Jailed former NRL star Jarryd Hayne placing hopes of freedom in the hands of top lawyer

In a last bid to walk free from prison, Jarryd Hayne is placing his pursuit of freedom in the hands of one of the best appeals lawyers in Australia who can charge as much as $14,000 a day.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos MARCH 22, 2021 - Former NRL superstar Jarryd Hayne who has been found guilty of counts of sexual assault, leaving the Downing Centre in Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

Jarryd Hayne’s final chance of getting out of jail free has arrived.

On Monday, the former NRL star will appear via Zoom at the Court of Criminal Appeal in an attempt to overturn his sexual assault convictions, for which he continues to maintain his innocence.

The 33-year-old has served six months of a maximum five years and nine months sentence after a jury found the one-time champion footballer guilty of non-consensual sex with a woman he met on social media in 2018.

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Jarryd Hayne is placing his hopes of freedom in the hands of leading lawyer Tim Game SC.

Hayne must serve a minimum of three years and eight months.

News Corp can reveal Hayne is placing his hopes of freedom in the hands of leading NSW lawyer Tim Game SC.

Mr Game is the NSW Bar Association president and widely respected as one of the best appeals lawyers in Australia.

Mr Game can charge as much as $14,000 a day for his expertise.

He recently represented the ANZ Bank against an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission inquiry.

Hayne and wife Amellia Bonnici.

Hayne on his wedding day.

Mr Game also appeared in the appeal of hoax collar bomber Paul Douglas Peters eight years ago.

In a previous interview with News Corp, one DPP lawyer said: “He (Game) is able to find fault in others’ decisions and convince a panel of judges he’s right. That’s not easy to specialise in.”

Hayne, who once earned $1.2 million a season in the NRL, is basing his appeal on what has been described as “legal argument” related to the verdict.

The duration of the appeal, which will be held before a three-person panel of Supreme Court judges, is unlikely to run beyond Monday.

The hearing could be all over within a matter of hours.

Hayne spends 17 hours a day inside his Cooma prison cell.

An inside look at life behind bars at Cooma prison where Jarryd Hayne is imprisoned.

Mr Game has already lodged his grounds for appeal to the court in writing.

The three-person panel of judges is capable of deciding on a number of outcomes depending on whether Mr Game intends to appeal the conviction in a bid to free Hayne, the severity of the sentence, or both.

The District Court was told in two trials — the first of which ended in a hung jury — that Hayne forced oral and digital sex on a young woman inside her Newcastle home on NRL grand final night in 2018.

Hayne told the court that the sex was consensual and the woman’s injuries were accidental.

The jury did not agree.

As recently revealed by News Corp’s Weekend Magazine, Hayne spends 17 hours a day inside his Cooma prison cell, which is deemed to be “below standard”.