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Left-foot step brings hope

28 July 2009 50 views No Comment

SOMEBODY should interview Jarryd Hayne and get to the bottom of the mystery.

Getting on to the right foot:  Jarryd Hayne exercises his celebrated left foot.  Picture: Steve Christo

Getting on to the right foot: Jarryd Hayne exercises his celebrated left foot. Picture: Steve Christo

If Hayne can’t supply a satisfactory answer, then the interviewer should go straight to the source - Hayne’s left foot.

Yes, his left foot.

In all the adulation of Hayne’s purple patch of form one key participant in that form hasn’t been adulated: the appearance of a left-foot sidestep.

Where did it come from?

It made a brief appearance in Hayne’s 10-metre run for a try in a State-of-Origin match in 2007 - a contender for finest 10m run in the game’s history.

Other than that, Hayne has always relied on a right-foot step and brute strength to beat tacklers and manoeuvre himself into positions where a right-foot step would come into play.

Or had, until recent weeks.

That left-foot step was employed three times when the Parramatta fullback fielded a Brett Kimmorley kick on the Eels tryline in Saturday night’s life-giving 27-8 win over the Bulldogs at CUA Stadium.

It has been in productive employment in several games and has made him the complete ball runner.

Where has it been hiding?

Didn’t Hayne have the confidence to use it before?

Was there a mystery groin strain that ruled the ankle out of play?

We need to know the answers.

These aren’t entirely joke questions. Hayne is indeed employing a left-foot step not used before and it has indeed broadened his attacking options.

The fact such arcane questions can be asked is the measure of how far Parramatta and Hayne have come in a short time.

Coach Daniel Anderson’s summation was succinct and accurate on Saturday night.

“At the start of the year we were enigmatic and erratic,” he said.

“That’s a dreadful term for a team to be called.

“If people say were honest and consistent, we’re getting towards where we want to go.”

Honest and consistent: that’s where Parramatta are now and it happened quickly.

However, the spadework wasn’t done quickly.

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