Hayne works on 'God's call'
Vuniwaqa Bola-Bari
Friday, June 24, 2016
Fiji 7s squad member to the Olympics Jarryd Hayne has spoken for the first time since arriving in the country last week.
And there's no regret for the man who left behind millions of dollars and a trailblazing career in sports to help his tiny South Pacific nation in her Olympic Games gold medal bid.
"I've made my decision. It's me and my God calling me to where I'm going to grow the most."
These were the words of Jarryd Hayne, the most talked about player this season when he made the switch from the National Football League (NFL) team San Francisco 49ers, giving away about $F900,819 he was receiving in the United States to try and be an Olympian with the Vodafone Fiji 7s team.
"It's the Lotu," he said that he has enjoyed the most with the Fijian side - something he also came to learn and changed him when he joined the Vodafone Fiji Bati in 2008.
And for him, not getting what he used to get with the NFL or National Rugby League (NRL) is not new because it was something similar when he joined the Fiji Bati almost a decade ago.
Speaking to the Fijian media yesterday, Hayne said: "It's been great coming back and especially the Lotu (church service)."
And with fitness being his biggest challenge, Hayne, determined to get into Rio selection, covered the hard yards in Australia training before he jetted into the country last week.
"I just kept training in Sydney.
"I didn't have a break because obviously I was far behind, so I just kept training to get my fitness level up and work hard," Hayne said.
A couple of three kilometre runs in Sydney he said, but he knows it won't get any easier as the Rio games close in.
"It's going to be tough and going into the unknown.
"It's exciting and also a bit daunting, but looking forward to it. It's the second week in training. It has definitely gone up a level.
"We've done probably a lot more running this week than last week, and am sure it's going to increase as the weeks go by," the Australian Fijian said.
