Jarryd Hayne had “retired” from the NFL to pursue a dream of playing in the nOlympics for the Fijian national Rugby Union 7’s team.
The news comes as a bit of a shock considering that Hayne was reportedly working hard to continue his role with the San Francisco 49ers. This move must now open the possibility that Hayne will end up back in the NRL.
One issue that has already been raised with Hayne’s latest move is that in the NFL he was playing a sport that was not governed by the Wold Anti-Doping Authority. To take part in the Olympics, or to simply play Rugby Union at all, Hayne would need to have a six month testing period in a drug testing pool before he could play for Fiji at the Olympics.
My guess is, there must have been some way around that, otherwise Hayne wouldn’t have quit the NFL.
I would suggest that Hayne will line up for Fiji at the Olympics, and from there the NRL will almost expect him to come back, but he will be pursued by Rugby Union clubs that will offer him a lot of money to stay in Rugby Union.
Plenty of people are suggesting he will be a Sydney Roosters player in 2017. I wouldn’t be totally shocked if he didn’t end up playing for the NSW Rugby Union team instead.
Hayne has said that if he were to return to the NRL he would only play for the Parramatta Eels. That won’t be happening any time soon when you consider all of the salary cap issues they have faced this year.
I’d be shocked if we saw Hayne play at the Olympics as it means the WADA rules are extremely flimsy. I would also be shocked if he returned to the NRL after that stint.
In short, I shouldn’t be so shocked by anything Hayne does with his career from now on!
