BY BOZZA

Unless you have been living under a rock you would no doubt be aware that it has been reported that Jarryd Hayne has joined Parramatta for the 2018 season on a much reduced contract to the one he was released from by the Gold Coast. Like almost any report involving the former San Francisco 49er, it has prompted a tidal wave of comment from seemingly anybody with even a passing interest in the game.

On Monday, Paul Kent added his voice to the dissenters – a surprise in only as much as it took him this long to share his opinion. Speaking on Fox Sports, Kent was at pains to raise the spectre of the Eels 2016 salary cap breaches in explaining his concerns over the Hayne’s return to Parramatta.

To be honest, I think the whole thing stinks. I think there’s a smell about this. I don’t see how the NRL can justify Jarryd Hayne taking a $1.2 million deal, walking out on it and being allowed to get under the cap at Parramatta for $500,000. No concept of me can figure out why that’s a fair deal.

Paul Kent – Fox Sports 04.12.17

He wasn’t finished there either.

The NRL, I’ve spoken to them today about it, they’ve argued that’s what Jarryd’s current market value is, but how do you establish that?

Paul Kent – Fox Sports 04.12.17

If only Kent had read what he himself had written about the two time Dally M Medal winner throughout 2017, he might understand why the NRL might appreciate that Hayne’s market value was much lower than what Gold Coast had been prepared to pay him.

On April 26th in the Telegraph, Kent wrote devoted an entire article to Hayne exploring his options elsewhere in the NRL before taking up his option with the Titans, titled “Why no other NRL clubs out there want to buy up Jarryd Hayne Inc.” Implying heavily that Hayne was to blame for the sacking of almost every one of his coaches, Kent also wrote,

And it raises the question, is the franchise over? No other club has registered a blip of interest in Hayne, despite an overcooked player market and Hayne’s availability.

Paul Kent – Daily Telegraph 26.04.17

Not content with questioning his value in April, Kent went even further in an article on August 11. No longer happy to just intimate at Hayne’s culpability in the sacking of his past coaches, Kent referred to him as a “coach-killer” and urged the Titans to sack him.

Hayne is recognised as a superstar in the game, a two-time Dally M Medal winner with enough talent to have a crack at the NFL or change the course of a State of Origin series. What club would ever voluntarily let him go? The answer should be the Gold Coast.

Paul Kent – Daily Telegraph 11.08.17

Reheating much of his article from April 26th, Kent concluded emphatically that Hayne was not worth the money Gold Coast was paying him.

Nobody has said they got better with Hayne, despite his reputation. Henry knows how to get a team to play above itself, the perfect option for a club playing unders in the market for everyone except their marquee player called Hayne. I cannot tell you whether the Titans board has the nerve or the nous to make the only call that is right for their club’s future.

Paul Kent – Daily Telegraph 11.08.17

Emphatic as he was in the paper he was even more emphatic when asked about his position on Triple M radio.

“(My job is) to call it as I see it essentially, and my simple premise is this… to pay $1.2m of your salary cap, which is currently I think at something like $7.6m or something. To pay that much of your salary cap in one player when he is not delivering is a waste of money.

Paul Kent – Triple M 27.08.17

Having been so negative about Hayne’s value to the Gold Coast as late as August, his questioning of him being signed to a much reduced contract must be to do with a late season run of form. Let’s take a look at what Kent thought of Hayne on November 3.

JARRYD Hayne returned to Australia with a gold star reputation. The Gold Coast Titans recognised that and paid Hayne overs to play for their team. Yet in little more than 12 months all that is left of that gold star reputation is dust. Paul Kent – Daily Telegraph 03.11.17

An odd start to an article about a player he now believes not worthy of a massive pay cut, there must be some positives elsewhere in his piece.

When Hayne got back to Australia he wanted to train the way he wanted to train. He failed to buy into the team-first culture coach Neil Henry was building. Both would have been excusable if not entirely forgivable if Hayne was still lighting up the field. But he wasn’t. Paul Kent – Daily Telegraph 03.11.17

Have I misread that? That also sounds very much like Kent suggesting Hayne was not worth is hefty price tag.

So Kent has spent all year preaching that Hayne is a coach killer, troublesome team member, who was not just underperforming and not worth the money he was being paid but was also unwanted by any NRL club. Yet now, after spending all year believing Hayne to be overpaid and unwanted, can’t understand why he is on a much reduced contract.

This is simply illogical on every front. To hold these contradictory positions he has either been wrong all year, wrong now, or for some strange reason thinks it fair for the Eels to pay overs for a player he believes no other club wants. Could it be that there is more at play here than meets the eye?

I want to end it (the feud), look I am having no joy in all of this. I just want to say, this isn’t a personal thing with Jarryd. It’s not like I have an agenda to attack Jarryd Hayne.

Paul Kent – Triple M 27.08.17

Kent is the only person who knows for certain the truth or otherwise of this statement. It is hard to believe it though when he has a problem with Hayne earning too much money and then again when he is earning too little. Sounds very much like a person that has a problem with Jarryd Hayne regardless of what it is he does.