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.
Stanley Campbell
Roar Rookie
I could imagine if someone like Jonathan Thurston just relied on talent he would not be half as good as he is now.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
In what way?
Simoc
Guest
That's a bit rough. The Fiji 7s side are the best in the world and while Hayne wasn't up to their standard (on limited learning curve), the fact that he got invited means he is very highly rated.
Albatross
Guest
If Hayne is one of Oz' greatest athletes, the now and future for Australian sport is looking very grim indeed!
Jock Cornet
Guest
His ego has led to poor decisions. He is up himself
Hoy
Roar Guru
What I will say about this, is this... perhaps it isn't as hard to make it in the NFL as people think? I mean, sure to actually get selected seems very difficult, but here is a player with no background, and he did fair enough... didn't set the world on fire, but he wasn't terrible... I mean the fumble he made that everyone gave him grief for, is made by players who have played the game their whole lives... so it isn't all bad. Perhaps the mighty NFL isn't that hard to make it once you are selected ahead of the many, many prospects. Harder to get in than it is to actually match it with the athletes in the game and play the game? Just a thought.
Hoy
Roar Guru
Ruled out by playing 7s for Fiji... Though he is just like what the ARU would have chased some time ago... Not so long ago...
Hoy
Roar Guru
Timana Tahu... although in reality he probably shouldn't have... Matt Rogers... though they were related games I guess...
andrew
Guest
What he achieved or didn't achieve in the NFL and rugby is totally irrelevant to any discussion about his form or commitment to playing rugby league. What has he played 6 games since not playing for 23 months? In that six he had a pretty good come back game against the Warriors and i am quite sure i was sitting in the grand stand at Campbelltown when he slotted a winning field goal. To me 6 games in almost 30 months, i can forgive any player for not playing to a $1m price tag in all six games - but like i said every one can have their own opinion on that, and its fine. The coach hasn't said he has a problem with Hayne. There was an issue, it was addressed and it is "old news" as far as he was concerned. He expects him to perform like he does all his players.
Wallaby fan
Guest
He sounds perfect for the wallabies!!!
steveng
Roar Rookie
Andre, the proof in in the pudding, Jarryd has done a great job with making the 49’s cut, but, he wasn’t the be all and end all in the NFL, the 49’s were the lowest team in the NFL (the coach and allot of players including Jarryd got sacked for last year’s season at the 49’s) and Jarryd had 4 games and he made allot of mistakes for a running back. He had a go at the super 7’s and didn’t even make the Fiji 7’s. Now, coming back to the NRL, he had a great opening game for the Titans but after that he was just ordinary, going through the paces. You would think that after last season’s comeback the bloke would want to prove something and to himself and to his fans (especially having a preseason off) and to the NRL overall, but he haven’t. That is what his coach is saying and that is what every fan in the NRL is expecting. There’s no more excuses for Jarryd Hayne, from now on he has to prove himself and justify his 1mil wage, nothing more or nothing less will be acceptable.
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
I don't know personally what he does or doesn't do at training but I'm more than willing to take the opinions of former teammates (Hindmarsh), coaches (Anderson). As well as the comments of current teammates who hint at his poor training nature. (Ryan James and Ash Taylor probably being the most revealing) The guy is a bad trainer. It's not the end of the world but when you start getting older you need to at least make sure the body is right and Hayne's body is not right. He's heavy and struggling to fill in at fullback for a full game. Guys like Hodges weren't great trainers either but they knew they had to have the body right. Some guys have that natural skill to break a game open even under fatigue, and while Hayne has that skill, he simply isn't going to be capable of using it when he can't even play his position for the full game.
andrew
Guest
I have zero problem with people saying his level of play isn't worth what he is costing the Titans at the moment. We can all watch the games and all make informed opinions based on that. It is the blowing up of being late for training once in the preseason (as far as we know), and being turned into "he is a lazy trainer" that drives me nuts. The two don't have any correlation, yet the never ending queue of journos and wanna-be journos wanting to repeat the same rhetoric based on one minor incident is just dull and if anything highlights the lack of players worth talking about and lack of story lines in the game. If being late for a pre-season training session a month or so ago is all these people can come up with to talk about for an entire week, then the NRL is lacking story lines and has a problem.
steveng
Roar Rookie
Come on Andrew, the bloke is a basket case, he's suppose to be this great NFL/7's and we know he's a great NRL player but he's done nothing in the last 12 months. He's come back to the NRL he's gotten all the publicity and accolades and wraps for everything and anything and he's done nothing. All I'm saying is that he better pull his socks up and start showing some value for the 1mil wage that the Titans are forking out for him.
andrew
Guest
Which you know Steveng because you attend every Titans training session i guess? I love all the keyboard warriors who seem to categorically know what Hayne does and doesn't do at training...
steveng
Roar Rookie
Hes lazy and just not good enough for the 2017 NRL, he doesn't want to put the effort in, simple.
Simoc
Guest
Falau way better than Hayne, Hunt a few suburbs back.
American Dave
Guest
The only difference would be that Tiger was actually a Champion in his given sport over a long period of time. Hayne, while an gifted athlete, shown bright for about 1-1.5 seasons, jagged a novelty spot for a rubbish NFL team and was (thankfully) shot down when he wanted to go to the Olympics. Not saying this as Hayne hater or as Tiger fan boy but let's keep stick to apple v apple comparisons.
Bill
Guest
Issy falou, karmichael hunt.
The Doc
Roar Guru
Nice read Greg. Forget the perception and look at the facts. Looking at the facts - Jarryd Hayne is one of Australia's greatest athletes. Twice dally M winner, represented NSW on 20 occasions and Australia in 12 matches. Played American football at the highest level for 1 season. Very few Australian athletes can claim to have played at the very highest level in 2 different sports (Mundine is the other one that comes to mind). I was very disappointed he didn't push on for a second season having done so much hard work. Making an NFL roster as a running back (from his position having never played American football before) is one of the great Australian sporting stories and is not Celebrated enough. He has since returned to play late last season, copped a knee injury in the nines, a head knock on the weekend, has 1 relatively poor game and everyone is baying for blood. I say let's have some perspective. It is very hard to know how one trains and or what happens behind closed doors. Yes he may have missed one training session but I bet if he rips it up last weekend no one will mention it at all. His French rugby comment was ill-timed but when we preach honesty from athletes, why are we so perturbed when they give it but we don't like what we hear. I think he will return to his best sooner rather than later.