PARRAMATTA star Jarryd Hayne says the Eels are looking forward to putting a drama-filled season behind them after being bundled out of finals contention by the Rabbitohs on Friday night.
The Eels, who made a fairytale grand final appearance last year, have struggled both on and off the field in 2010.
The team’s erratic performances have been compounded by talk of a rift between Hayne and coach Daniel Anderson and, more recently, speculation
Anderson would be replaced as coach by Storm assistant Stephen Kearney.
Last week, Eels chairman Roy Spagnolo came out in support of Anderson and Hayne said he was relieved the issue of who would be coaching the club next season had been resolved.
“We’ve been reassured by the board that [Anderson will be coaching next season], so it’s all laid to rest now and Daniel will be there next year,” Hayne told BigPond Sports Weekend.
“There has been a bit of drama off the field this year that has annoyed a lot of the boys. Hopefully, next year everyone can keep it in-house and we can out more focus on the field instead of off it.”
Parramatta went down to South Sydney, 24-16, at ANZ Stadium and Hayne said his side had paid the price for making wholesale changes to their game plan.
“We changed our game plan and in the end it bit us on the bum,” he said.
“We tried to go around [the Rabbitohs defence], but we figured that we couldn’t. We tried to straighten up in the second half, but we were all out of whack.”
The Eels will now turn their attention to finishing the season strongly, against the New Zealand Warriors on Saturday night.
It will be skipper Nathan Cayless’ last game for Parramatta and Hayne said it was important the team rewarded the popular figure with a win in his NRL swansong.
“Nathan has been great for me and great for the boys. He’s a true leader not only on the field, but also off it and is always setting a great example,” Hayne said.
“He’s someone you can always look up to and can ask advice from. He’s not one of those blokes, who is always in your ear, but…when the chips are down he’ll come up to you and lift you up.”
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