Plenty has already been said and written about the Titans’ recruitment of Jarryd Hayne. It will no doubt continue to dominate the media for some time to come. “The Cumberland Throw” endeavours to have a football focus in its site content but I’m not going to make any sort of footy analysis in this post. Rather, I’d like to offer an opinion about who will be affected by Hayne’s decision. As a fan site, it seems a logical post to make.
Will The Parramatta Players Be Impacted?
Not in any significant way whatsoever.
Jarryd Hayne is not defecting from this team of 2016. He has not been a part of the Eels set-up for the last two seasons. Sure he has some good friends in the squad and no doubt the blokes would have enjoyed having their mate back in the fold. However, we’ve seen the bond that exists within this group. They play for the coach, their team mates and the fans. The decision of a player to NOT JOIN this group isn’t going to affect them in the slightest.
Does Jarryd Owe The Club?
To an extent he does, but I think it is important to make a distinction between the club and its fans.
No doubt the club has looked after Hayne really well. The deals that were done to keep him as a marquee player certainly rated a mention or two during the examination of the Eels salary cap breaches. He was highly paid and well pampered. The club also supported him after his departure to the NFL and promoted sales of his merchandise.
However, it would be hard to argue that the Eels didn’t get value for money given that he was such a marketable talent who delivered in spades on the field. For this author, he was the most talented Eel to ever pull on the jersey.
I’ll go a step further and say that even the early release of Hayne from the remaining year of his contract cannot be viewed as a debt. It was done with Parra’s eyes wide open and an understanding that success in the NFL may mean that he wouldn’t return to the Club. When all is said and done, the Eels paid Hayne for his services and he met that commitment.
The Fans Are The Ones Who Deserved Better
Unlike his relationship with the club, Hayne did owe the fans. Not from the perspective of failure to deliver on the field, but rather his failure to deliver on a promise.
When Hayne left the NRL, he declared that should he ever return, it would be to the Eels. No misinterpretation there. It was clear and it was repeated. Those who speculated that he would go elsewhere were labelled as clowns. He could not have been stronger in his message and supporters took him at his word.
The past two years have seen those same fans follow his NFL odyssey and purchase the Hayne merchandise and apparel. They took up NFL broadcast vision and travelled to the states to back him in person. But more importantly they believed in the truth of his words.
Today we are faced with the harsh reality that his words meant nothing. He even resorted to untruths in his media conference, stating that the Eels did not table an offer. That statement said plenty about his spin. It did nothing but treat the fans with contempt.
Isn’t It The Right Of A Professional Athlete To Get The Best Deal?
Of course a professional footballer deserves to look after himself in what is a ridiculously short career. Taking the best offer is unquestionably Hayne’s right. As football fans, we see these decisions every season.
But until now, Hayne’s “dreams” have never mentioned the filthy lucre.
For him, this is where he’s lost his credibility with many Eels fans.
No mention was made about money being the major factor. No mention was made about money meaning more than his previous promises. No mention was made that his return to the Eels was dependent on him receiving the largest contract In NRL history.
Instead, we got the latest spin from a player who could not keep his word to the fans.
That will ultimately go down as his legacy at Parramatta.
Sixties
I remember clearly Jarryd’s words, The Only way I will not return to the Eels is if they don’t want me. Not if the money is not as good as any other offer but IF THEY DON’T WANT ME. I think Brad Arthur has been pretty clear in his press conferences that he DID want him to return to the Eels. Jarryd Hayne is not true to his word, he has let his fans down and I for one am devastated.
He knew. He’d met with Brad. His manager had an offer. That lie spoke volumes.
As always well said Sixties. What really upset me was the lies he told today about not being offered a contract. He took the easy path, he pointed out that management is a basket case, he then used that to build the lie that this poor excuse of a management team could not find time for him. Why put rubbish on the club that gave you so much. His true character was exposed today. If he called it for what is and said the money was too good to refuse I would still have some respect for him
Too true mate. If he was honest about it, it’s no different to others who change clubs.
Completely agree Sixties. Today’s news & his manipulative spin feels like a massive kick in the guts , not just for us fans, but the Club. Us. The Eels.
I was always a supporter of Hayne. Until today. This feels far worse than Lyons walk out years ago.
Hayne will leave a legacy of an enormously talented, enigmatic gypsy-like dream-chaser , that changed much like Melbourne weather, with his only true loyalty to himself & his own personal lot. Not a true leader of men. Not a great team man. Nor a great Club man.
Talent & potential is never enough. The spirit the team has shown this year is arguably the best in a long time, despite the greatest challenges it’s ever faced. They fought together in the trenches , without Hayne & those are the types of players that will rebuild this Club. Not Hayne.
It’s sad , but the way I view Hayne , now , is that he has NOTHING to do with us Eels anymore. Nothing at all. He’s the past. Good luck & good bye.
Well said.
Great piece mate. Jarryd is my all time favourite player & it made me sick to my stomach that he signed with the Titans. If the figures are true I can’t blame him for taking an extra $400,000 & getting to live on the Gold Coast. If I was offered that I sure would take it. As much as it hurts that he didn’t stick to his word everyone wants loyalty but the clubs are just as bad as the players just look what happened to Nathan Peats.
Mate, I don’t begrudge a bloke earning a good living. Just don’t tell me a whole lot of spin and play me for an idiot. He’s tried to do that and in doing so I’ve lost respect for him.
Pretty much on the money. It’s the fans who have been most let down. If he had of been honest for his reasons it wouldn’t have lessened the angry and betrayal, but it would have made it easier to get over and perhaps see his legacy in years to come differently.
As far as I’m concerned he is dead to me
Too true.
Ob la di, ob la da life goes on…..
We’ll be fine. This is just a supporter response to the misrepresentation.
Sixties I’m happy his back …am I happy his at the Gold Coast Titan’s …yes
I think he did owe us fans …. Some respect …did he owe the club …big time.
The club did the right thing by him years ago by releasing him to follow his American dream of playing for the San Fran 49’ers.
As a player of his talent yeah I think he should get what he thinks his worth. At the end of the day I think we should look to French / gutherson as our future fullback. To to look ahead not into the past.
Well said sixties!! – Personally, I’m not too fussed he’s not coming back. Too much money & more of the media circus to follow his trail. – This is exactly what we don’t need right now. – He was one of the best players I’ve ever seen throw on the blue & gold jumper, but he never won a comp with us, or for us. I would have thought he would have seen what BA was doing at the club & how committed the players were, that he may get a chance to finally realise his “dream” of winning a title with the Eels!! – But life goes on & thank you Timmy Mannah for your loyalty & your ‘pointed’ media statement today. Despite what a lot of Eels supporters say about the bloke, he is all Parra & will be a 1 club man!!
I’ve accepted and moved on from the fact he isn’t going to play for us, it’s not like he has been with us the past 2 years.
What has me angry, livid, is that he lied to us, the fans. And more than once.
60’s Good read same as Miatch’s post as well.
Honestly I am of a mixed view on this, having watched the early midday interviews he was at, then the 10 evening news & the footy show ones. I saw a person in Hayne that was not looking overjoyed, certainly not that happy for a person just signing a $2,5M deal for 2 years would normally have looked.
Hayne being caught up in a lot of the bagman controversies with money appearing in his account or the like has had to go with his manager & he has relied on him too much, I am also of the view that somewhere along the line the NRL has had some interference in what has gone on, its almost another Izzie issue, where the NRL has put a price on Haynes return that would be unable to be met by the eels. The delay to the NRL giving the eels confirmation of what the caps going to be like next year has meant other contracts that may have or not have been signed cannot be ratified until the NRL makes that decision.
News also said that Beavis notified the eels that there latest offer was below that of other clubs but did not it seem provide the eels with the chance to make a counter offer before Hayne signed.
Anyway, its happened, reality is that we now look to next year with the certainty of him not being at the club. We have two 1’s in French & Gutherson, depending on what happens with Semi the backline looks fairly good, except for a half. We need a good hooker so two key positions are needed to be filled & we have enough money to be able to make real offers to the players that are needed. Therein is our future, sadly it will not be with Hayne but we have done ok without him this year having won enough games so far that would under normal circumstances still have us in the finals running.
I hope Jarryd settles in at the Titans, but I have a gut feeling that he may not be as great a player there as he was & could have been here. as I am not sure his heart is really there. While he will do well at the Titans, or should do, I tend to wonder as he looks south & sees the eels next year doing well without him, will his mind wander to be asking himself Am i really where I should & want to be.
His departing words of 2 years ago, I guess are ones that he should not have made or at least say it in a way that was a promise, more to just say that playing for the eels again is possible.
I wouldn’t be upset if he did an achilies first game back to be honest.
Bahahahahaha only you n fong ooo how I miss fongy ….
Disappointed but not too surprised. While it might have been said that money isn’t his motivator, it never was as long as he was being paid amongst the highest paid players, if not the highest in the league and nothing has changed in that regard. It was these level of earnings that allowed him to pursue his NFL dream, but such decisions are much easier made when you’ve got the funds nest egg to fall back on that he had.
I heard comment on the radio this morning that he should have been more direct in the reasons given for his decision to sign with the Titans. The suggestion was that he should have explained it along the lines that he been away from the game for 2 years, had had minimal earnings in that time and God forbid he was so destitute that he had reached the point where he was forced to live off the earnings of his property portfolio!
So what went through his mind when the decision had to be made. He must have been very aware of his expressed commitment to the eels. Hell there are enough audio and video grabs of himself saying just that and direct printed quotes to remind him, but in the end this God fearing man reneged on HIS promise and choose money over his word.
For the personal image he has wished to portray this is a huge backflip and one that will not be forgotten by many and it is something that he will have to deal with for a very long time. It will be softened no doubt by the roar of the crowd (Titans ticket sales already on the up); support from his new team mates; encouragement from his manager and his family that Parramatta had disrespected him by not falling at his feet as they had in the past. Most of the time he will function as if it was the right tough decision that had to be made, but there will be many other times when a shiver will go through his body when he recalls the many commitments he gave but did not honour…and no bible references are necessary but one involving St. Peter and a cockerel does come to mind.
Had he honoured his commitment and worked with the eels towards a fair remuneration for his services for both parties, then he would have been see as an immortal in not only the eyes of eels fans, but other NRL supporters and the wider population in general. The value of doing nothing more than honouring his commitment would have had him held in the highest esteem and for most a value could not be placed on that, but thanks to Jarryd we know exactly what breaking his word is worth to him.
Good luck to him and he will remain the most skilled all round player I’ve ever seen play for the eels, but certainly not in my top 10 all time favourites.
I thank you for your summary Sixties and wish to add a few of my own comments.
Anyone who watched that appalling spectacle of a press conference to announce Hayne’s signing with the Titans could see that his heart was not in the decision to go there. The entire time Hayne sat there meekly holding back the tears as he expressed with deep emotion the sadness of him not having returned to the Eels. While his position that the off-field situation at the Eels was the direct cause of him signing with the Titans was quite simply disingenuous on his part and right up there with Bill Clinton’s ‘I did not have sexual relations with that woman’ speech. Clearly, Hayne was reading from a script that had been penned for him by other interested parties. Still, he chose to do so and must now face up to the consequences of its outcome.
Overall, his was a hollow endorsement of his new club and not something you see during all such occasions trumpeting the arrival of a new marquee player from elsewhere. And this from a man who just did not have it in him to do a Kevin Durant, we were told! The result has left a sour taste in the mouth of existing fans – his largest market base – and will cause irreparable, long term damage to his good name.
Spot on Chris. He has shown how selfish he is mate, and I think his heart doesn’t seem to be in it but time will tell. He has become the new SBW…..good riddance to him.
Parra will be stronger and BA comments today will make those guys feel even better. We are a team, and this is because of BA. When JH and Sandow was here we see avg in games and often our heads were down.
And no way is he worth $1.2 million.
Mitchy, I suspect that there is more to this then we know about, and I don’t think that it is strictly money-related either. After all, Hayne was keen to point out that he had received a higher offer from another club, and there is no reason to doubt him on this. However, I cannot wear the excuses of Parramatta’s off-field situation and him being unemployed for up to a month as reasons for signing with the Titans. Hayne was not unemployed. He was merely transitioning from one line of work to another. A contract from the Eels was coming his way. And he knew this! Just how dumb does Hayne’s management think we all are to have him utter this mindless drivel to us?
Anyway, the equation as I see it is a straightforward one: Hayne wanted to return to the Eels, the club was keen to have him back, and yet somehow he winds up on the Gold Coast and accedes to the demands of a shotgun marriage – I suppose there’s little choice but to accede to such demands when there’s a shotgun aimed at one’s head!
It’s the ‘somehow’ in this equation that is teasing me… and I do like a good thriller…
Just remember this when his contract is over at the Titans & he wants back in. We will tell him in no uncertain terms, YOUR DREAMIN.
I was saddened to hear Jarryd had turned his back on us for greed and gave everyone an insight on the makeup of the man he has become. As talented as he has been, he always had a bit of a reputation for being that way, so I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised. I feel sorry for those that believed the lines he gave as he was leaving, particularly those that went and bought 49er gear, and those that have his name on the jersey they wear to the game (how can they continue to wear that great jersey when it has been besmirched in such a way?)
I love going to the footy. I think I enjoy booing almost as much as I like cheering.
What upsets me most though is that we might not be presented with an opportunity to boo Jarryd every time he touches the ball when he next plays against OUR team in OUR stadium. Boo as much as we will, the atmosphere at ANZ Stadium can’t hold a candle to that of Parra Stadium. A 2 year deal with the Titans might see him off to follow his next dream, of becoming richer, before our stadium is rebuilt.
I will hold my anger to let it seethe. When our new stadium is built, if he dares show up and he is still playing, that’s when he will know what I think of him.
P.S. The club better not even think of sending the next Titans vs Parra game to the NT!