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Decoding enigmatic legend Jarryd Hayne

Roar Rookie
4th June, 2017
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Can Jarryd Hayne still break games open for the Eels? (AAP Image/Dan Peled)
Roar Rookie
4th June, 2017
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1637 Reads

During the early minutes of the opening State of Origin match of 2017 it appeared as though Jarryd Hayne has lost some of his legendary zip.

During those opening minutes of the match he looked downright pedestrian, and you couldn’t help but start thinking, “Is he past it?”. But just as you thought he had seen better days, he pulls some of that star quality we all know he possesses out of thin air.

He looked up and showed vision: he played what was in front of him and completed two palm-offs – one towards opposite Justin O’Neill and the other Dane Gagai. He couldn’t have cared less what their records of rugby achievement were – he treated them as though they were rolling pins, pushing them to the side.

His right-hand fends are coupled with an in and away followed by space created and an overlap – he’s poetry in motion – he then offloads a crisp pass to Brett Morris, and off Morris goes, heading towards the try line, and only a last-gasp effort from Gagai brings him down inches before the stripe.

A mere mortal could not pull off what Hayne did, and you quickly realise he is no mere mortal – he is one of the greats of the big stage and worth all the hype, and then some.

To steal a phrase from Phil Gould, Jarryd is back, baby. It was one of those big plays that made the opposition realise they had a match on their hands. It inspired his own teammates to do wonderful things on the field. They looked up and saw what their star teammate had just achieved.

Hayne hasn’t played 21 Origin matches for New South Wales for no reason, and this is why he was selected in the first place – to inspire confidence in his teammates. He has an Andrew Johns-like influence on his less experienced teammates. They all look up to him and hang off his every word and action.

(Image: AAP Image/Dan Peled)

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No wonder NSW felt so confident so as to have a five-minute captain’s run. This was the most talented NSW team selected since 2005. Hayne simply added to that legend.

All 16 of his teammates followed his lead on the field. Andrew Fifita had a blinder and in career-best form. Fifita is now synonymous with big Arthur Beetson with his man-of-the-match performance.

James Tedesco, Nathan Peats, James Maloney, Wade Graham – the list goes on. There wasn’t a bad player in blue, and they were all inspired by Hayne and his feats.

Any centre or winger worth their salt will tell you what Hayne did in that passage of play cannot be coached. It’s purely instinctive play carried out in the heat of the moment. Hayne would have known he was bigger and stronger than his adversaries in front of him, using all of that memory from all his years playing sport across three codes.

Yet for all of his mastery, Hayne is an enigma. He can look uninterested and distant as though he couldn’t care less about his sport. There has been much written about his disdain for training and how he doesn’t care for it, marching to the beat of his own drum.

His own track and field background may explain some reasoning for the above. To be a track and field athlete you often need to be a self-centred athlete, it is an individual sport after all.

A track and field athlete has to be selfish to achieve their goals, and many people don’t understand that in Jarryd’s mindset. He would have been thinking along the lines of wanting to train like a track and field athlete, yet he has to conform and train to a set of standards that may not suit him or his game.

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Many people question his work ethic and even throw the arrogant label at him, but he is misunderstood by many. He’s not lazy, he just picks his time to rest, his time to train and his time to play. He wants to train like an Olympic sprinter, but team sports do not allow for that, so he fits in the best he can.

During a lowly club match he can appear uninterested, but put him in an Origin or test match and he is a different beast. The real Jarryd Hayne stands up and comes to the fore.

This is what makes him so great. He knows when to pick and choose his moments. Who else from the NRL could pack up and head to San Francisco to become a 49er in such a short space of time?

This is the conundrum of Hayne’s legacy. People are so confused by him, but they are slowly waking up, warming to him and realising this is Jarryd’s way. Daley selected him for Origin 1 because he knew he was a big-time performer, and he said as much.

He is now given more latitude than in the past. He was once seen as a petulant child who wouldn’t toe the line, but the truly great coaches know Hayne is more complex than most – he is like a bright kid in class who becomes distracted and bored when the subject matter is too easy. He regresses, and this is the reason he pursued his NFL dream in the United States.

(Image: AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

He wants to keep challenging himself, telling the Sydney Morning Herald, “I’m so passionate about the challenge that lies ahead for me, not only as an athlete but more so as a person.”

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He played eight NFL matches on a steep learning curve, having to learn a playbook full of moves that ordinarily take years to master, but to his credit he learnt the playbook in a matter of months.

He impressed during his time playing NFL, but now he has come full circle – after some criticism for being a mercenary during his Fijian rugby sevens adventur, his is back in rugby league heartland and loving doing what he does best.

He has done everything in the game bar one. He has won an Origin series, the four-nations and a world cup for Australia and the Dally M player of the year. He even inspired his former team Parramatta to a grand final appearance during his golden run of 2009.

But he is yet to win that elusive premiership himself – though he belongs to a rapidly improving Gold Coast Titans outfit who have one won and drawn one in their last two starts against premiers Cronulla Sharks.

Not even Melbourne possess that great recent record against the reigning premiers, and one would be remiss to write off legendary enigma Jarryd Hayne.

If the Titans are in prime position and do manage to go deep into the final series over the next season or two, anything is possible with this game-changing superstar searching for the one remaining title to add to his sporting resume. Wouldn’t that be something to see and savour?

The enigma who becomes a legend in paradise – anything is possible with this sporting prodigy who has grown in stature over the years. Anyone who wants to write him off does so at their own peril.

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