Saint, Sinner, Shoosh: Disgraced NRL stars Jarryd Hayne, Manase Fainu share jail cell
Disgraced NRL stars Jarryd Hayne and Manase Fainu are sharing the same prison cell — read all the details and more NRL news in What’s the Buzz.
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Disgraced NRL stars Jarryd Hayne and Manase Fainu are sharing the same prison cell at a jail in Sydney’s northwest.
The fallen Parramatta Eels and Manly Sea Eagles players are at the Geoffrey Pearce Correctional Centre — a minimum-security facility at Berkshire Park.
Hayne is serving three years for the sexual assault of a woman on NRL grand final night in 2018, his judge saying he had committed “two extremely grave sexual offences”.
Fainu, 24, was found guilty in December last year of stabbing a youth leader in a violent brawl outside a Mormon church dance in 2019.
He was sentenced to eight years with a non-parole period of four years and three months. He is now appealing the sentence.
Together the pair will watch State of Origin on Wednesday night on Channel 9.
They can watch three NRL games on Channel 9 each week but there is no Fox Sports inside the jail for the other five games.
The pair have known each other for several years. They were both represented at their trials by Margaret Cunneen SC.
Hayne was previously in Cooma Correctional Centre for nine months before the Court of Criminal Appeal quashed his conviction and ordered a retrial.
The pair had often exchanged letters while housed at different prisons.
Hayne has had a colourful experience behind bars. While in Parklea jail inmates once pelted him with apples.
He also got knocked back by authorities when he requested Foxtel to watch NRL games.
SAINT
Tina Turner introduced tens of thousands of fans to rugby league via the greatest TV advertising campaign in Australian sporting history. A tough old working-class sport suddenly became groovy, fashionable and the hottest ticket in town for a whole new audience.
SINNER
The prospect of thousands of empty seats at Adelaide Oval. The NRL is now offering a two-for-one ticket deal which is embarrassing for a showpiece Origin event and unfair on those who got in early and paid full price.
SHOOSH
Which very highly regarded league journalist wants to become an NRL club administrator as a head of football. And he’s a lot sharper than a lot of the people doing the job now.
SHOOSH
Which struggling NRL club is shopping three players — surprisingly big names — to recruitment managers at rival clubs.
SPOTTED
Panthers boss Brian Fletcher lobbying hard to get Penrith a start as one of the four NRL clubs at the Las Vegas double header in February. “The best teams should be chosen to showcase rugby league to a new audience in America,” Fletcher said. “And we’ve won the last two comps.”
SPOTTED
A mad Wests Tigers fan celebrated the record-breaking victory over the Cowboys last weekend by getting the club logo, the date and the 66-18 scoreline tattooed on to his lower calf.
SPOTTED
Coaching legend Wayne Bennett will join a stellar guest panel for the North Sydney Bears’ annual Origin lunch with Mark Graham, Gary Larson, David Fairleigh, Billy Moore, Jason Taylor and Greg Florimo. It’s on June 9 at Norths in Cammeray. No doubt the great man can advise on what’s required to build a new NRL franchise.
HAAS HUNGRY FOR NRL TITLES OVER DOLLARS
Blues front-rower Payne Haas is six months away from becoming the most sought-after player in rugby league.
Even more so than when Nathan Cleary, Cameron Munster or Latrell Mitchell were off contract.
The above didn’t have as many as 10 clubs bidding for their services.
Rivals knew that Cleary would never leave his coach and dad at the Penrith Panthers.
Clubs knew Latrell loved the Rabbitohs so much he was always going to stay at Souths.
And outside of the Dolphins, clubs recognised that Munster was going to be hard to convince to leave Craig Bellamy at Melbourne Storm.
While the modern theory is that you need a great spine to win NRL premierships, the more old-school view is that middle forwards win the big matches.
That front-rowers lay the foundations for every great rugby league team.
The Brisbane Broncos’ six premierships under Wayne Bennett were built around props Shane Webcke and Glenn Lazarus as much as livewire halves Alfie Langer and Kevvy Walters.
The Panthers have had Isaah Yeo, James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota and Spencer Leniu creating middle-of-the-field dominance for three years.
The likes of Cleary, Jarome Luai, Stephen Crichton and Dylan Edwards wouldn’t dominate as much without them.
Parramatta made the grand final last year on the back of its world class props Junior Paulo and Reagan Campbell-Gillard.
Haas is generally considered the number one front-rower in the game.
Interestingly his manager Ahmad Merhi says money won’t be Haas’s motivation when he can talk to rival clubs from November.
“Payne wants to win premierships more than anything else,” he said. “For that to happen he won’t be chasing ridiculous money. He understands that to be in a strong roster capable of winning a title, you can’t have one player taking up too much of the cap.
“He doesn’t want to win just one grand final, he wants to win a few of them.”
REYNOLDS CHASING NEW BRONCOS DEAL
The Broncos have begun talks with veteran skipper Adam Reynolds around a contract extension for at least one extra season.
Reynolds is under contract until the end of next year but his agent Steve Gillis has had preliminary talks with the club about extending his tenure.
The former Rabbitohs superstar has been an outstanding acquisition for the Broncos, proving the knockers wrong about his durability to play week in, week out.
The Broncos also see Reynolds as a player who could eventually be an NRL head coach.
BROOKS ON HOLD AS TIGERS CHASE SCHUSTER
Wests Tigers won’t make a decision on the long-term future of halfback Luke Brooks until they get an indication on their prospects of pinching Josh Schuster from Manly Sea Eagles.
Schuster’s manager Mario Tartak was spotted at lunch last week with Wests Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis and chief executive Justin Pascoe at Totti’s in Rozelle.
He is also close to Wests Tigers’ new recruitment boss Scott Fulton, who originally signed him as a boom teenager at Manly.
Schuster burst back to form with a spectacular performance in Manly’s victory last week over the Canberra Raiders. He is free to negotiate with rival clubs.
Manly is desperate to keep Schuster and the club was heartened by his comments during the week in response to recent remarks from his captain Daly Cherry-Evans.
“He (DCE) has a genuine care about me,” Schuster said.
“He is always messaging me to see how I am.
“He’s the best captain I’ve ever had, the best teammate I’ve ever had. I can’t speak highly enough of him. I’m going to continue to learn from him.”
Wests Tigers can’t afford to have both Schuster and Brooks on huge money.
Brooks played a blinder in his 200th game against the Cowboys last week but officials still want to see him performing more consistently before rushing into an expensive new deal.
A-LEAGUE CLUBS’ FINANCIAL HARDSHIP
The A-League is almost over for another year after a season that barely anyone noticed. We hear that some clubs are struggling financially and still owe money for rent at their venues.
This is despite the clubs sharing a $15m windfall from the NSW Government to host three grand finals in the Harbour City.
Many soccer fans believe it’s time to bring back Football Australia to run the competition properly.
JIMMY’S CRICKET WEAR AND TEAR
Former Channel 7 and 2GB commentator Jimmy Wilson has undergone a hip replacement at the Mater Hospital.
The operation was done last Tuesday morning – the result of wear and tear from his fast-bowling days in junior cricket.
Remarkably, the great man was up walking the next day and seen leaving the hospital on Friday to be cared for at home by his lovely wife Chris Bath.
MEDIA PROFILE: Mat Thompson, 41 (Channel 9 Origin caller)
First job? Indoor cricket umpire! I can’t imagine that being given out by a 13-year-old went down well with some of the old hard heads on the court.
Sporting hero? I’ll pick three. Shane Warne, Brian Lara, and the great Greg Alexander, who I’ve fortunately come to know well.
What league team do you follow? It’s important in my job not to follow any! I can honestly say I only really want to be able to call a great game of footy regardless of the outcome.
What sports did you play growing up? I had a crack at lots of them but I achieved some level of success in cricket.
How do you spend a day off? I’m a keen golfer. It’s great being able to dedicate time to my wife and kids, and watching them play junior sport. I’ve been enjoying training hard the past 18 months in the gym as well.
Career highlights? Calling State of Origin and the NRL Grand Final last year. To succeed Ray Warren was humbling and a great honour. I’m pumped to be a part of the exclusive Nine broadcast for what will be a gripping Origin series in 2023.
Originally published as Saint, Sinner, Shoosh: Disgraced NRL stars Jarryd Hayne, Manase Fainu share jail cell
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