Jarryd Hayne: Australians don't hate Gold Coast Titans star, but have little time for lofty declarations
ANALYSIS
By
Dan Colasimone
Posted 24 minutes ago
Jesus Christ knew how to ignore the haters and go about his business, Jarryd Hayne pointed out this week while railing at the media for treating him unfairly, but he is missing the point.
Australians, or the majority of them at least, don't hate Jarryd Hayne. But they do lose patience quickly when they feel they are being taken for a ride.
Nor does the media hate the Gold Coast Titans recruit. It jumped aboard the Hayne Plane when it took off over the Pacific and revelled in every minute of his NFL adventure, with all the page clicks, TV ratings and newspaper sales it generated.
It doesn't matter whether you are in the business of saving souls or kicking field goals, the media's job is to call you out if you act in a way that is insincere. Especially when you are a public figure who first delivers media statements via the social media accounts of your product line rather than your personal account.
"Today's media is not about facts or truths anymore," Hayne declared on Wednesday.
"It's more leaning towards a story or how much they can really blow something up. It's disappointing and it's sad but it is what it is. As athletes, we do as much talking as we can on the field."
But Hayne did a fair bit of talking off the field when he decided to
leave his beloved Parramatta Eels and head to American Football.
"It's always been a dream of mine to play in the NFL, and at my age, this is my one and only chance at having a crack at playing there," a teary Hayne said in October, 2014.
Fair enough.
"I'm leaving knowing that I have signed a 'lifetime agreement' with the Eels, so if I return to the NRL, it will be to Parramatta."
Right.
It is safe to say at that stage there were quite a few who doubted he could bust into America's elite football code, but not many in Australia were hoping Hayne would crash and burn.
We followed him every step of the way as he picked up a contract with the San Francisco 49ers, put in some impressive pre-season performances, sensationally earned a place on their team roster, then struggled to hold that place. He was dropped to the training squad, but earned a handful more starts as the season drew to a close, raising hopes Down Under that he could build on his flying start in season two.
Then came another bombshell.
"The Olympics has been something I have admired since I was a little boy, and it is an opportunity I feel very similar to me joining the NFL," Hayne announced in May of this year, as he
quit the 49ers to chase a spot on Fiji's Olympic sevens team.
"I simply could not pass that chance up."
PHOTO: Jarryd Hayne's Olympic dreams were never realised. (Getty Images: Ezra Shaw)
This is the point where many Hayne fans began to lose the faith a little. It was a stumbling block in the athlete's career trajectory as well, as the 28-year-old missed out on selection in Fiji's squad, his dream of competing at the Olympics and the gold medal they would eventually win.
The player continued to flirt with rugby union despite this setback,
meeting with the Waratahs and looking at offers from France and Japan as NRL clubs scrambled to catch his eye.
"I like my red wine, so maybe the south of France. But I also like sushi, so it could be Japan," he teased.
If Parramatta fans were annoyed at this stage, many were understandably very upset when Hayne popped up with a
contract at the Gold Coast Titans this August.
"Not in my wildest dreams I ever thought I would be up on the Gold Coast," he said, candidly revealing his latest venture was not, in fact, another Inception-like dream-within-a-dream scenario.
All of these quotes are straight from the mouth of Hayne, with no media distortion needed. If analysis pieces have been written which are critical of this gifted athlete's behaviour over a hectic couple of years, those are reflective of the public's opinion.
Yes, a young footballer is entitled to pursue whichever career he desires, and he is certainly allowed to secure his future and the future of his family with a series of meaty contracts.
PHOTO: Saving souls or kicking field goals -- sincerity is important. (AAP: Brendan Esposito)
But if you constantly justify your decisions with misty-eyed public declarations which ring hollow to your base group of supporters, expect the media to jump on your back about it.
Hayne said on Wednesday he would steer clear of the tendency so many US athletes have of using the 'haters' to inspire him, but he also displayed another habit so prevalent in American sporting culture, invoking religion to explain or justify an athletic narrative.
He is entitled to use Jesus as inspiration, of course, but if he continues to loudly preach what he practices he can expect yet another backlash from run-of-the-mill Australian sports fans who don't necessarily believe God is as infatuated with the weekly NRL fixtures as the rest of us are.
Hayne is right in noting that if he does his talking on the field, he will win over fans again, so his smartest move now would be to follow his own advice.
Because if there's anything Australians love more than cutting down big-dreaming tall poppies, it's watching them pick themselves up again and genuinely having another go.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-...ayne-but-want-sincerity/7783768?section=sport
PHOTO: Saving souls or kicking field goals -- sincerity is important. (AAP: Brendan Esposito)
