EELS MOVE TO STOP DOGS SNIFFING AROUND HAYNE
Eels
August 9, 2014
PARRAMATTA are set to open talks to extend co-captain Jarryd Hayne’s deal with the club in a bid to squash fresh interest from the Bulldogs.
Under NRL rules, no club is allowed to approach Hayne, who is contracted until the end of 2015, before this November.
But rumours are rife the Bulldogs are preparing a mega-deal to throw at Hayne once the November deadline passes — something the Eels will attempt to avoid by extending his rich deal.
“Jarryd is at the heart and soul of Parramatta . . . we definitely want to keep him here long-term,” Eels chief executive Scott Seward says.
“We hope to open talks soon.”
However, Hayne’s manager Wayne Beavis is in no rush to come to terms.
“Jarryd is going great guns and I don’t want him distracted right now,” Beavis says.
“There was some interest from the Dogs but that was informal and a while ago. We will talk to Parra in time — and if there is no satisfactory resolution we will go to the marketplace.”
On the back of some incredible performances, Hayne has confirmed his reputation as one of the game’s greats in 2014 when he was voted the best player in this year’s RLW Players’ Poll. But it is his development as a leader of men that has most impressed coach Brad Arthur.
“Jarryd has stepped up to another level in terms of his leadership at training and how he carries himself leading into the game,” Arthur says.
“He is energetic in the change room with the way he talks. You can just tell that he is switched on and that he is focused. He is in a real strong spot now in terms of his mental preparation.
“On the field he has realised that around him in the team are boys who can do their job, so he doesn’t have to do everything.
“He had his time with the State of Origin side, played really well and probably made the difference for them. Now it is time to finish the season off for us really strong.”
Hayne looked around at the start of the year and realised that it was his time to shine brighter as a leader.
“Reni Maitua left last year and we’ve lost ‘Hindy’ (Nathan Hindmarsh), ‘Caylo’ (Nathan Cayless) and Luke Burt,” Hayne tells RLW. “You look around and think, ‘I am the one that has got to create the atmosphere and set the tone’. For me, it is all about talking to the players and helping them to be better and make the right decisions. There is a way to do it. You can’t get cranky with them because players don’t operate like that anymore.”
There have been many attempts by rival clubs to tear him away from the Eels, but all have failed.
If Hayne has it his way, he will become a rare one-club man.
“I’ve grown up here, been a part of the club for so long and I want to see it succeed,” he says.
“Lifting the trophy is my goal, but doing it at another club wouldn’t be as satisfying as doing it here.”
- TONY ADAMS & JOEL GOULD
