Jarryd Hayne

Jarryd Lee Hayne (born 1988) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who also briefly played American football and rugby union sevens.

Hayne was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in 1988.

He is the son of a Fijian father, Manoa Thompson, and an Australian mother, Jodie Hayne.

His father played professional rugby league for South Sydney, Western Suburbs and the Auckland Warriors while also representing Fiji.

Hayne was one of three children raised by his single mother, and grew up in a red-brick Campbelltown housing-commission house in Minto.

In early life, Hayne took up athletics winning multiple titles.

He still holds the under 8- and under 9-year-old Public School Sports Association (PSSA) 100 metre records.

He competed in Little Athletics until under 15 age group.

Hayne attended school at John Warby Public School, Leumeah High and Westfields Sports High School but dropped out of high school early to pursue a career in rugby league.

Hayne began playing junior rugby league for Campbelltown City, East Campbelltown and Cabramatta at the age of six.

Hayne began his career in 2006 as a er for the Parramatta Eels, winning the NRL's Dally M Rookie of the Year award.

The following year, he made his debut for New South Wales in State of Origin and internationally, and began playing primarily as a.

Hayne made his NRL debut with the Parramatta Eels at 18 years of age on 19 May 2006 against the Penrith Panthers at CUA Stadium.

Jason Taylor, who was making his first grade coaching debut, chose him on the wing.

Taylor later said, "Everyone knew his talent, it wasn't just me."

Hayne quickly made an impression on the competition scoring 17 tries within 16 games in his debut season.

This tally included a personal best of four tries in the Parramatta Eels' 46–12 victory over Newcastle Knights.

His excellent try scoring ability saw him rewarded with the 2006 Dally M 'Rookie of the Year' award and a spot on the Kangaroos Squad.

He was also named the 2006 Parramatta Eels season's rookie of the year.

He started the season at centre but later moved to fullback due to an injury to Luke Burt and scored 12 tries, including the winning try against the New Zealand Warriors in the First Qualifying Final of the 2007 NRL Finals series.

Following Parramatta's close victory against Brisbane in July 2007, Hayne was accused of diving to impede Brisbane's momentum after a heavy hit from Sam Thaiday.

Then Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett said "You talk about ethics in our sport. You talk about not laying [sic] on the ground" and then claimed Hayne should be cited for "bringing the game into disrepute."

Hayne denied that he dived to deliberately impede Brisbane's momentum and claimed that he was genuinely hurt after the collision with Thaiday.

He was never found guilty of any wrongdoing by the NRL Judiciary.

In the 2007 Grand Final qualifier, Hayne was again accused of diving when he stayed down and received a penalty for a high shot.

Players also accused Hayne of winking after the incident, Clint Newton saying "To lay down like he did and then get up and wink, I don't think that's in the spirit of the game. Straight after he got up, he winked at Dallas Johnson – facing us."

Hayne denied the accusations, saying, "I don't engage in that shit, I just score tries and make people happy".

Before the start of the 2008 season, Hayne was on a night out with St George player Mark Gasnier when a fight broke out between them and another group.

Hayne and Gasnier were subsequently shot at by a gunman in a passing taxi.

In the coming years, Hayne has said that the shooting incident changed his life and was a turning point in his career.

Parramatta announced Hayne had signed with the club for a $2M extension.

Hayne won the Dally M Medal in 2009 and 2014 as the league's player of the year, and the Rugby League International Federation's International Player of the Year award in 2009.

He represented Australia at the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, and his father's native at the 2008 and 2017 tournaments when not selected for Australia.

Hayne attracted significant attention when he made the switch from one of the NRL's top players to a rookie with the San Francisco 49ers in the 2015 NFL season.

At the end of the season, Hayne ended his NFL career.

In 2016, he represented in rugby union sevens, but after not being selected for the 2016 Olympic squad, he returned to the NRL with the Gold Coast Titans before a final season with Parramatta in 2018.

In March 2021, he was found guilty of two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a woman at her home in Newcastle, New South Wales in 2018, and was given a minimum sentence of three years and eight months in prison, with earliest release in January 2025.

In February 2022, the Court of Criminal Appeal allowed the appeal, quashed Hayne's conviction and ordered a fresh trial.

After a 2023 re-trial, Hayne was convicted of rape.

On May 12, 2023, he was sentenced to 4 years and 9 months in prison.