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Jarryd Hayne in action during the Week 3 Playoff NRL match between the Bulldogs and the Parramatta Eels at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Friday, Sept. 25, 2009.The Eels beat the Bulldogs 22 - 12. AAP Image/Action Photographics, Robb Cox
Has the pressure of being one of the greats in the game today got to Jarryd Hayne? Or are his teammates the ones to blame for his lackluster start to the season?
The Eels head into this weekend’s clash against the in-form South Sydney Rabbitohs with a lot on the line.
Sitting on the bottom of the table with only two points from their five contests, things aren’t looking too great for the runners-up of last year’s season.
They can consider themselves lucky to even have those two points.
Their only win of the season came on the back of two forward passes, one of them was that forward it probably should have been called a penalty.
Who is to blame for such a poor start to the season? Are the Eels looking to replicate the Cinderella story they created last season?
I don’t think they can do it this year.
There are too many teams this season that on their given day can beat anyone. Teams like the Bulldogs and the Eels are going to struggle to even make the finals if they don’t pick up their act, starting from this weekend.
If you had been away for the first five weeks of the season and had seen Parramatta at the bottom of the ladder, you would straight away think Jarryd Hayne must either not be playing well or not playing at all.
It seems all the finger pointing is being hurled at the fullback who last year carried his team to the grand final.
Is this fair?
I don’t think so.
Hayne is a brilliant player, but he can’t weave his magic if his forwards aren’t doing the work upfront. At the moment the Eels are sitting back and waiting for the superstar to pull off a miracle week in, week out.
Nathan Cayless, Fuifui Moimoi, Nathan Hindmarsh and Feliti Mateo all must knuckle down and do the work upfront. At the moment opposition front rowers are running all over them. This is not allowing Parramatta’s star studded backline any room to create for each other.
There have been questions raised about Nathan Cayless, if he is still is able to compete with some of the best.
There is no doubting his passion and desire to help the Eels win a premiership, but should he be the man carrying them forward at the moment?
On the other hand, has the pressure got to last season’s Dally M Player of the Year?
Opposition teams have put together strategies to take the RLIF International Player of the Year in 2009 out of the ball game. As much as Hayne has downplayed the effect it’s having on his game, it must be eating him up inside.
I could not believe one of the excuses Daniel Anderson gave Sportal this week on why Hayne has been conservative of late. “Jarryd’s a little gun shy because he’s been called for forward passes in two games … I don’t think either have been forward.”
Mr Anderson, I think you need to go and watch the footage again.
Great players always seem to find a way out of a tough situation, and I’m thinking Jarryd Hayne will be one of them. Look for a purple patch of form from the electrifying Eel in the coming weeks.
This weekend’s contest between the Eels and the Rabbits is set to be a rip roaring affair. If the South’s forwards get the upper hand, it could get ugly for the Parramatta fans.
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