http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...r-gold-coast-titans-deal-20170308-gutg3b.html
NRL season 2017: Jarryd Hayne has until May to trigger Gold Coast Titans deal
Jarryd Hayne has just two months to trigger an option to remain with the Titans next year after being reinstated in the Gold Coast leadership group, as former teammate Michael Jennings pleaded with critics to "leave him be".
Following a week in which Hayne's commitment has been publicly questioned after it emerged he was fined for his attitude to training over summer, Hayne has been part of the club's leadership group after the Christmas break, despite initially being axed from it.
The group includes co-captains Kevin Proctor and Ryan James, plus Chris McQueen and Hayne's former Parramatta teammate Nathan Peats.
They, along with coach Neil Henry, will know by the halfway mark of the season if the Titans' biggest signing will stay on the holiday strip in 2018, with Fairfax Media understanding Hayne has until May to inform the Gold Coast of the second-year option on his $2 million plus deal.
French rugby clubs will be circling the two-time Dally M medallist with the same dollars that will prise Eels winger Semi Radradra to Toulon in 2018.
Asked whether a turbulent week could trigger Hayne to walk out on the Titans at the end of the season, Gold Coast chief executive Graham Annesley said: "I hope not. I've come out very strongly in support of Jarryd and we have spoken privately about his value to the club.
"We see him as a part of our future and hopefully he appreciates that. We recruited Jarryd Hayne because we felt he could bring a lot of benefits to this club on and off the field.
"No one here has changed their view about that, of course we want him here. Ultimately, that's a decision Jarryd must make, as do all players."
The normally unflappable Henry walked out of a press conference on Tuesday after a persistent line of questioning on Hayne, who fired off a volley of tweets in response to stories surfacing that he skipped a captain's session over summer to return to Sydney and dodged parts of gruelling conditioning sessions.
Jennings on Wednesday gave a revealing insight into what makes the one-time NFL convert tick, just nine days from Hayne's much anticipated clash against his former club on the Gold Coast.
"You kind of feel for him and you just want to say, "Leave him alone and leave him be,' " Jennings said. "He's his own player and he knows how to prep for a game. He doesn't want to be a follower – he wants to be different. He's told me, 'Don't be a sheep, and do stuff that no one [else] does.'
"He's a different player and he's a superstar. What separates him from other players is that he does everything different. People take it the wrong way, [but] I understand where he's coming from and what he does."
Hayne and Jennings roomed together in State of Origin camps and have become close friends, despite their careers not crossing at the Eels.
And Jennings, who intended to catch up with Hayne the last time he was in Sydney, knows Brad Arthur's side might feel the ramifications of the public blowtorch in the next fortnight.
"I'm pretty sure all this stuff that has come out is probably going to irritate him and make him play his best footy," Jennings said. "Look, he's a professional player and a natural athlete and I'd say he would bounce back from all this stuff that has gone on.
"I've played against him and I hated playing against him. The first time we got together was in Origin and all the stuff you hear about him and people that say he's got a big ego ... once you get to know him [it's not true]. He believes being different makes him unique. I don't see it as being arrogant. Just leave him alone, he'll be fine."
Hayne, who scored once but was otherwise subdued in the Titans' opening-round loss to the Roosters, will return south of the Tweed for Golf Coast's clash with wooden spoon favourites Newcastle on Saturday.
. So he didn't reach out to Parra?
