If the Hayne Plane was to depart the Gold Coast, would it be to escape his own reputation?

JARRYD Hayne took one game back from injury to show why he will be in the NSW team this year. But will he knuckle down and give the Titans what they paid for?

JARRYD Hayne took one game to show why he will be back in the NSW Origin team this year if he stays fit between now and then.

I just hope Hayne knuckles down, not in the coming weeks, but for the rest of the season, and gives the Gold Coast what they paid for.

On what we saw last Saturday in the Titans shock win over Cronulla, Hayne still has the ability to make a massive difference in the race for this year’s finals.

And if they get to that point and Hayne is firing, who knows what the team that surprised us all last year are capable of doing in the big end of season games.

Against the toughest team in the competition, Hayne proved the difference against the Sharks, in what was his first game since round two.

EGO: Does Hayne have an attitude problem?

Will the Hayne Plane deliver for the Gold Coast? Art: Boo Bailey.

Of course, Hayne has an option in his favour to stay at the Titans next year on a reported salary of $1.2 million.

But still there is the constant speculation about his relationship with Neil Henry, and how it has caused friction within the playing group.

The fact that every other club appears to be baulking at signing him for next year should also prove to Hayne why all this outside noise is not just part of a nasty media campaign.

At 29, the two-time Dally M Medal winner still has several good years ahead of him to really cement his place among the game’s all-time greats.

Some will tell you Hayne already has. Other will question if he has even reached his potential. Not as an individual, but as a team player.

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MERRIN, TAMOU MUST FIND FORM

IF Penrith are to have any hope of making the top four this year they need to beat Brisbane on Thursday night. To do that they need Trent Merrin and James Tamou to lift their games.

Merrin was named in the Australia side but his form this year has been nowhere near where it was last year. And Tamou has been a big disappointment since arriving on the big bucks from the Cowboys.

Anthony Griffin has copped his share of criticism for standing down three players for breaking curfew following the loss to Melbourne.

But after four straight defeats it’s about time the big name players took the heat off their coach.

DRAW HITS BUSH CLASH

CANTERBURY aren’t to blame for their decision not to allow their players to take part in City-Country this year. The NRL draw is.

Having the Bulldogs scheduled to play on the Thursday night against North Queensland of all teams after the Sunday game in Mudgee is just ridiculous.

As sad as it is for the final City-Country clash, you can bet plenty more clubs will follow Canterbury’s lead in the days to come given this stopped being a genuine NSW selection trial years ago.

COMMENT: Ban an insult to players and CRL

MARY DESERVES A DEAL

GARETH Widdop’s injury in the Anzac Day game against the Roosters highlighted just how important he is to St George Illawarra.

And with Widdop now expected to be sidelined for several weeks, his knee injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for Paul McGregor.

Still without a contract for next season, the talk is the club have been waiting to see how the Dragons go heading into Origin before they made a final decision on McGregor’s future.

But surely McGregor has already done enough to show he deserves a new deal.