Disembarking the Hayne Plane
So everybody’s happy right? Jarryd Hayne gets to pursue his NFL dream; Parramatta have a lifetime agreement with him should he return as well as $1 million to go shopping for another superstar; and the rugby league media have something to write about after resorting to stories about NRL crowds versus A League crowds in recent days.
Sure there are a few disgruntled Eels fans and I’m sure that other NRL CEO, Dave Smith, would rather another superstar wasn’t leaving the game but all in all the Parramatta fullback’s recent announcement has been fairly well received.
Well I’m not happy. Talk about putting a fella between a rock and a hard place. Don’t get me wrong, I wish Hayne all the best in his pursuit to make it on the gridiron and I will follow his progress far more closely than that of Karmichael Hunt or Israel Falou when they crossed codes.
Should Hayne make it in the NFL I’ll be the first to purchase a jersey of his new team. (Do they sell replica jerseys of players on special or practice teams?)
It does however present a difficult situation fantasy-wise. As I’ve pointed out on numerous occasions, I’ve always played in a keeper league where each CEO is able to keep 10 players from their squad from the previous season. I recruited Hayne when he debuted in 2006 and he’s been one of the 10 ever since.
If Hayne had a contract to go to it wouldn’t be an issue. I’d simply accept that he was leaving the game for a couple of years and that if he came back and wound up at one of my rivals then that’s the way it goes. That has certainly been the case for other teams in my league when players have left to go to English Super League or play rugby union. You just have to lump it.
But Hayne is an entirely unique case. There are absolutely no guarantees. The fore mentioned Hunt and Falou at least had contracts that committed them to playing their new sport, even if it was reserve grade. Hayne has no such commitment.
I have no idea whether Hayne will make it and I wouldn’t attempt to guess. My knowledge of American football is derived from movies and television. I’m more familiar with the pre-game speeches of Al Pacino than those of Vince Lombardi. When the Super Bowl is on I see friends tweeting about it as they watch while I wonder how they got a Monday off to watch football.
It’s not that I’m against American football. I just don’t have 3 hours to watch a single game of football. It’s the same reason I can’t sit through the second NRL game on a Friday night.
I’ll admit my conundrum is largely an emotional one. One heightened by the fact Hayne’s the star of my beloved Parramatta Eels. It’s not that he is irreplaceable. In fact the idea of hanging onto him at the expense of a player that will actually contribute next season is totally illogical. But the idea of Hayne failing and then returning to the NRL mid-year and playing for one of my adversaries just months after I left him out of my 10 is much worse to contemplate.
Last night it was all hypothetical, all foolish fantasy folly, the idea that I too could have a lifetime agreement with Jarryd Hayne. But I posed the question to my fellow NRLCEO competitors and the early consensus seems to be that if I’m prepared to use up one of my 10 keepers for a player playing a completely different sport then that’s up to me. It has certainly given me some food for thought.
What do you think? Will the Hayne Plane take off in the NFL or will he be back in the NRL faster than he could ever do a punt return? Should I keep him or say farewell and live with the fact he’ll line up for another team somewhere down the track? Be sure to leave a comment or hit me up on Twitter – @geoffadams81
Geoff Adams
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