Eels keen to prove they're not Hayne-heavy
Steve Jancetic AAPFri, Feb 18, 2011 - 2:45 PM
The Eels want to prove that they're no longer reliant on just Jarryd Hayne in 2011 Copyright: Getty Images
For all the pain of last year's miserable campaign, Parramatta learned a valuable lesson about life in the NRL - no one player can carry a club to premiership success.
Even if that player is superstar Jarryd Hayne.
While Hayne put together one of the most scintillating stretches of football to drag his side from nowhere into the 2009 decider, season 2010 was a different story as the Eels slumped to a 12th place finish.
The talented fullback continued to churn out sublime performances, but the players who had helped him turn those freakish efforts into premiership points during that wonderful ride had suddenly become passengers.
"I think we were a bit guilty at times of doing that - if we got ourselves into a situation where we thought we couldn't get out of it we waited for Haynesy to do something," new skipper Nathan Hindmarsh admits.
"(We were) building stuff around waiting for Haynesy to do his thing - watching the ball go over our heads thinking 'I hope he can return it 100 metres'.
"I think that sometimes happens when you're the best player in the team - I think every team has that - look at the Tigers with Benji Marshall.
"(But) it won't be the case this year, definitely."
That's because under new coach Stephen Kearney the Eels plan to play a more structured game. Hayne will still be free to do his own thing, but his teammates know they have to play their role for the 2009 Dally M medallist to weave his magic.
"I guess last year just proves that in rugby league one bloke can't carry a team," backrower Ben Smith told AAP.
"A lot of expectation was put on Haynesy in terms of him creating opportunities for us and it's not fair on him, you can't do that week-in, week out.
"The stuff that he was doing in `09, you won't see that again for a very long time, just the way the competition is and how tough it is.
"I think we had an expectation on him to pull a rabbit out of the hat when we needed it and a lot ofteams had their eye on him a lot more last year."
No doubt Hayne will remain the focus for opposition defences, at least until some of his teammates prove the need to do otherwise.
And with the off-season departure of ball-playing lock Feleti Mateo and strike centre Timana Tahu, much of that playmaking pressure will fall on the shoulders of halves Daniel Mortimer and Jeff Robson.
Kearney has stated his intention to open the season with that halves pairing - starting with Saturday night's trial against Wests Tigers at Campbelltown - when they will get to test themselves up against the hottest playmaker in the game today in Benji Marshall.
