SYDNEY - He had plenty to say at halftime but by the end Parramatta coach Daniel Anderson was almost speechless as he attempted to explain the phenomenal Jarryd Hayne effort which lifted the Eels to a 24-20 come- from-behind win yesterday over bitter rivals Manly.
On a day more suited
to the beach than a game of footy in Sydney's west, Hayne rescued an Eels side which looked out for the count and headed for a none from two record when trailing 20-0 just after halftime.
Enter Hayne, who made performances such as the one he was about to deliver a regular occurrence over the back end of last season, but who had also looked scratchy in his first one-and-a-half games of the new campaign.
"Phenomenal, just unbelievable. He just single-handedly turned the game in my opinion," Anderson said of Hayne.
"He basically wrestled the game out of Manly and into his own possession and we went with him."
After another crowd favourite in Fuifui Moimoi had barged over from close range to get the Eels on the board but Hayne took over, instigating a 105m try just after the hour when he took a pass in his own in-goal before beating five Manly defenders.
The last defender, former teammate Tony Williams, managed to get Hayne to ground, but from there the reigning Dally M medallist passed for Daniel Mortimer who found Timana Tahu in support, and he scored his first try since his return to league.
Parramatta's penultimate four-pointer to Joel Reddy was more than a touch dubious, with the final two passes from Hayne and Kris Keating appearing to go forward.
However, there was no denying Hayne as his no-look cut-out pass for Eric Grothe sealed the stunning win three minutes from time.
"You only have to give him 50-50 chances and he's going to take them most of the time," winger Luke Burt - who played his 200th game for Parramatta - said of Hayne.
But Anderson was none too pleased with the opening 50 minutes, as conveyed by veteran forward Nathan Hindmarsh. "It was a good spray - probably the best we've had from him so far," Hindmarsh said.
In yesterday's other match, the Roosters beat the Tigers 44-32 in a try-fest in Sydney.
- AAP
