Like a poor soap opera, the Parramatta Eels have been dealt an unexpected shock when they could least afford it: Jarryd Hayne has broken his promise to be an Eel for life and betrayed his junior club.
(Cue the pained, elongated blue and gold steel look at camera two.)
Hayne will be wearing blue and gold this year, except it will be the lighter, paler, Gold Coast version of blue.
The footballing cliches are already coming out thick and fast in both the ‘good for him, good for the game’ and the ‘Judas’ categories.
Irrespective of what people think of Hayne and his exploits in the last 18 months, most neutral observers must understand why rank-and-file Eels fans are agitated. They have had a dire season on many levels, and they hoped the prodigal son returning would be the band-aid, not the salt placed on the club’s haemorrhaging, largely self-inflicted wounds.
However, desperation is clouding the blue and gold faithful’s judgement. They dodged a $1.2 million bullet.
The core of a very good team is in place at Parramatta. They have a coach in Brad Arthur who has earned the respect of the team, and the players are reciprocating on the field.
The Eels team who went down bravely to the Wests Tigers last Saturday were missing nine of their ten highest-paid players – a skeleton squad – yet showed the same spirit and 110 per cent effort that has largely defined the Arthur era, especially in the last two seasons.
If not for the unfathomable ineptitude of the current and previous boards, Parramatta would still be in the eight. The club, despite three wooden spoons, boardroom warfare and player controversies over the last six years, still have the third-highest membership figures in the NRL, at over 23,000.
A near-flatlining giant, but a large, well-supported sporting entity nevertheless.
Best of all, the club is safe (for now) under an administrator, there seems every hope that a professional staff will be hired to support Arthur, and a new board will eventually be appointed to stabilise the club and see it realise some of its much-promised potential.
Which brings us to Jarryd Hayne, the most naturally talented athlete I have seen play either of the rugby codes, who would have been a welcome addition for Parramatta and instantly improved the club.
However, he is a product of his millennial generation. In this dark time for Parramatta, he is not the type of player to lead the rebuild.
The money saved with the release of Kieran Foran and the loss of Hayne can now be wisely invested in strategically strengthening the squad. With the administration soon to be entering the 21st century, there is every hope the Eels can recruit a few players with the characteristics needed to build on the positive culture Arthur has generated out west, and continue to put the dark past behind them.
In many ways, Hayne is a reminder of the aimless decade the Eels experienced from 2006-2016, following the end of the Brian Smith era.
Hayne, along with Feleti Mateo and Krisnan Inu, epitomised the unlimited talent yet mediocre effort of the teams in this period. Hayne finally put in a consistent, mature season in 2014, before walking out on the club at short notice, with a promise to never, ever play for another NRL club.
Now is not the time for Eels fans to scapegoat a poster boy for the millennial generation of NRL footballer. It is time Parramatta finally looked forward to the future, free of the psychological and boardroom baggage that has cursed the club for a decade.
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