Finally the Hayne Train is back on track

Jarryd Hayne in action. AAP Image/Action Photographics, Robb Cox

Kristina Keneally was buoyed by news Western Sydney’s most popular service, The ‘Hayne Train’, resumed normal service on Saturday night, propping up the rest of Sydney’s rail service with a flawless run from Parramatta to Penrith.

The ‘Hayne Train’ notched up 3 Line Break Assists, 4 try assists, 1 Line Break, and a try, to single-handedly catapult his side back on to the finals bandwagon amidst a cluster of other hopeful clubs.

The first 22 minutes of the Round 19 clash at CUA Stadium in Penrith was a blur.

Predictably, Penrith – after being beaten and bruised trying (unsuccessfully) to run through the Warriors – returned unashamedly to the best way they know to get across the line … kicking.

Four kicks in and a hand-wrapped present by out-of-sorts Daniel Mortimer and the Panthers were away to what seemed to be an insurmountable lead.

For reasons unknown to fans, including this one, sitting comfortably in Section 8 of what felt like a Parramatta home crowd, the players didn’t drop their heads, or give up. It must be more obvious to them -having trained with him all week- when Jarryd Hayne is going to have a big game.

He started with a dash to the right, stopping and going again to burst through two defenders to hand Joel Reddy a line break on a platter. Joel obliged and charged down-field, only to kick long in search of his winger Krisnan Inu.

It was beginning to look like it was going to be one of those nights for Parra fans. However, on the back of some fortuitous ruck penalties Parramatta found themselves up the right end of the field with Fui Fui on the end of a Hayne cut-out that isolated Luke Walsh in the defensive line. Fui Fui crashed over under the sticks to add some respect to the first half total.

Hayne was at it again only a minute later though, throwing an out-ball for Wright to break the line and throw a dummy for Coote who had Hayne lurking up in support on the inside to worry about.

Panthers 22-12 at half time and you could sense the momentum shifting.

The second half was five minutes old before Hayne and Wright combined again to keep the comeback on track. The latter making up for his earlier blunder to allow Gordon to score with a strong solo-effort to scoot through three defenders and put the ball down in traffic.

22-18 and the Panthers could feel this one slipping out of their control.

Less than 10 minutes after the Wright try Hayne was at it again, playing first receiver he grubbered through the line for Inu to nonchalantly put down the eels fourth straight try. Luke Burt converting from the side-line for a 2-point lead. 24-22 eels.

Penrith were struggling to find answers and went to their tried and tested 5th tackle ‘kick-and-hope’. The problem with your main (and apparently only) method of attack relying on chance is that their is a chance it will backfire.

And it did.

Hayne’s solo effort saw him beat 5 or 6 (or 100 who cares!) defenders to race 80m to score and wouldn’t look out of place in a list of his finest tries, which for the defending Dally M winner is saying quite a bit.

The Panthers weren’t to be deterred however, roosting another cloud-cuddler for a ricochet and try for Wade Graham.

That brought the score back to 30-28, but three crucial handling errors from Panthers in try scoring positions (or kick-and-hope positions) saw Parramatta hold on 34-28 with some last minute desperation handing the visitors a last minute try to make victory celebrations that much more sweet.

In review neither sets of fans should be too happy about the what this game means for their respective teams. For Penrith, their main attacking weapon has obvious flaws.

The 5th tackle bomb can (and most likely will) produce a number of tries but their is an easy way to reduce it’s effectiveness, and the Warriors gave everyone else the blueprint. Get numbers around the ball. If Penrith’s opponents make sure they do this they will have gone most the way to beating them.

This is said with a bad taste in my mouth after talking them up when they wiped Manly off the park with some great running football. Where that form has gone is a mystery, but unless they recapture it they are no chance.

They made 1 line break for the match.

The return of their best player Luke Lewis is the only thing Penrith fans have to look forward to if Saturday’s game is any indication of how they intend to finish off the season.

For Parramatta fans it shows that what their players have been saying for the last two weeks is spot-on. They are no chance without Hayne. This is perhaps as dangerous (if not more) than relying on kicks, as you don’t know when Jarryd’s good form or his luck with injuries, might run out.

Once again they changed around Robson and Keating (Kris this time) from half to hooker and with Daniel Mortimer playing as badly as his talented body will allow him it is left up to Hayne to manufacture just about everything.

He played just about as well as any player has played this season and we didn’t even see a 40/20 or a chip kick, which we know are part of his game as well.

He has more to his bow than perhaps any player I have seen and certainly anyone playing currently. They may not always be working, but the variety of what he can do and their effectiveness when he decides to do them is unmatched.

Both teams will feature come finals time but who will be first to shed their dependencies?

We’ll have to wait and see.