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Jarryd Hayne's Wallaby ineligibility is good for Australia

22nd May, 2016
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Jarryd Hayne took to the field for his first rugby sevens match for Fiji, and it didn't go too well.
Roar Guru
22nd May, 2016
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2702 Reads

Jarryd Hayne is officially a Fijian rugby union representative. And Australian rugby fans should be jumping for joy right now.

Hayne made his rugby sevens debut at the London Sevens in what was largely a mixed performance. He did some good things and did some bad things, and without a doubt looked like a deer in the headlights.

By representing Fiji at the highest level, Hayne is no longer able to represent Australia in an international rugby contest, be it sevens or the 15-man variety.

And now that he can’t play for the Wallabies, the Australian Rugby Union won’t be willing to stump up extra cash to lure him to a Super Rugby franchise once his Olympic jaunt comes to an end. And that is why we should be happy.

As a result, it will instead be a three-horse race for those wishing to hire his services for however long he decides to stick around at the next stop on the ‘Hayne Global Sports Tour’. Those three horses are European rugby, Japanese rugby and the National Rugby League.

I am happy for those three groups to splash the cash to secure one of the most talented athletes in the Australian modern sporting era. I just don’t want the ARU doing the same. And now that he has represented Fiji, the ARU won’t be making it a four-horse race.

It goes without saying that Hayne is a freakishly talented athlete. You could have given him a list of sports at the age of 15 and told him to pick one. He would have gone professional in whatever sport he chose, barring possibly synchronised swimming.

But, as I have been told my entire life, talent isn’t everything. To be a professional athlete, talent can only get you so far. Talent got Hayne to the NFL, but it was the mental side of things that let him down. Yes, he had the drive to play in the NFL, but he didn’t have the drive or the passion to become a truly great American Football player.

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The stories that have emerged from the Sydney Roosters over the past week paint an even bleaker picture for Hayne as a team player. The Roosters, the frontrunners for Hayne’s signature in the NRL, ruled themselves out of the race for Hayne because of character issues.

There were reports of him flat out refusing to partake in drills while playing for the Eels if he didn’t agree with them.

That doesn’t sound like someone who I would want to play alongside. And it doesn’t sound like someone the ARU should want wearing a gold jersey, which thankfully is no longer a possibility.

Rugby union in Australia is currently in a state of flux, the team delivered some outstanding on-field performances in last year’s Rugby World Cup and coach Michael Cheika looks to be working his magic on the men in gold. However, off the field, the sport is still struggling for exposure, Bill Pulver is a walking negative headline and finances are incredibly tight.

Could you imagine the furor in club rugby land if Pulver threw millions towards Hayne just months after telling NSW club rugby teams that if he gave them money they would “piss it up against the wall”?

Yet, based on Pulver’s comments throughout the past week, the ARU was more than willing to welcome Hayne with open arms.

“He is an incredible athlete and it is only good for rugby to have him part of our game,” he gushed. “He would absolutely be welcome in Australia. He is a truly elite, international athlete, so we would love to have him.”

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Hayne isn’t the sort of person we want representing our country. He has never played the game before and, rightly or wrongly, many within the wider public currently view him as a mercenary, jumping from job to job, wherever he can promote ‘Brand Hayne’ and his flashy new line of clothing.

From Michael Cheika’s perspective, he is constantly speaking of the importance of culture and having a good group of guys playing together, with each other, for each other. Based on what we’ve seen from Hayne over the past few years, he would require a significant character shift to fit in the culture that Cheika is attempting to build.

On the flipside, Hayne would without a doubt raise the profile of Australian rugby, just like Israel Folau did when he signed with the Waratahs in 2013. In saying that, many thought Karmichael Hunt would raise the profile of rugby in Australia, instead he has largely been a disappointment.

Even if Hayne does raise the profile of rugby in Australia, who’s to say he doesn’t just jump ship once he’s achieved his ‘lifelong dream’ of playing for the Wallabies. Just like he did with his lifelong dream of playing in the NFL and like he will after he achieves his lifelong dream of playing sevens for Fiji in the Olympics.

Look, if he has ten lifelong dreams, that’s fine. He can jump from sport to sport trying to achieve them. But from the Wallabies perspective, why bother investing millions of dollars into someone who is just going to leave after a season or two?

If the Wallabies are going to develop into a team that can actually challenge the All Blacks it can only be achieved through development. Not splashing money at a quick fix that may or may not work out. I know I would much rather the Wallabies develop a player that chose to play rugby because they have a burning passion and desire to represent the Wallabies and who will want to play rugby in this country for the next decade.

In his weekly column, Matt Burke put it best. “Surely the development of youth in Australia has to be the priority, and that comes from paying attention to and looking after the junior ranks and also club rugby, not recruiting or cherry-picking from rugby league.”

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Thankfully Hayne has now represented Fiji and the chances of him playing for a Super Rugby club are effectively zero. Instead of wasting money on a free spirit who is only looking to check off another item on his sporting bucket list, the ARU will be forced to spend some money developing a homegrown superstar. And that can only be a good thing.

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