got a guy who believes he can beat the opposition virtually on his own.
And he can.
His 2014 stats are superb. His average of 182 metres a match was the best in the NRL. His 20 tries were second only to Alex Johnston – who had three extra games to get his one more try. Hayne’s 133 tackle breaks were second only to Josh Mansour. His 23 line breaks were the best in the NRL. Throw in ten line break assists, ten try assists and, of course, the Dally M Medal and you have yourself a superstar.
To be fair to Greg Inglis his 2014 stats are also superb, just not quite as superb.
To highlight Hayne’s effect on his team you just need to look at the results. Parramatta got consecutive wooden spoons in 2012 and 2013 with Hayne missing 12 and 10 games respectively in those seasons. It is no coincidence that Hayne only missed three matches this season and Parramatta’s results improved out of sight. They broke the line 44 more times, scored 40 more tries and finished seven spots higher on the ladder than in 2013. He really is that good. He makes a profound difference to his side’s fortunes.
But can Hayne make it in the NFL? The history of players changing sports is mixed. Switching from league to union – or union to league – is the most possible. Sonny Bill Williams and Israel Folau are proof that this switch can be done successfully. However, Karmichael Hunt and Israel Folau are evidence that league players may not be able to make a transition to AFL so easily.
Mundine certainly made a successful switch to boxing, but being the greatest ever basketball player didn’t help Michael Jordan break into major league baseball. Ben Graham and Saverio Rocca did both make the transition to the NFL but both were in the specialist role of punter – a role that their AFL backgrounds distinctly prepared them for.
Jarryd Hayne’s size and speed would have him best placed to be a running back, a corner back or a punt return. However, the man himself knows that it will be a big challenge.
“It’s tactical. It’s not one of those off-the-cuff sports like rugby league is. It’s like a game of chess and you have to make sure the move you make has got to be correct. It can’t be wrong or it might jeopardise the team.”
As much as I’ll be disappointed to see him go from the NRL, I am excited to see whether he can make it in the NFL; if he can show the Yanks just what us “Ossies” are made of; if he can be a star.
But the thing is that he is a star here. His star rose to its peak at the end of Origin two when he finished the game celebrating among Blatchy’s Blues. It was probably the best image of the year. One we won’t see next year.
In choosing to go follow his dream in the NFL, Hayne has effectively said that there are much bigger dreams than anything that rugby league can provide; that we are a very small pond in the ocean of world sport.
To quote Red from “The Shawshank Redemption”:
“I have to remind myself that some birds aren’t meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up DOES rejoice. But still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they’re gone.”
For mine the hardest thing for me to hear from Hayne yesterday was this line:
“I feel like I’ve done everything in rugby league.”
Sure Jarryd has played and won with City, NSW and Australia but he hasn’t won an NRL Premiership. After the Raiders extra time win in 1989 Big Mal was in tears and declared that winning the premiership was better than playing for Queensland or Australia. Hayne has just declared that it really isn’t that important at all.
He penned a letter to the Parramatta supporters to explain his decision: that he had to follow his dream. While I’m sure few will begrudge him his dream, I’m sure that many will be stunned and saddened that their dream – to win their first premiership since 1986 – wasn’t also his. He almost got them there in 2009 and his form this year had them dreaming again.
But now he’s gone and with him Parramatta’s chances of challenging for the flag anytime soon. So while I wish Hayne all the best, my heart really goes out to the long-suffering Eels fans today.