He's regarded by many as the face of rugby league, but Parramatta Eels superstar Jarryd Hayne warned his legion of fans he might not finish his career in the NRL.
In a startling attack on the game's administrators, Hayne accused the NRL of not caring about its star players and said he could not rule out following the path of league deserters Sonny Bill Williams and Karmichael Hunt when his contract expires in 2014.
"I am only 22. Who knows what will happen after my contract," Hayne said.
"I could be earning a couple of million somewhere else."
Hayne claimed NRL boss David Gallop failed to listen to him when the footballer warned him of the threat of rival codes.
"The sad thing is that (the NRL) was warned but nothing was done," Hayne said.
"They just said `If you're going to go, then you're going to go, not much can be done.' That was their reaction."
He then added, sarcastically: "They really care about their players heaps."
The comments will surely hurt the NRL, which has all but installed the Parramatta fullback as its No. 1 poster boy. But Hayne refused to hold back on his feelings about the way players have been treated.
"How many more people do we need to lose until something is done?" he said.
"It is just a sad thing, rugby league is such a great game and there are so many passionate players and we are losing them to AFL. We have already lost Mark Gasnier and Sonny Bill Williams (to rugby). We've already lost these superstars and they're doing nothing about it"
With Broncos centre Israel Folau poised to defect to rugby union, Hayne claimed more could be done to retain the game's best players.
He considered offers from rival codes before he signed a new three-year deal with the Eels earlier this year reportedly worth $500,000 a season.
As Hayne made his position known in Melbourne, his Kangaroos teammates were on the verge of revolt, claiming their match payments for the Anzac Test were embarrassing.
Each player will receive $6000 for taking part in the battle with New Zealand at AMMI Park.
"The players do not have a voice," Hayne said.
"We are just given a schedule and told what to do. I hope something can be done. I have family coming down and they have to pay for their tickets.
"We only get four free tickets and have to pay for the rest. The payments aren't big at all so you think they could compensate us elsewhere. There are certainly a couple of issues there."
ARL boss Geoff Carr said the representative payments would be reviewed when the next collective bargaining agreement is struck.
"They were agreed to in the last collective bargaining agreement," Carr said.
