Hayne the hero
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/n...l/news-story/9c55ee9d654c505154c2706041380a55
How Jarryd Hayne helped Josh Hoffman become a Parramatta Eel
Michael Carayannis, The Daily Telegraph
16 minutes ago
JARRYD Hayne’s arrival at the Titans may have squeezed Josh Hoffman out of the Gold Coast but it was Hayne’s influence which helped land Hoffman at the Eels.
Hoffman confided in Hayne as he looked to join the superstar full-back’s former club.
“He just said it was a great club with a lot of history and culture that you can learn about,” Hoffman said. “Just the way he spoke about the club — he had big expectations and you could see he loved the club a lot. I’m looking forward to playing at a club that has so much history.”
Hayne and Konrad Hurrell’s midyear arrival at the Titans last year left Hoffman on the outer. A frank conversation with Titans coach Neil Henry left Hoffman wanting to explore his options despite a year remaining on his contract.
“It was a funny situation,” Hoffman said. “I had one more year on the contract but nothing came about with the Titans. Neil came up to me and had a bit of a talk and said with the players that came over there wasn’t much room with the salary cap to have me there. It wasn’t like ‘we don’t want you any more’. It was more like ‘under the circumstances mate you’re contracted here for one more year, there are players are here as well that we didn’t know were coming. Don’t think you have nowhere to go because you still have a contract’.
“In my head I was thinking what would happen if I played out that one year at the Titans — there may not be any other club that wanted me. I was fortunate Parramatta wanted me to come to the table and kept me in the game a bit longer.”
Hoffman signed a three-year deal with the Eels. He has moved to Sydney for the first time and having lived in Brisbane — commuting to the Gold Coast for training and games — said he is enjoying being walking distance to the Eels headquarters.
“I’ve settled in nicely,” Hoffman said. “The humid temperature hasn’t been nice. We had a coastal breeze on the Gold Coast during pre-season.”
Hoffman has featured everywhere in the backline — including one game at halfback — during his 158 game career. He has spent the bulk of the pre-season training on the right wing but has also spent time at centre and fullback.
He is likely to play alongside centre Brad Takairangi and half Clint Gutherson on the right side with Bevan French to start at fullback.
“Right wing is where I’ve spent the most time,” Hoffman said. “I played a bit on the wing at the Broncos and mainly played in the centres at the Titans. I’m looking forward to playing alongside Bev. His fitness is up there and his awareness and ball skills is up there with one of the best in the game.
“(Coach) Brad (Arthur) wants us to make sure we’re the most intimidating defensive team in the competition. On the back of that you have to be mentally fit.”
