Why Jarryd Hayne must move to six

Many times this year, I’ve argued that Jarryd Hayne should remain at fullback. Recently, I’ve begrudgingly conceded that given our lack of recruitment in the halves we may have no alternative to switch him to pivot for 2010, until we find a better option for 2011. However, the more I think about it the more I think Hayne must move to six. And I think you only have to look at the success the Roosters have had with Todd Carney to see why. Earlier this year, Carney played at one due to the fact that the Roosters wanted to keep Anasta at five-eighth. Carney played well from the back but he never dominated. That’s the problem with fullback. You come in and out of the game, and its hard to get consistently involved. We saw that with Jarryd many times during the last season - some times he’d be everywhere sometimes he’d not be sighted. Clearly, Hayne had a directive to come into the attack at any time and when he did, he always got the ball. I think that had a disruptive influence on the halves. Your six and seven are supposed to call the shots, not get out of the way when your fullback decides he wants to run. Let me say, that at rep level, I think Hayne is best suited at fullback. You get his blistering runs from the back and he can chime in whenever he wants. But that works because you’ve got other equally talented players in the halves. However, at club level Hayne is too much of an asset not to be on the ball as much as humanly possible. He is our best playmaker, our best runner and our best kicker. He is also taking up the largest slice of our salary cap so he is a team you base the rest of your team around and you can’t do that with him at fullback. He needs to be in the middle of the action. I’ve argued many times this year that from fullback you get the best of both worlds. You get his excellent kick returns and you allow him to step up as playmaker. And while it’s impossible to forget the occasional long-range tries, let’s be realistic and count the number of times Jarryd was able to break the line from a kick. It’s probably less than five. Teams don’t kick to him and they have it drummed into him that they have to be extra diligent on the kick chase. Or they just kick the ball out the back. While fullback is a key position, it can be filled effectively with much cheaper players. You only have to look how Ben Farrar handled the position for Manly or how Nathan Gardner has excelled for Cronulla. We have a number of fullback options for next year, like Luke Burt and Tom Humble plus a couple of exciting prospects coming up like Jacob Gagan. It’s far easier to find a fullback than it is a five-eighth. And it’s worth remembering that there are facets of the fullback role that Hayne doesn’t excel in either. His positioning is constantly criticised and his support play, while fair, isn’t as strong as a player like Luke Burt. When Hayne moves up into the line to act as playmaker, our support play falls apart and that was a major issue for us during this season and as far as I can see will continue to be an issue next year if Hayne remains at one. We cannot be competitive next year, without a half who can regularly produce try assists and repeat sets. It will take Hayne some time to adjust to the position - he sometimes tends to overthink and make errors, but given some time he could be the best five-eighth in the business. A player with his skills is made for playing six and like Darren Lockyer, he can be moved forward and have much greater impact, than he has at fullback. Finally, with a dominant six - a lot of pressure if taken off your number seven. They don’t have as much pressure to produce the big play and can concentrate on a limited role like kicking into the in-goal and directing the forwards around. I think any of our halves would look far better playing a support role inside Hayne than having to be creative and come up with the big plays. Jarryd Hayne is our man. It’s time to move him into a position that reflects that reality.

Replies

george blue n gold September 21, 2010 at 5:56pm

I don't have to read this article to know that you are 100% on the money.

He has all skills to succeed in this position. He has too much talent not to.
Ricky September 21, 2010 at 5:59pm

Long article, but it is well worth the read!

He definitely does have the skill set required to achieve at 5/8, it's simply a question as to whether or not the idea is implemented by the club.
Ace Eel September 21, 2010 at 6:02pm

Good read Phil...I to like a dominant 6...Jarryd could fit the bill...but only if we can nail a 7 who could take the pressure off him ...& then we create a problem 4 fullback?.....
Daz1970 September 21, 2010 at 6:07pm

I agree that he (Hayne) will succeed this time around, as I always felt he was a tad raw or lacked the confidence last time round. What the hell, do it. But will HE want to?..................................
Parramatters September 21, 2010 at 6:17pm

What it comes down to is will he be happy and will the club so it. I'm on both sides of the fence here, I love seein him at fullback and his kick returns, but his kicking game is huge and his passing game will become perfect. I just hope parra does well next year
HKF September 21, 2010 at 6:21pm

It's not a matter of whether he wants to, simply he has to if we don't secure a decent half. The main reason it didn't work the first time around was because he never wanted it to, now he is taking a massive slice of the cap he has to do whats best for the team.
Eelssteve September 21, 2010 at 6:30pm

I agree. Hayne should move to number 6, just like Lockyer did for Broncos. If you are going to pay that much for a player with that talent then that player should be touching the ball as much as possible. Hayne should of already been put in this position for 2010. I believe he would be brilliant at this position.
MagicMan September 21, 2010 at 6:44pm

with mitchell our dominant dummy half Murray or humble at seven this could work but we need to let them all develop their respective games and be patient if this is to succeed as the expectation on Haynesy to perform week in week out was just too much. And u sense it got to him, perfectly natural that it would, he needs time to be a genuine ballplayer and creator but certainly has decent vision, murrays composure and natural halfback game makes him the ideal 7 in this scenario, time will tell
MagicMan September 21, 2010 at 6:44pm

with mitchell our dominant dummy half Murray or humble at seven this could work but we need to let them all develop their respective games and be patient if this is to succeed as the expectation on Haynesy to perform week in week out was just too much. And u sense it got to him, perfectly natural that it would, he needs time to be a genuine ballplayer and creator but certainly has decent vision, murrays composure and natural halfback game makes him the ideal 7 in this scenario, time will tell
SacDog92 September 21, 2010 at 6:46pm

1. Humble

6. Hayne
7. Murray