Watching on from the sidelines as NSW lost yet another State of Origin series last year Parramatta star Jarryd Hayne says he learnt some of his most valuable rugby league lessons.
Hayne starred in the opening Origin game in Sydney last year, scoring the series’ first try and spearheading the Blues to a win that gave their long-suffering fans plenty of hope Queensland’s stranglehold on the interstate series would finally be broken.
But things went downhill from there.
Hayne suffered a hamstring injury in his next NRL game and didn’t play Origin again as Queensland belted NSW in Brisbane in game two and squeaked home 12-10 in game three in Sydney to claim their eighth straight series.
Captain Paul Gallen and Hayne were key injury omissions for the Blues in the decider and the Eels superstar says he is determined to learn from the low he felt at another series loss.
“It was very tough,” Hayne told AAP.
“Two times sitting on the sideline for any game is always tough but for it to be Origin and with the opportunity for us to win the series there and for me not to be out there was devastating.
“It was so hard to watch on and to see the way the boys went down in Sydney was very hard to take.”
“It was a huge learning curve for me on how to control my emotions and to focus on just trying to get back and being healthy.
“From a management point of view I know I am not young any more. I respect the body a bit more and know how to manage it.”
This season is a crucial one for the Eels as they desperately seek to avoid a third successive wooden spoon under new coach Brad Arthur.
It is an equally vital one for the Blues as they look to finally wrest back interstate dominance.
A key player for both sides, Hayne is using last season’s Origin heartbreak as prime motivation in 2014.
“Those losses have been a motivator for the past eight years,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter how it is done, you never want to lose, you never want your state to lose, there is always motivation there.
“We (NSW) are close, we are not that far off, we know that, we just have to keep building, every year is about building, and taking that extra step.”
