Every member of the Eels' 2018 wooden spooners trudged into the club’s North Parramatta training facility a few days after Mad Monday last year for their individual reviews.
Everyone but Michael Jennings. No one at the club could track him down.
“I turned my phone off, I was just over it,” Jennings recalls.
One of the highest-paid players in the club, facing the prospect of starting the following year in the Canterbury Cup, then boarded a plane for Lebanon. Still, no one from the club had heard from him.
“That’s where my head was at. I was really selfish,” Jennings told NRL.com.
“I wasn’t in a good place. I just wanted to get away from my environment. I just wasn’t in a good place. I was just over the year. I was over it. Just selfish. I put myself before the team. I had too many excuses.”
When Jennings touched back down in Australia almost a month later, NRL.com can reveal he was greeted by a $15,000 fine and a breach notice - his second in as many months.
The first was after another no-show at a club appearance. His contract, understood to be more than $800,000 a season, just one more strike away from being torn up.
When Jennings returned from his Middle Eastern adventure with Tim Mannah, Jarryd Hayne, Mitchell Moses and Nathan Brown, coach Brad Arthur sat him down and spoke about attitude.
Not football, attitude. The coach knew his centre hadn't forgotten how to play, but his application and commitment had wavered almost to the point of no return.
“It’s pretty embarrassing, actually,” Jennings said.
“When I got back I met with Brad, and he was pretty honest about things. At the time I was in talks with Newcastle and I was about to go to there. I was making the decision whether I wanted to go to Newcastle. I sat down with Brad before making the decision, and I told him I wanted to stay here and I believed I could offer me more.
"He was just disappointed in me. I could see that disappointment. He just knew that I could offer more and what I was doing just wasn’t me. I was letting him and the team down. Seeing him genuinely disappointed in me, that was hard. I was selfish.”
Jennings’s underwhelming performances in 2018 raised the ire of Eels fans, questioning his commitment.
While the 31-year-old speedster, who was dumped to reserve grade by Arthur last year, may have been looking for the exit doors, he’s arguably enjoyed his best football at the Eels in 2019.
The former NSW and Australian centre admits he reached a point where he was happy to just cash in his cheque and, upon reflection, understands why he felt the wrath of the club’s fans.
“That’s part of being on big money and being a marquee player signing from another team,” Jennings said.
Michael Jennings with son Carter after an Eels win.
Gregg Porteus/NRL Photos
“You’re going to cop all the media and all the fans. To be honest, they were right. Last year I wasn’t living up to my contract.
"At the time I didn’t read into it … you see what Darius Boyd is going through at the moment. I feel for him. He’s trying so hard. But I found last year the harder I tried the more things got worse and worse.
“I wasn’t living up to the money I was getting paid. The fans had every right to be angry and frustrated with that. I needed to pick it up this year and earn my money. I know I can get comfortable and I did get comfortable. It was hard, because last year ... I just had too many excuses as to why I wasn’t performing.”
While the fine and the breach notices were a reality check on the fragility of his career, it was the birth of his first child, a son Carter, that triggered a dramatic change in Jennings’s all-round attitude.
“My son changed my life,” Jennings said.
“I owe it to my son. I never took responsibility for my actions or what I did. I had an excuse for everything. He changed me. I wanted to stay and I’m glad I did. I just wanted to prove it to myself that I belong here. Hopefully I’ve done that.”
https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/09/19/why-parramatta-almost-sacked-michael-jennings/
