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The value of Parramatta's 2009 fairytale

2nd August, 2015
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Hayne has abandoned the Eels for the cash on the coast. (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Renee McKay)
Roar Guru
2nd August, 2015
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1697 Reads

The 2009 NRL season of the Parramatta Eels is one that will forever be remembered in rugby league folklore.

Riding on the back of a tsunami of brilliance from the legendary blue and gold custodian Jarryd Hayne, the Eels were able to pull off one of the most remarkable backs-to-the-wall season revivals ever seen. They lifted from short odds to take home a wooden piece of cutlery to come within a lucky bounce (and a missed knock on) of a grand final win.

The few finals football aspirations the Eels had were dealt a major blow early in the season, when after just four games consisting of two wins and two losses, experienced halfback Brett Finch was granted an early release from his contract.

This allowed him to make a mid-season move to the club that they would eventually meet on grand final day – the Melbourne Storm.

By Round 18, Parramatta would win just three more games, against the Cowboys, Newcastle and Brisbane, finding themselves in direct contention for the wooden spoon in 14th position.

As it stood, they remained only a mathematical chance of reaching the top eight, and with enormous match-ups against premiership heavyweights Melbourne and the Canterbury Bulldogs looming, their season looked all but over.

It seems just a whiff of desperation was all coach Anderson required to get his side – and more importantly, Jarryd Hayne – firing on all cylinders, as the Eels proceeded to chalk up two huge “W”s in consecutive weeks for the first time that season. Their beloved fullback picked up man-of-the-match honours in their 27-6 rout of the ‘Dogs in a performance that would spark a sensational run of form.

He would go on to pick up each and every man of the match award from Round 19 to 24 in effort that would draw glowing praise from one of the greatest minds in rugby league, Phil Gould. Gould labelled him “the best player in any code of football in Australia”.

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As Hayne’s charge towards being crowned the Dally M Player of the Year continued, so too did the Eels’ run towards finals football, as they embarked on their remarkable run of seven straight wins, four of which saw them achieve victory by thirty points or more.

A disastrous performance in Round 26, however, saw Parramatta fall back to Earth with an almighty thud, as the St George Illawarra Dragons did what no other side seemed capable of – bringing the Eels to a halt. Their 37-0 victory would soon prove null and void though, as the blue and golds still managed to scrape into eighth position due to a timely stroke of luck.

They bounced back the next week and gained revenge with a Hayne-inspired 25-12 victory that brought the campaign of the minor premiership winners to a premature end.

Two more monumental finals victories over the Gold Coast Titans and the Bulldogs would propel them into the biggest game of the year, where they would meet none other than the Melbourne Storm. You can have all the momentum in the world – most of which was at the Eels’ disposal anyway – but in the end, there is no substitute for the Storm’s experience and brown paper bags.

This near-fairytale should hold great weight in the minds of NRL fans far and wide, all of whom can now cling onto the realistically slim chances of their club winning the premiership while looking down and out at the business end of the season.

Truly, the NRL hierarchy ought to be thanking their lucky stars that the Eels were able to manage such a miraculous back-end of their 2009 season, as without it, the majority of todays’ fans would likely throw in the towel once their wooden spoon odds begin to shorten and refuse to attend another game that season.

Instead, the belief that their club can replicate Parramatta’s brilliant effort burns strong in their hearts, until such a time, at least, that even a mathematical premiership chance crosses the line into ‘impossible’ territory.

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The Manly Sea Eagles will be one club this year that undoubtedly has that 2009 season firmly placed in their minds, as they too have pounced upon the “mathematical chance” they were aligned with just weeks ago to upset the New Zealand Warriors 32-12 in their own backyard, before upping the ante on Saturday to record the biggest upset of the season, taking down the ladder-leading Brisbane Broncos 44-14.

And to think, all this after the uncertain futures of superstar halves Daly Cherry-Evans and Keiran Foran, as well as coach Geoff Toovey, threatened to deliver the club’s first wooden spoon.

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