It’s a long haul from Maroubra to Wentworthville, and it’s not a trip Sydney Roosters fan Jed Necco makes regularly.
But on Sunday, he made an exception, specifically to cheer on “one of the best players I’ve ever seen”. That player was Jarryd Hayne, who returned to rugby league after 2444 days on the sidelines.
“I’ve been a fan since I was five years old,” Necco said.
“I actually go for the Roosters, but my dad was a Parramatta fan and used to take me to their games, and he [Hayne] was probably my favourite player of my childhood.”
The now 36-year-old Hayne – a one-time NRL superstar who famously switched codes and played for San Francisco 49ers in America’s NFL – launched his comeback in front of a few hundred fans, playing for Wentworthville Magpies against Canterbury in the lower-tier Ron Massey Cup competition at Ringrose Park.
Jarryd Hayne on the attack for Wentworthville against Canterbury.Credit: Edwina Pickles
He last appeared in the NRL for Parramatta on September 1, 2018, a few weeks before the incident that changed his life and effectively ended his elite-level football career.
On NRL grand final night, 2018, Hayne made a visit to a woman’s house in Newcastle that led to him being tried three times for sexual assault and subsequently jailed.
His first trial ended in a hung jury; he was convicted after the second but successfully appealed, and the third trial resulted in his conviction being quashed. He was released from jail, as a free man, last June.
If Necco – one of several spectators at Ringrose Park wearing No.38 San Francisco jerseys that were once Hayne’s trademark – was hoping for the former dynamo to wind back the clock, there wasn’t a lot to excite him.
At his peak, he was known as the “Hayne Plane”, but these days he appears built more like a B52 bomber than an F/A-18 Super Hornet.
Playing at five-eighth in attack but centre in defence, his main contribution to Wenty’s 22-14 win was a cut-out pass midway through the second half that gift-wrapped a try for winger Jordan Hill.
Wentworthville coach Brett Cook said Hayne’s new teammates have been “getting a kick out of having him around and learning from his experience”.
He was confident the two-time former Dally M medallist would have an even bigger impact as he gains match fitness.
“We didn’t expect him to play 80 minutes today, but he got through it, and he’ll keep getting better, game by game,” Cook said.
“He’s been really good for us. The boys all look up to him.”
Hayne pops a pass against Canterbury.Credit: Edwina Pickles
Among the crowd were Hayne’s partner, parents and children, who placed posters on the fence reading “All aboard the Hayne Plane”.
Fans formed a queue after the game to pose for selfies with the former NSW Origin and Kangaroos star.
When one asked if he was playing next week, Hayne replied: “No, we’ve got the bye, thank God. I’ll need it to recover.”
He told this masthead he had missed the game and was delighted his children had been in the grandstand.
“They haven’t seen me play before,” he said.
He quipped “the coach got me a good one”, by leaving him on for a full game, and confirmed he still harbours a dream of representing Fiji at international level, which he last did in 2018.
“That’s the goal,” he said. “That’s the goal.”
Asked for his reflections after his first game in almost seven years, he replied: “It’s good fun, man. I’m enjoying it.”
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