In Australia, he says, "everyone just wants to fit in rather than stand out". All smiles: Jarryd Hayne after winning State of Origin series last month. Credit:Getty Images Most players in the NRL would prefer to just fit in. But not Hayne. He's stuck trying to be himself while fitting into a perception in Australian sport of what it truly means to be a superstar. "Sport is about the show, it's about the entertainment," Hayne said.

"The American sportsmen, they get paid to entertain. Australia has that tall poppy syndrome where if you get ahead of yourself there's always someone pulling you back down. It's different. I was talking to [the Detroit Lions'] Reggie Bush about when he was here, I'm probably one of the athletes that lair up in a game and celebrate a try. In Australia people say 'he's a show pony, he carries on'. A rare commodity: Hayne is a showman and a match winner. Credit:James Brickwood "Reggie was just looking at me saying 'in America that's just standard'. He said 'If you don't celebrate a try, what, are you not passionate enough for your team'? Over here everyone just wants to fit in rather than stand out." American sporting superstars like Miami Heat's LeBron James (NBA) and Denver Broncos' Peyton Manning (NFL) are not just athletes, they are global brands. While there isn't the same amount of money or interest in Australian sport for athletes to demand anything near the money on offer in the US, Hayne believes the NRL could learn a lot from the American sports when it comes to turning their players into businesses.

The Eels fullback is frustrated by the sponsorship hurdles players have to overcome, adamant it is to the detriment of the game. The players are the intellectual property of the NRL, who currently earns around 12 per cent royalty on any sponsorship deals the players make, and prohibit them from linking with brands that compete with the NRL's sponsors. "The NRL want to own their players' image so the players are very restricted in what they can do," Hayne said. "In the NFL, because they are in the market of competing with so many sports, they want their players to take up as much of the corporate sponsorship as possible. In league, the NRL try to take the most out of it then go to the players. Well it's the players who are the ones who are attracting the corporates and the dollars. If the players had more ownership of their image, they'd have more responsibility. "If Marshawn Lynch [Seattle running back] goes and eats Skittles, the next day he's got a Skittles contract. Just little things like that, they are all about making the most of it while you can. The NRL is behind and it hasn't hit them yet. They don't understand it. We should be encouraging our top players to try and get every possible corporate sponsorship out there because we're competing against rugby, AFL, soccer and cricket.

"They are limiting and restricting it because of what they want to get out of it. They haven't found that balance, they haven't got the blueprint of what the NFL do. The NRL are always putting stops on it or there are always people you have to go through and check with this person and that person. At the end of the day, the NRL should be letting the players soak up as much of the corporate sector as possible." Given the off-field headlines that have dominated rugby league over the past week, Hayne believes the players would clean up their acts if they had their own businesses and image on the line. The enigmatic Blues No.1 insists players should be encouraged to do more than just sign a contract and watch the money roll in, adamant the extra responsibility will decrease the number of off-field misdemeanours that continue to plague the sport. "You look at someone like Todd Carney. If he owned his image, I'm sure that things would have been a bit different," Hayne said. "I'm not saying what he did wouldn't have happened but if you put more responsibility on the players and let them own their own image, commonsense prevails and they'll take more responsibility in the public eye. Some players do it, don't get me wrong. But if you give someone more ownership, they take it with a lot more maturity.