Is Blues star Jarryd Hayne ready for State of Origin relaunch?

RIGHT now, he’s not the dominant Jarryd Hayne of old. But can the Blues star still be a State of Origin success? Nick Campton investigates.

JARRYD Hayne was selected for the NSW State of Origin team on Monday, as we all knew he would be.

Despite his uneven return to rugby league last season and the injuries that have dogged him in the first half of this year, there was no doubt Hayne would be named in coach Laurie Daley’s line-up.

Indeed, it has seemed a fait accompli since Hayne returned from an ankle injury in round eight against the Sharks.

The Titans scored a 16-12 victory built on the never-say-die approach that has become their trademark.

Hayne was still troubled by his ankle and not anywhere close to fully fit, but the Gold Coast were down on troops and Hayne gritted his teeth and played.

He was good, too. He threw a couple of nice passes for line breaks and would have had a fine try assist had Dan Sarginson not dropped the ball with the line wide open late in the first half.

But he wasn’t the Hayne of old. There was little punch when he carried the ball, none of the dynamic running and kick returns that made him so effective in his Parramatta years.

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Jarryd Hayne (centre) is back on the State of Origin stage.

More than once there was a slight gap that he could have powered through but when the foot hit the pedal there wasn’t the same acceleration as before.

And that’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with that, at all.

Hayne spent the better part of two years playing other sports and it could take another 12 months before he is back in prime rugby league shape. Switching between sports at the elite is incredibly difficult.

But that hasn’t stopped the breathless anointing of Hayne as the Blues’ Origin saviour.

The 2014 hero, the man who wept after the drought-breaking victory, who carried the hopes of a state through the very worst of the Queensland streak, was back and must play.

Hayne’s Origin pedigree cannot be denied or disputed. But he has been selected on what he was, not what he is.

He still has his soft hands and ball-playing abilities, those skills aren’t dependent on physicality.

But he can’t be the bulldozing runner, a trait that has typified his greatest Origin performances.

In his six matches this season, Hayne’s impact as a runner has been limited. He has just two line breaks, both of which came against the Knights, and six tackle busts. He ran for 115m against Manly, the first time he’s crossed the 100m barrier all season.

Jarryd Hayne’s impact as a runner has been limited this season.

Hayne is still feeling his way back in regards to the physical requirements needed to play elite rugby league. Again, there’s nothing wrong with this. It’s no slight on Hayne. These things take time.

But it seems unlikely we’ll see anything like his brilliant 2009 series, when he kept the Blues alive from the wing and averaged 199m, 15.3 runs, 8.33 tackle busts and 1.66 line breaks per match.

Or his second match at fullback for NSW, in the 2010 dead rubber. In a deeply flawed Blues side at its lowest ebb during the Maroons’ dominance, Hayne ran until he had nothing left, notching 17 carries for 220m and 14 tackle busts.

And the piece de resistance, the 2014 series.

Hayne may have played better football but he has never played tougher.

He was man-of-the-match in game one with 14 runs for 161m, a try, a vital hand in the Blues’ only other four-pointer and two line breaks.

In a gripping game two, a match that was fought in the middle and gave Hayne next to no opportunity, he ran the ball 19 times, the second-highest total of his Origin career.

Hayne’s greatest Origin moments have come through power, speed and athleticism. He has two try assists in his 20 matches, one from the wing.

Jarryd Hayne has never played tougher than during the 2014 State of Origin series. Picture: Gregg Porteous

All signs point towards Hayne not having those same capabilities at this point of his return.

There is little statistical basis for Hayne’s selection. He has been picked on a gut feel.

With few numbers to rely on, the case for his inclusion is based on the assertions that he is a “big-game player”, an “Origin-type player”, he has so much “X-factor” and he “loves the big stage”.

All of these phrases can be twisted to mean whatever you need them to mean.

The Blues have an abundance of talent at centre. James Roberts and Jarrod Croker would be fine options to make their Origin debuts. Joey Leilua is flawed but dynamic.

Dylan Walker was selected last year when he didn’t deserve it but won’t be this year when he does deserve it.

Walker scored two tries in Manly’s win over the Titans last weekend and the Sea Eagles focused their attack down Hayne’s side.

Hayne made a couple of defensive lapses, which opens another avenue of conjecture over his selection — his relative inexperience in the centres.

Jarryd Hayne has been named in the centres for NSW.

He has 17 club matches at centre and before this season the last time he played in the position was in 2009. He has played one Origin at centre and three Tests. That’s 21 matches in the position and only three in the past four years. His pedigree cannot be disputed, but his experience in such a difficult defensive position can be.

It’s a mark on the continued selection struggles of the Blues that Hayne has only played one full series at fullback, in 2014 when the Blues won.

There have been peaks and troughs in Hayne’s pre-NFL rugby league career but there is little doubt he has the highest ceiling and best Origin performances of any Blues player since the Queensland domination began.

However, right now he’s not that player.

Jarryd Hayne’s only full series as Blues fullback came in the triumphant 2014 campaign. Picture: Brett Costello

There would have been nothing wrong with waiting for Hayne to regain the well-rounded game that he once had. To wait and see if he can return to his full powers.

Instead, Laurie Daley has gone for Hayne. He is betting that Hayne can defy the 12 games worth of evidence that he has shown since his return and recapture at least something of the tackle-breaking, line-shaking, earth-quaking bulldozer we’ve seen in the past.

If Hayne can defy what we’ve seen, it’ll be a masterstroke from Daley and perhaps the greatest achievement of Hayne’s complex career.

But the challenges he faces are mighty, numerous and even for someone as decorated as Hayne, perhaps insurmountable.