Parramatta veteran Ben Smith claims the arrival of new halfback Chris Sandow could be the catalyst for a resurgent Jarryd Hayne in 2012.
Heralded as the most talented No.7 the Eels have had since Peter Sterling donned the jumper 25 years ago, former South Sydney star Sandow has the blue and gold faithful eagerly awaiting the start of the new NRL campaign.
But it is another Eels star Smith has high hopes for, believing Hayne could be the biggest beneficiary of Sandow's arrival.
Hayne was thrust into the five-eighth role in 2011 in a futile attempt to kick-start the Eels' stagnating campaign, but with Sandow and former Canterbury five-eighth Ben Roberts set to take over in the halves in 2012, Hayne will revert to his preferred fullback position.
"It's going to take a lot of pressure off the likes of Jarryd Hayne," Smith said of Sandow's recruitment.
"It will allow Jarryd to play his game without worrying about everything, Chris can take control.
"His smarts and his quickness around the ruck means Haynesy can just step back and chime in when he needs to. He doesn't have to have his hands on the ball two or three times a set.
"Jarryd almost had a target on his head every time he had the ball, and it's hard for one player to carry all that expectation for the whole team."
With Sandow, Roberts and Test centre Willie Tonga all coming on board for 2012, expectations are again high for the Eels.
It was the same this year following the arrival of coach Stephen Kearney, but Smith said the squad would benefit from having had 12 months under the Kiwi Test mentor.
"It's been a learning curve for us. We took a few steps backwards, but I think we're going to get better. There's a sense within the club that we're going forward now," Smith said.
"We were probably lacking in key areas of the team, but we've bought really well in the off-season in some key places, crucial positions, and the structure's now there for us to build on."
The Eels will continue pre-season training through to next Wednesday, when they have two weeks off for the Christmas break.
Replies
Taha is Top Dawg! They only have one supporter! He is the guy that plays that stupid drum at the game in a 80 000 seat stadium, and you can hear the echoes from the other side of the stadium.
Poor Dogs are gonna get whipped by us next year. Im gonna love every minute of it.At least this clown will be off our site for a week....twice ....the closet EELS fan. Just come out top dawg/taha, we know u love the eels, you spend so much of your precious time here!
LOL. IDIOT!!!!
Just had a look. That website is so confusing and chaotic. Can't even organise a blogs section or proper news feed like ours. Their answers consist of 1 word contributing to no discussion. They wish they had a site like ours.
Like i said before God i hate the of season . Thanks for that SuperEel 22.
I was bored, it's the off season, needed to post something.
I’ve visited that God-forsaken site on a couple of occasions Fui, and it’s downright intimidating and scary in its mental simplicity. It’s like visiting some strange, distant land occupied by marauding neanderthals.
The avatars, the aggro and the blatant mindlessness of its members should be experienced once, if for no other reason than to appreciate what we have here.
hahaha, i like it as well. i love sneakily turning their threads into eels discussions. it's so easy.
They rate Ben Roberts as a legend and a retired player. Idiot Dogs fans, an IQ as low as their age.
Isn't that what you're doing, but turning threads about our team into bulldogs discussions......
The hypothesis in this thread is one of the reasons I am looking forward to 2012!!!!!!
Come on Sandow! In 2012, be a god on the field not in a Marrackville pub!
mmm, i'd say it's different because i actually get them to discuss eels issues and players etc. whereas i was just commenting on their site.
but hell yea, can't wait to see him runnin around in the blue and gold
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