When Jarryd Hayne bid farewell to the NRL with a teary press conference, he broke down when he was talking about two significant people in his life: his mum Jodie and his great friend and former teammate Krisnan Inu. Now the man he shed a tear over has explained their tight bond and made the bold prediction that not only will Hayne succeed in the NFL, but he will revolutionise the way that they play American football. Hayne spoke with Inu before he made the decision. "He had made his mind up so he wasn't asking if he should do it. It was more a case of talking through what he had to do and I guess some confirmation that he had made the right call," Inu said. "I know Jarryd and I know how much effort he is going to put in. I know he will be a success. More than that, I think when he gets picked up by a team he will change the way that they play the game. He will introduce league-style plays – the draw and pass – and he will become famous for that."
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Hayne has settled in well – he has been training in Hollywood and has found a place to live. He is trying to focus on training and nothing else because he knows what he is up against. "I've talked to Jarryd and I'm looking forward to going and seeing him," said Inu, who is in France playing rugby for Stade Francais.
"I didn't see the press conference where he started crying ... I was kind of honoured by that. We have been mates since we were kids in Minto, and that's what he was talking about at the press conference ... when we used to ride the train together on the way to school with dreams to make it big in sport.
"My place was 300 metres from the train station, Jarryd's was 500, and he'd come to my place before training, he'd hop on my bed and we'd sit down and play PlayStation and debate whether or not to go to school: "We'd work out if we had footy training on and how many classes we had to go to to be allowed to play, and all along we'd discuss how we were going to try and make it one day and how we wanted to play together. It's funny how things have worked out."
Hayne has offers to consider in NFL but he needs to sort out who isgoing to represent him in the USwhen deals need to be done. There are at least half a dozen
big-name agents with their hands up to do Hayne's deal. You can't imagine Wayne Beavis allowing Hayne to sign up with an agent unless he eyeballs him first.
While on Hayne, his mum Jodie has been trying for weeks to express her thanks to the Parramatta club.
"The Eels did so much for Jarryd and every time I'd go to ring them and thank them I'd burst into tears," she said. "I finally held it together the other day to say thanks."
She is missing her boy in a big way. "I think I'm only crying every second day now," she said. "So I suppose that means I am coping."
Family ties sparked Mata'utia's record-breaking showing
There has been no more impressive member of the Kangaroos' team than Sione Mata'utia — his conduct away from the field and on it has been remarkable for an 18-year-old.
He went through a range of emotions before his record-breaking performance last week. His faith helped keep him in control — the religious iconography on his locker in the Roos' shed was something long-time Australian officials had never seen.
"I hoped that the Lord was watching over me," he said. "I didn't get to sleep until one in the morning before the match ... I had a fair bit going through my mind ... there were two very special people who were not here to see me play ... my dad and my grandad.
"During the anthem I was thinking of them and thinking of the opportunities that I've been given. I know what a privilege it is to wear the green and gold and not many people get the opportunity to represent their country and I just went out on the field to prove a point, I wanted to make my dad and my grandad proud of me.
"I grew up without my dad. He died when he was at a funeral. My brothers were close to him. I just wanted him to see me play footy and I hope that he would have been proud of my debut.
"My mum brought us up and I hope I did her proud as well. This is an opportunity to repay her. I didn't think she could make it to the game because of work, but she came down and when I saw her in the crowd I got very emotional.
"I just shut my eyes when I caught her eye and tried to hold it together."
Confusion reigns
The NRL has made itself judge and jury as far as morality goes but clubs are struggling to understand how its rulings work. Both Blake Ferguson and Kirisome Auva'a were found to have acted inappropriately towards women; Ferguson is banned from the game, but Auva'a wins a premiership ring. Neither covered themselves in glory away from the field but their penalties are miles apart. And then toss in Paul Gallen, who tweeted an unacceptable word and was fined $50,000. Can someone please explain the sense in any of this because clubs are becoming increasingly angry about the way the NRL is dealing with such matters.
Hall eyes NRL
The English winger who almost stole the Test match from Australia last week – Ryan Hall – has declared he would love a stint in the NRL. He has made a new four-year deal with his English club, but would not rule out trying to get out of it early. "I've got a contract, but I've always wanted to play in the NRL," Hall, 26, said.
Manly war over
The ticket, food, drink and dressing room-access gravy train is over for the no-name directors of the Manly District Football Club. For the best part of seven years the football club, which has about 500 members, has controlled the boardroom of the Sea Eagles because it held two vital votes. And it made no secret of the fact it was intent on shutting out the major shareholders, the Penn family. Together with minor shareholder Quantum they removed the company secretary, backed a no-confidence vote in chairman Scott Penn and wiped $20,000 off the termination payout to one of their own life members in Peter "Zorba" Peters because he called Quantum boss Phil Sidney a "garden gnome". Well, the two votes now mean zilch thanks to the Penns' recent 90 per cent takeover of the Sea Eagles. The District Football Club will retain two votes against five for the Penns. Suffice to say times will change dramatically now the district football club is only consulted on colours, home ground and club name. A big winner in the takeover by the Penns will be the Manly Leagues Club, virtually shunned by the football club/Quantum alliance because it dared to ban former chairman Bob Reilly. A few years remain on the ban and the players will return to their historical home after matches. It appears, at long last, a knockout victory has ended the war at Manly.
Trent's no Bronco
Trent Merrin was so bemused by rumours he was about to join the Broncos that he contacted his agent asking if he knew the source of the information. It certainly appears to be new to Merrin's agent, Wayne Beavis. There is a lot of big money being thrown around for Merrin – but it is not coming from Brisbane. Wayne Bennett is well known for not paying top dollar for players – his reputation as a coach usually means players are offered less as the chance to play under him is seen as a lure.
COO shortlist
A few interesting names are being mentioned as a replacement for Jim Doyle at the NRL. We've heard Graham Annesley but here is a new pair – the name of Souths boss Shane Richardson has been whispered, as has that of North Queensland's Peter Jourdain. Annesley and Richardson have plenty of credentials and would do a fine job. The jury is out on Jourdain.
Conlon muses
Respected former judiciary chairman Paul Conlon has long questioned the way the NRL has treated its players. When Jake Friend first burst on the scene he had more incidents away from the field than first-grade games. The Roosters sent him off to work in a sandwich shop.
Cowan's latte cut
Former Test batsman Ed Cowan is much more than a cricketer – he is now a coffee entrepreneur. He sent out an email to his family and friends. "After 6 long months of bloody hard work, Tripod Coffee is finally ready to launch our retail packs! Our hand illustrated retail boxes come with ten capsules inside. We are excited to be the first-to-market with a recyclable, hermetically sealed Nespresso compatible capsule. We feel like our product is at the very least on par with Nespresso — some of our wholesale clients say better, but I would rather you made that call yourself."
Sober celebration
The Wanderers went to great length to make sure players were not seen to be drinking in Riyadh after they claimed the Asian Champions League. Being a dry area, the team wanted to be seen to be respecting that. We hear that when the players were in the embassy they indulged in a drink or two – but the media were not allowed to take photographs.
Tale of two clients
In September 2011, Harry Kewell was the hottest sports property to come to Australia. Ante Covic arrived at the same time but most football people did not know who he was. The two best mates both signed for Melbourne Victory. Fast forward to 2014 and the 36-year-old Kewell is off the scene. In contract, 39-year-old Covic is the toast of Australia after pulling off miraculous saves for the Wanderers on the way to winning the Asian Champions League and being voted the best player of the tournament. Both Kewell and Covic arrived as clients of oft-criticised manager Bernie Mandic. Kewell left Mandic for celebrity agent James Erskine while Covic remained loyal to his mate.
Danny Weidler is a Channel Nine reporter
