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Hayden Knowles, the Sydney Roosters coaching staff member whose photograph with Jarryd Hayne and club legend Brad Fitter in San Francisco sparked speculation the former Parramatta star was being targeted to join the club, says it would be an unacceptable "lack of faith" for him to try and lure Hayne home.
Speculation was rife this week that Fittler and Knowles – who mentored Hayne from the junior ranks to become a Dally M winner – were on a mission to encourage Hayne to join the Roosters after the club lost Kiwi sensation Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to the New Zealand Warriors when the photograph appeared on social media.
A photo posted by Hayden Knowles (@haydenknowles) on Nov 9, 2015 at 8:42am PST
Sydney Roosters chairman Nick Politis and Penrith general manager Phil Gould were said to have been in a bidding war for 27-year-old Hayne, while Parramatta's chief executive, John Boulos, said they would welcome him back.
However, Knowles told Fairfax Media he was keen to distance himself from the rumour mill because the idea of him trying to persuade Hayne to abandon his American football dream was off the mark.
"I was over there to support Jarryd, that's all," said Knowles. "I would've been there for the first match he played for San Francisco but we were busy [at the Roosters] during the finals.
"I'm the last person who'd try to get him back to league because when he told me about his NFL plan I told him he could do it – I believed he could do it – and I encouraged him to chase his dream.
"How would it appear if after I flew over with him to America and said he had it in him to achieve what many people thought was impossible I then do an about face and suggest he comes back to rugby league? I reckon it'd probably be seen that I was planting the seed of doubt in him.
"He's done so much in such a short amount of time in America. I mean, look at what he did during the pre-season when the 49ers gave him a shot.
"I'm encouraging him to chase his dream because I know when he gets his next opportunity he'll explode – just like he did when he was picked for Australia in 2009 after he missed the Kangaroos in 2008."
San Francisco coach Jim Tomsula said on Friday that Hayne would not be elevated from the practice squad for Sunday's (Monday AEDT) clash with the Seattle Seahawks despite star running back Carlos Hyde again being ruled out. Nonetheless, he hinted that the former NRL star's NFL run is not over.
"Well, not for this game," Tomsula, asked about Hayne's future, said. "My foreseeable future is Sunday."
Knowles said people had seemed to have forgotten Haynes' goal when he severed his ties with Parramatta was to simply make an NFL team's practice squad – something many people thought was beyond him, a footballer with no NFL experience.
"His trial form was so good they couldn't not pick him," he said. "Being in the practice squad will definitely not hurt him because I have no doubt with the extra training, the more time getting to know the game, running drills and learning plans he'll explode the next time he gets his opportunity."
However, Knowles said if he had an inkling his former charge wanted to return to league he would most definitely recommend he joins the Roosters.
"If he wanted to come back to play rugby league I'd of course talk to him about how great a place the Roosters is," he said. "I'd tell him it has a great coaching staff, tremendous management and that it's a great place to be whether you're a player or on the coaching staff.
"Of course I would do that but, hand on heart, while I was with him in America I was telling Jarryd to chase his dream."
