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Hayne saga shows the 'tall poppy syndrome' is alive and well

Jarryd Hayne returns a punt for the San Francisco 49ers. Will he make it to the Olympics? (Photo: AP)
Roar Guru
26th May, 2016
6

Those who said that Jarryd Hayne would never make it in the NFL and were willing him to fail have got their way.

After making a number of appearances in America’s biggest sport, Hayne has walked away from the San Francisco 49ers to pursue his new dream of attaining an Olympic Gold medal with the Fiji sevens team.

On the surface it would appear as though Hayne has failed to realise his dream in the NFL, but is that really the case?

Hayne actually made the run-on team of the San Francisco 49ers last year and even though he was cut and relegated to the train-on squad, he did play one season in the NFL.

Therefore, it seems a bit more like ‘tall poppy syndrome’, with people only to happy to criticise someone for having a go and taking himself out of his comfort zone to pursue a dream that he has had since childhood.

Sure the cynics will be quick to say that it’s all about the money. Well if Hayne makes the final team and represents Fiji at the Rio Olympics he will only receive a paltry amount compared to what he would have made had he have stayed in the NFL, gone straight back to the NRL or to rugby union.

The biggest challenge for Hayne to make the Fijian team will be his ability to adapt to the game of rugby sevens’ and whether or not he has sufficient time to get aerobically fit before the Rio Olympics.

The question that really needs to be asked here however is whether or not it’s fair for Hayne to take the place of a Fijian player who has been in the system until now and who also has the same dream as that of Hayne of winning an Olympic gold medal?

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Jarryd Hayne is obviously a free spirit and would appear to be following a similar path to that of Sonny Bill Williams. Love him or loathe him you can’t deny the fact that Hayne has been blessed with talents that the rest of us can only dream of.

I for one have nothing but praise and admiration for the ‘Hayne Plane’ and hope that he achieves his dream of winning Olympic Gold at Rio and ends up back in the NRL in the near future.

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