http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...d/news-story/07e2c8fa72f3fc7d560fa0f54269795f
How Gold Coast Titans’ Jarryd Hayne experiment crashed and burned
Travis Meyn & Peter Badel, The Courier-Mail
in 2 hours
GOLD Coast Titans CEO Graham Annesley called it a monumental signing at the biggest in the history of the NRL club.
The Hayne Plane had landed on the Gold Coast in August last year and was unveiled at a press conference fit for a movie star.
There were private jets in the hangar owned by former motorcycle world champion Mick Doohan at Gold Coast Airport as Jarryd Hayne, in a T-shirt and blazer, strolled around with the entire NRL world at his feet.
We couldn’t get enough of him. Hayne-Cam tracked his every move in his debut game for the Titans where he looked like he had never left the NRL.
“I was excited because of what Jarryd could bring to the club,” former Titans football manager Scott Sattler said.
“I thought the Gold Coast were lacking an X-factor and he offered that. For once, the Gold Coast were getting attention in the national media, not just in Queensland circles.
“He took the club to wider markets and, in terms of exposure, he was the closest thing to the hype that was generated around Sonny Bill Williams as an athlete in the southern hemisphere.”
So how did Hayne go from an Australian hero trailblazing his way through the NFL in the United States to become one of rugby league’s most loathed players?
It is a year on from Hayne’s shock signing with the Gold Coast and the Titans are on their knees.
The club is in turmoil. Coach Neil Henry is facing the axe and Hayne could follow him out the door if the Titans want to stump up $1.2 million to say goodbye.
Hayne, 29, isn’t the sole reason for the Gold Coast’s plight.
A cocktail of poor decisions contributed to the ticking time bomb which finally exploded last week when Hayne said he would leave the club if Henry didn’t want him there.
But every crisis needs a face and Hayne has once again emerged as the divisive figure in a conflicted club.
His form has not warranted the price tag of one of the NRL’s top five players, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t delivered, according to the man who helped bring Hayne to the Gold Coast.
“The Titans will confirm they got their money back within three months of signing Hayne with jersey sales and merchandise,” says Norm Black, owner of TripADeal, the company which sponsors Hayne and the Titans.
“In that respect, he has been great for the club in terms of their commercial performance.
“It’s fair to say Jarryd hasn’t delivered his best football, but he’s not the only player at the Titans this season playing below his best.”
The Titans have been littered with underperforming players this year, but Hayne is a magnet for attention.
He isn’t a cherished NRL player like Maroons legend Johnathan Thurston but interest in him exploded following his American Football stint with the San Francisco 49ers.
The Titans had every right to take a punt on Hayne, however, club legend Mat Rogers believes they may not have delved deep enough into what they were buying.
“Did anyone contact the Eels to see what they were getting themselves into, especially when you’re about to outlay big money?” Rogers says. “I am not judging or blaming Jarryd, as it seems to me he may have been mismanaged and not been given the necessary guidance or coaching.
“It’s not just one player who has our team positioned at the wrong end of the competition table.”
Hayne is now waiting for the Titans board to make a decision on his future.
He is contracted to the Titans next year and is unlikely to leave without a million-dollar handshake.
The Titans have to decide whether Hayne has run his race at the Gold Coast and they are better off without him or if he is worth keeping around for one more season given they will be paying him regardless.
Sattler, a 2003 premiership winner with the Panthers, believes the Titans have two options.
“Weighing it all up, it’s fair to say his recruitment hasn’t worked,” he says.
“If I had to rate him, I’d say he’s been a four out of 10. I question his ability to buy in to the Titans culture. You have to be seen to be working hard on the training paddock and wanting to develop the younger players.
“Based on form, he doesn’t deserve to play first grade, put it that way.
“I would either play him in reserve grade or make him captain of the Titans to put some responsibility on him.”
The Titans have two games left before they can wave goodbye to the debacle which has been the 2017 season.
Hayne is expected to return from an ankle injury for next Saturday’s clash against the Bulldogs at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast.
It could be his final home game for the Titans, giving him an opportunity to prove to the Gold Coast’s small band of supporters that he did not only come here for a holiday and to collect $2.4 million over two years.
The Hayne experiment might have been an enormous failure for the Titans but there is still time for him to salvage some pride and prove he is the monumental signing the Gold Coast waited 11 years for.
