After struggling in recent seasons, the Parramatta Eels appointed Ricky Stuart as coach in the hope he could turn the club’s fortunes around.
After an impressive opening round victory over the Warriors, however, the Eels struggled to win for another three matches.
A lot of criticism was directed towards Eels fullback and co-captain Jarryd Hayne. After a dismal 50-0 loss to the Roosters, the Eels rebounded last round with a victory over the Sharks, in which Hayne proved to be a key player.
Ahead of this round’s match against the Gold Coast Titans, I have a look at the question many have been asking, ‘Is Jarryd Hayne any good?’
There is no denying that Jarryd is, or has been, a great player. Hayne was crucial in the Eels’ impressive finals run of 2009.
After struggling initially in the season, dropping to third last on the ladder, Parramatta turned their misfortunes around and finished the regular season in eighth.
The team continued their brilliant streak into the finals and made the 2009 grand final. Hayne’s great work during the season was rewarded when he won the Dally M Medal for the NRL’s player of the year.
Unfortunately the Eels lost the final to the ‘cashed-out’ Melbourne Victory.
Jarryd’s performance during the match was disappointing, with Storm’s fullback Billy Slater being the much more impressive player in the decider.
I think Hayne’s major problem is he is inconsistent.
Jarryd failed to carry his brilliant form into the 2009 grand final, and the same problem can still be seen this season.
Sometimes the ‘Hayne Plane’ plays great, and the 2009 Dally M winner can still be seen in him.
Other times, however, Jarryd is more of a ‘Hayne Pain’.
While the Hayne Plane is quick and creative, the Hayne Pain is slow and lazy and goes missing during matches.
Hayne’s inconsistencies can already be seen this season. He was great in the opening match against the Warriors, but was far from impressive against the Bulldogs, to whom the Eels lost 16 to 20 one round later.
Parramatta has been too reliant upon the inconsistent Hayne in recent seasons. Except for their 50-0 loss to Roosters, who ridiculously outclassed them, the Eels haven’t been playing that bad.
They played decently against the Bulldogs and the Tigers, but just lacked that killer threat.
Jarryd was not up to his Hayne Plane standard, but the Eels were waiting for him to lead them in the match.
In the Eels 13 to 6 victory over the Shark’s last round, Jarryd was not 2009 good, but managed to play well. As a fullback, Hayne should be looking to be his side’s last line of defence, as well as an important play maker during the attack.
Against the Shark’s Jarryd fulfilled half of this criteria, but left most of the play-making to Sandow and Kelly. However Hayne did make the occasional run forward and managed to cause some trouble for the Sharks.
Maybe this is the way forward for the Eels and Jarryd Hayne. They cannot keep waiting and relying on him to provide the killer threat they need.
He is too inconsistent, and as we have seen in recent rounds, he will be great one match but awful the next.
Perhaps the Eels will need to look to others, like Sandow, for the killer threat they need to finish off matches.
But Jarryd will still need to find some consistency to become a great fullback once again.
Jarryd may never return to the Dally M winning Hayne Plane of 2009, but will need to avoid becoming the Hayne Pain too often.
Not quite as impressive as a plane, but perhaps Jarryd can turn himself into a ‘Hayne Train’ as a form of compromise.
In answering my question of whether Hayne is any good, I guess he will have to answer that question himself when he takes the field against the Titans this Sunday.
If Hayne can find some consistency and the Eels do not rely too heavily on him, perhaps the Eels fans will get that great season they have been waiting for.
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