Hayne chasing history
A CANDID Jarryd Hayne has predicted NSW will travel “to hell and back” in Origin I – just as they did in the famous and historic 2014 series triumph.
Hayne claimed he would be driven, motivated and inspired by the heroics of 2014 when NSW finally snapped a gut-wrenching seven-year losing streak.
In memorable images, Hayne ran the ball dead-ingoal and jumped into Blatchy’s Blues at ANZ Stadium to clinch the series in game two in a moment that still gives him goosebumps.
“Jumping in the crowd was special and I’ll remember that forever,” Hayne said.
And the Titans veteran also recounted his effort in Game One at Suncorp Stadium that year – an individual performance still rated among the greatest in Origin history.
Back in Origin after successfully progressing to the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers, Hayne believes NSW can recreate the history and theatre of 2014, a series, like this one, where the Blues went to hostile Brisbane for game one.
Asked if the 2014 Origin series win pinnacle of his career, Hayne said: “Definitely. Even looking back at it gives me goosebumps. Just realising what we went through to get there.
“We went to hell and back in that Game One.
“Game Two was just as tough. All the heartache we had in previous years.
“After that game Beau Scott had to go to hospital because he was physically ill. That’s what we had to put our bodies through just to get that win and we’ll have to do that again on Wednesday night.
“There were two series there that were neck and neck and they got over us in the final minutes so to finally get that win was unbelievable.
“It’s about winning the first two games more than anything. Get them up there in Brissy then bring it home down here like we did in ‘14.
“It’s obviously a huge ask and something that is probably the hardest road trip to go by but we’ll be ready and I’m looking forward to it.”
The vision of the famous finish in game two will be replayed for decades, at least on the NSW side of the border.
“One of the Queenslanders kicked it, I was going to grab it and kick it out,” Hayne recalled,
“I said ‘that’s it, I’ve had enough’, I was thinking about kicking it and I was like maybe if I mishit it and it hits the post and comes back, I said ‘nah I’m just going to run it out’.
“Duges (Josh Dugan) was behind me and I just kept running, he said I was chasing you but you just kept running.
“It was a surreal moment.”