JARRYD Hayne has been very good of late for the Eels, and his coach Brad Arthur has acknowledged that the two-time Dally M medallist might have found that form earlier if not for a mistake in judgement.

“He came in the second week of January after the World Cup, so didn’t get enough real time [with him]. He needed a really good pre-season,” Arthur told Michael Ennis on Fox League.

“I moved him to fullback probably a game too early, he wasn’t ready for it in terms of the physical workload.

“It cost us, he got injured. Yeah looking back on it now maybe we pushed him too hard too early and didn’t allow him time to get fully fit.”

Arthur is now hopeful that the off-contract star will stick with the Eels in 2019 as he has seen enough to know Hayne can ignite next year’s finals charge on the back of a full pre-season.

“He came back against Manly and we were desperate again on the back of six losses. Just the boys lacing their boots up next to him made a real difference and it was probably our best performance of the year and he only lasted half a game in that one as well,” he continued.

“So we just took it a bit more cautious with him this time around and he came back for us against the Cowboys and he was the difference, we don’t win without him.

“The challenge for him is he needs to repeat that for us every week because that’s what he’s here for and then come Round 25 we’ll sit down and have a conversation about what he wants to do next year.”

Statistically, the 30-year-old’s best performance this year came in his side’s loss to Newcastle last weekend.

He busted 14 tackles — his most in a match since the 2009 finals series, when he broke 15 against the Titans — made three line-breaks, had a try-assist and ran for 189 metres.

He wasn’t as effective on Thursday night against the Bulldogs, but still ran for more than 100 metres with 14 carries.

“I’m sure if his heart’s still in playing rugby league in the NRL, we’re the club for him and I’m sure he knows that,” Arthur said.

“He keeps his cards pretty close to his chest, but... he likes a challenge, he likes a fight Jarryd and maybe that’s what could entice him.”