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Jarryd Hayne went from the equivalent of local theatre to the big stage and back to local theatre, via an unsuccessful shot at picking up a cheap Olympic gold medal. That final transition, back to the NRL, is proving difficult.
It has nothing to do with ability, or anything like that. Purely to do with personality and perception.
It wouldn’t have mattered had Hayne failed to get anywhere in his bid to break into the NFL. He wasn’t expected to make it. So getting into the squad at the San Francisco 49ers was an exceptional effort by him and each game he played was a bonus.
But being back in the NRL, where he is a big fish in a small pond, brings with it different requirements and Hayne is clearly having trouble meeting those.
If you’re a big-enough name in the NFL you can have a ‘me, me, me’ attitude, while still somehow fitting into the team culture. Looking on from the other side of the world, as an NFL devotee, I find it fascinating to see how that works.
But you can’t get away with that in the NRL, or any other football competition in Australia for that matter. The mentality doesn’t allow it.
Hayne was obviously a small fish in the NFL and from what we could see from a distance he kept himself in check. He was basically just living the dream and hoping not to wake up.
Eventually, reality hit. It became clear that he might not make the cut for a second season and since he had moved into his late 20s, he had to make a largely financial-based decision on what to do with his career.
After checking all of the options, and trying out for but missing out on a place in the brilliant Fijian sevens squad for the Olympics along the way, he ended up back in the NRL.
With little preparation, Hayne showed encouraging signs of his best form in those few games he played at the back end of last season, but the real test was always going to come this campaign.
At this very early stage, he is failing it.
The negative stuff about Hayne that has been leaking out of the Gold Coast Titans camp is damaging to his reputation because it strikes at the core of what a champion footballer – in any code – is supposed to be all about.
Commitment.
Not putting in 100 per cent, at training or in games, is a cardinal sin.
From his early days at Parramatta, Hayne has always had a reputation for being a lazy trainer, but he could get away with it then because of his sheer brilliance on the field.
Obviously, he was never going to get away with cutting corners in the NFL and he clearly trained his backside off, as evidenced by the impressive six-pack he got out of it.
He was out of his comfort zone there, but he is back in his comfort zone in league and therein lies the problem. If the talk is that he’s not putting in as he should – and clearly it is coming from elements within his own club – then the perception is inevitably going to be that he thinks he can get away with doing whatever he likes, that he regards it as a step back down from the NFL, and he is naturally brilliant at it, so he doesn’t have to work as hard.
Hayne was less than impressive in the first round for the Titans and has obviously been pounded in the media this week.
We’ll get a good idea of where his head is at when he steps out for the Titans against the Knights in Newcastle on Saturday.
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