Hayne, Campese victims of brilliance

Jarryd Hayne palms Tony Williams. AAP Image/Action Photographics, Colin Whelan

The press reaction to Jarryd Hayne’s ‘return to form’ a couple of weekends back against the Cowboys rightly praised the NSW fullback’s three-try performance. This past weekend, the coverage of Hayne’s solo demolition of the Panthers was justifiably delirious.

A fortnight is a long time in rugby league.

Just a few rounds ago, Hayne’s coach took the unusual step of publically singling out his star player after some bad options against the Broncos. The “Hayne wants out” headlines predictably followed.

Fluctuations in form of star players are always going to be standard fodder for sports pages.

Clearly, we all enjoy sitting back in awe and being priviliged to witness a series of games in which a player is completely, untouchably on top of his game and the opposition.

A more uncomfortable truth is that we all enjoy piling on the criticism when the form or impact of these superstars wanes or fades.

As sure as night follows day, Hayne’s remarkable run of form over the back end of the 2009 season was going to be followed by a quieter period. That sort of brilliance simply can’t be sustained indefinitely – particularly in a team with a dearth of quality playmaking options in other key positions.

Couple unrealistic expectations and a few queit games and the whispers about a star being ‘volatile’ or ‘inconsistent’ – or even the dreaded ‘overrated’ – are inevitable.

These are the sorts of words that sell papers – the papers we all buy.’Flashes of Hayne brilliance failed to spark mediocre Eels outfit’ or ‘Hayne’s added ballplaying responsibilities impact negatively on his ability to sporadically inject himself into game’ don’t have quite the same back-page ring.

But is this fair on the players?

I don’t think so. Hayne’s performances late last year raised the bar of public expectation to a totally unreasonable level.

For every brilliant game the talented 21 year old is likely to have over the rest of his career, it is extremely unlikely that he will ever be able to reproduce such a sustained run of utterly brilliant match-winning displays (although the timing of his performance against the Panthers will have many wondering whether he can again conjure up enough magic to steer the Eels into the semis).

The Hayne example is the most recent, but there is another which in this respect is even more eggregious – that of Terry Campese.

Almost everyone last year cited Hayne’s brilliance as the most dominant series of individual plays in recent memory. Well, those memories must be awful recent.

Remember how good Terry Campese’s form was in 2008 – in the more hands-on position of five-eighth – as Canberra made a similarly dramatic run into the finals series?

You don’t? Either did I, until I looked at the stats. Which are incredible.

In his five best consecutive games in 2008, Jarryd Hayne scored 3 tries, made 10 line breaks and recorded 7 try assits and 4 line break assits. Phenomenal, I agree.

But clearly shaded by Terry Campese’s outrageous run of form in his best 5 week run in 2008. For the record: 5 tries, 8 line breaks, 12 try assists, 11 line break asists.

One and a half seasons on and Campo has come in for criticism over recent months as he again struggles to drag a struggling Raiders outfit over the line in key games.

Campese’s form has clearly been weaker over the 2009 and 2010 seaons; some of the criticism is justified.

However, you can’t help but feel that a great deal of the angst stems from a expectation that the Canberra pivot consistently live up to his 2008 standards – standards that have rarely been met over any length of time, let alone over a number of seasons, by anyone in the history of rugby league.

The Campese and Hayne examples have other things in common.

In both cases, their star performances dragged otherwise mediocre teams into the spotlight, and the finals.

And in both cases, the players were relatively new to full time first grade in their respective positions: Hayne switched to fullback only mid year in 2009, while Campese in 2008 was just locking himself in as Canberra’s pivot.

In subsequent seasons, with their teammates still lagging behind and oppositions having had time to adjust to their individual brilliance, Campese and Hayne both now come in for criticism at stages, both for not doing enough, and sometimes attempting to do too much, to drag their teams across the line.

These are the curses which come with the brilliance that Hayne, Campese and very few others in rugby league possess. Consistent or not, we’re all richer for having enjoyed their remarkable feats in 2008 and 2009.

Happily, both players have shown glimpses of the truly amazing football they are capable of in recent weeks. When we look for more of the same we should do so with hope, not expectation.