Intense media attention is just one of the attractions that come with the Jarryd Hayne sideshow and it appears as though that particular ride is already making Titans coach Neil Henry feel sick to his stomach.

After a Round 1 defeat by the Roosters all the focus at the Titans this week has turned to the perceived poor attitude of Hayne towards training, an issue that has been bubbling along in the background since the early weeks of pre-season training.

A knee injury that restricted his schedule for the final three weeks leading up to Round 1 meant Hayne started the year short of a gallop and the only way to make the noise now go away is to deliver a blinder against the Knights this Saturday.

When he signed with the club last August Hayne brought with him an instant influx of Titans fans, members and corporate support but the question of whether he would immerse himself in Henry's team-first ethos remained.

Hayne recently spoke to NRL.com of his desire to make the players around him better in 2017 but it has become clear after just a week that only individual performances bordering on those he produced in his 2014 Dally M Medal-winning season will quieten the murmurs of discontent that threaten to grow into roars.

It has been said that Henry walked out of his regular Tuesday afternoon press conference after close to seven minutes when he made it clear he would not be answering any further questions on the matter, yet the questions kept coming.

"I'm not going to say anything on the Hayne stuff so not too much is nothing," Henry said after the sixth Hayne-related question, the seventh coming as he walked clear of the microphone stands.

"That's the end of that conversation. We've addressed it and that's it, we're moving on to this week. Thank you."

It was less a walk-out and more a step to the side.

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[2017] Hayne Jarryd - Titans



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Managing Hayne's individualistic ways and the influence he has on other members of the Titans squad was always going to be an undercurrent of Gold Coast's season in 2017.

When so much is invested in one player his influence must stretch far beyond his own 80-minute performance and shout-outs to sponsors.

He must set the tone and the standards by which all other players live by and if he doesn't the potential for a season to unravel becomes very real.

The unpredictable nature in which Hayne operates makes him a conundrum coaches struggle to contend with but the Titans acted swiftly when it was clear he wasn't meeting team standards.

It was hoped that becoming a father prior to Christmas would give the now 29-year-old a different perspective yet ill-considered use of social media has the potential to undermine his relationships with teammates and coaching staff.

In his 10 years in the NRL Hayne has qualified for finals football on four separate occasions; one of which was on the wing as an 18-year-old rookie and another when he came in late last season to a Titans team already tracking towards September action.

The challenge for Hayne now is to prove to everyone that this Titans team has a better chance of succeeding with him than without him.

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