Jarryd Hayne's move to the San Francisco 49ers can be seen through a number of prisms, some positive, some negative.

The overwhelmingly positive narrative surrounding Hayne is an individualistic one – an independent thinker looking beyond his lot in life to make the most of God-given talent while he still can – bravo!

The overwhelmingly negative interpretation of events is that this will open the NRL and rugby league in general up to predators and that if the current Dally M medallist can walk out, there'll be a line behind him snaking around the block. Boo!

But there is another way to look at things, a way which requires a little bit of humility.

People involved in rugby league in America are breathless about Hayne's signing. They have no trouble being humble – they can't afford to pay players, they attract crowds in the hundreds and what little they have has recently been riven by political divisions.

They see Hayne leaving rugby league as the best thing that has ever happened to the sport in their neck of the woods. This is the third narrative, the one which could actually influence peoples' actions – that this is the golden ticket to the chocolate factory of American professional sports.

Even without playing a single game of American Football, Hayne has gone out and done what he earlier complained the NRL stopped its players from doing.

He had leveraged his celebrity to attract endorsements and contra from the likes of Hawaiian Airlines (remember those shots of him leaving) and Telstra (how much coverage did THEY get from his 49ers presser!? Has there even been a bigger logo?).

People like Daryl "Spinner" Howland, the Aussie who runs the Jacksonville Axemen USARL team, think rugby league should actually be doing what these brands are doing and riding Hayne's coat-tails.

Rather than politely wishing Hayne well and trying to forget him, the game should be using him as a focus for PR efforts. Hayne's going to San Francisco? Great! There's already a lot rugby union played there, perhaps the old Hayne Plane could get 13-a-side rugby a foothold in the Bay area with a bit of publicity and a few greenbacks.

The balancing act for the NRL, which does have off-shore ambitions, is that it doesn't want to be seen to be shoving more players out the door by encouraging this one. That's a fair concern.

Can we really get away with celebrating those who leave? That's where a bit of perspective is needed. Rugby league is a pimple on the backside of world sport and always will be. We just want it to be the best pimple it can.

From a retention point of view, the NRL has already lost its top player – how could things get worse? Why shouldn't we be hitting the inboxes of local reporters every time a Sam Burgess or Sonny Bill Williams comes to town, saying 'look where these fellas come from'?

Rather than offering 'special dispensation' for the NRL CEO to be manipulated by agents into giving a player a truckload of cash, unfairly advantaging his club, why not treat defectors as missionaries and turn a positive into a negative by actually appointing them as double-agent ambassadors?

Sure, it's going to be hard to get Israel Folau to host a South African Rugby League media conference while he's away on a Super Rugby trip – but the NFL is not worried about rugby league in the slightest.

We are no threat to them.

Jarryd Hayne doesn't have to be Judas. He could be our Messiah.

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Vale Terry Fearnley, a lovely man even if a few Queensland players in the early eighties felt hard done by in the Australian selection room.

It's ineffably sad that the Illawarra Steelers only started in 1982 and yet three of their former coaches – Graham Murray and Allan McMahon are the others – are no longer with us.

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Comments time and most came from the Set of Six on Monday, which I must stipulate was commissioned as "Six Things That Will Define The NRL in 2015'.

Chris was obviously asking to be reminded that more than 40 countries play rugby league – so I'll do it for him.

James I completely agree with you about a team in Port Moresby. No TV rights, no infrastructure and just no reason to do it. Is there a Major League Baseball team in Haiti? But it has had support over the years. One idea was the base the team in Darwin and just fly in for home games.

Matthew made a good point about making rugby league cheaper for juniors to play – it's been a big part of the AFL's success in recent years.

Truthteller there has been a lot of talk recently about a new stadium in Sydney. Just google "David Smith" and "stadium".

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