Hayne hails unstoppable Marshall

REIGNING Dally M medallist Jarryd Hayne has praised Wests Tigers’ five-eighth Benji Marshall, following his virtuoso performance against Paramatta at the Sydney Football Stadium on Friday night.<br><br>The clash had been billed as the battle of the game’s biggest superstars and it was the Tigers’ headline act Marshall that stole the show.<br><br>Marshall, who required a pain-killing injection before the game, ran in two tries to help inflict the Eels’ second loss of the season, while Hayne failed to trouble the scorers.<br><br>Hayne told BigPond Sports Weekend that the Tigers were thoroughly deserving of the 23-12 win.<br><br>“The Tigers are a great side. They used the edges a lot and their middlemen did all their defensive work. They really held out forwards and did a great job,” Hayne said.<br><br>“There were obviously sparks from both Benji and I, but the Tigers just had an awesome game and Benji was the main influence, especially in attack. He was just so hard to stop.”<br><br>Hayne is promoted as the main drawcard in almost every Paramatta game and he admitted it was frustrating having the focus on his individual performance, rather than the teams.<br><br>“It does get tiring and the media just try and ask the same questions, but in different ways,” he said.<br><br>“You give your time to the media and they ask you the same questions, so it does get a bit aggravating but I suppose it just comes with the territory in the sport I play.”<br><br>Hayne played down the reigning grand finalist’s slow start to the season, saying it was to be expected.<br><br>“We always start pretty slowly. It’s just the way it is. It always seems to take us a while to get clicking,” Hayne said.<br><br>“The spotlight has been on us a bit and it has been a bit of a different [preparation]. Last year we came into the season and no one gave us hope or any chance.<br><br>“We need everyone to start playing for each other because I think that’s something we’re really lacking at the moment and it’s showing on the field, but it’s only early and hopefully we can fix it up before we get ourselves into trouble.”