A haul of nine tries in three games is not exactly the mark of a player with a focus on defence. But Jarryd Hayne says hes put an emphasis on his duties without ball since switching to the centres for Australia with great success at the Rugby League World Cup. The Parramatta NRL star is renowned as one of the games most exciting attackers and hes flourished since being switched to an unfamiliar role at right centre by coach Tim Sheens a fortnight ago. After scoring two tries on the wing against Ireland, Hayne bagged a record-equalling four-try haul against the United States and backed it up with a hat-trick against Fiji in the semi-finals. But while Hayne, a specialist fullback who has played mainly on the wing at representative level, has caused havoc with the ball hes also been instrumental in helping Australia not concede a try in four straight matches. Its definitely a focus. Not playing in the centres regularly, thats probably been the biggest change for me - defence, Hayne said. Reading-wise its definitely (one of the toughest positions in defence) because youre like the last line and everyone makes their decisions based on the person on their inside. Hayne said defending next to halfback Cooper Cronk had made the adjustment much easier, rating the Melbourne Storm playmaker as the games best defensive half. Hes short and nuggety and can take a man one-on-one so I know I dont need to worry about him, Hayne said. Hayne, the competitions top try-scorer, will compete in his first World Cup final on Saturday after being overlooked by Ricky Stuart at the last tournament in 2008, when he instead represented Fiji. The 25-year-old is most excited about the chance to play at Old Trafford, home to English Premier League club Manchester United. Its going to be huge, Hayne said. For me personally, its probably going to be the biggest ground Ill play on. No disrespect to Wembley, but watching the likes of (Cristiano) Ronaldo, (Wayne) Rooney and (Robin) Van Persie for a number of years now, everyone knows Old Trafford because of Manchester United and to be able to grace that ground is something thats going to be a career highlight.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 05:22:48 +0000