Bevan French was a 13-year-old in Tingha when the Jarryd Hayne-fronted Parramatta side of 2009 went on their remarkable run to the grand final. He wasn't an Eels fan – "Preston Campbell was my idol so I followed every team he went for" – but Hayne's heroics made an impact on the impressionable boy from the bush.

"I was still a young kid then but I remember it for sure," French says.

Eight years later and it is French in the Eels' No.1 jumper as the blue and golds eye another tilt at the semi-finals. It may be still premature to declare that Brad Arthur's side will scale the heights that Dally M award winner Hayne led them to back then, but belief is growing from Greystanes to Glenhaven that they can be a major player come September.

A 14-point triumph over Brisbane on Friday night gave Parramatta five wins in a row for the first time since 2009. Their 12 victories this season are four more than they had at the corresponding point of the campaign eight years ago. The Eels did it somewhat differently on their last visit to the finals, of course. Propelled by Hayne, Daniel Anderson's men set off on a remarkable spree of 10 wins in 11 games to sneak into eighth place and then reach the grand final against Melbourne.