Here’s a link to go watch it. But before you go, don’t just flip across and start looking for the number one because it’s not Jarryd Hayne, I’m talking about.
It’s Timana Tahu. Yes, Hayne played a part in that try. He passed to Tahu and he finished it. But the try was made by Tahu, who got outside his man and then flicked the ball back to Luke Burt.
And that’s the difference between this years side and last year, and that’s why the 2010 Eels will go one better.
It’s no coincidence that all 16 non-Hayne Eels have started to look a lot better since the Hayne Plane took off. Opposition defences are paranoid about Hayne and rightly so, so they’re manning up on him. But that’s creating space all over the park, and this year Parramatta have the players to take advantage of it.
So every time an opposition backline hold on Hayne in defence, it means you're going to leave your three-quarters one-on-one with Tahu and Burt. Tahu will beat you one-on-one every day of the week. You start stacking the side that Hayne is prowling and you leave room for Feleti Mateo to run riot down the opposite flank. See Hayne looping around the back and start shifting wide to cover it, well you’ve just opened up a hole for Ben Smith on the short ball. Or perhaps a Jeff Robson dummy and run.
Increasingly, you’re going to see Hayne given less space and less opportunities. Last year when that happened, we relied on second phase play to get out attack going. Teams are more vigilant against that attack now, so we need to find even more ways of scoring. And that has to be by using our other talented footballers to make use of the space Hayne creates.
I said even last week that I didn’t think we could win the premiership with our current halves combination, but I’ve changed my stance on this after last weeks game. Both halves are finally playing more direct and so they’re not eating into the time and space afforded Jarryd and his outside men. And Daniel Anderson has got Jarryd chiming into the attack at exactly the right points on the field.
If you’re a coach, you just can’t defend some of the attacking structures we employed against the Bulldogs. When Jarryd gets good crisp ball at second reciever, what do you do? Rush up on him and he’ll more likely step around you and shrug you off. Hang off him and he’ll run through you. Double-team him and he’ll set up his outside supports. Move forward on his supports and he can kick behind the line. Overmark on that side of the field and you create space for a Feleti Mateo to cut you up on the short side.
The best way to score points in the NRL today is to get your superstars one-on-one with weaker defenders. Most teams have one on these players who will always score in a one-on-one situation. We have three who will beat you almost every time - Hayne, Tahu and Mateo - plus another couple who will beat you half of the time like Reddy and Smith. And with Hayne’s unparalleled influence on the game, we’re going to get players into one-on-one situations more than any team in the competition.
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Replies
spot on 1 eyed!
the best of the 'T-Man" is yet to come!
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