This was published 7 years ago
Jarryd Hayne is an 'easy target' when things go wrong, says old mate Tim Mannah
By Adrian Proszenko
Tim Mannah has described friend and former teammate Jarryd Hayne as an "easy target" as the cross-code star gave his version of the events that led to Neil Henry's sacking.
The Gold Coast are on the lookout for a new coach after Henry was the casualty after falling out with Hayne. Both were under contract for next year, but the Titans decided to sack Henry, whose deal is worth about a quarter of that of Hayne's and won't fall under the club's salary cap.
Hayne held an unscheduled media conference on Wednesday, at which he claimed suggestions of a "feud" with Henry were incorrect. This despite the fact Fairfax Media reported as early as April that the pair were barely on speaking terms. However, it was a series of other articles to which he took most umbrage, blaming them for the deterioration of the relationship.
"I guess the allegation of me and Neil Henry falling out or having a feud, that's false," Hayne said. "We never had an an argument or whatnot, that's the most disappointing thing to come out of it all. That's why I wanted to straighten all of that out and get it off my chest instead of my teammates having to answer [questions]."
Week of turmoil: Jarryd Hayne (main) has spoken for the first time about his relationship with sacked coach Neil Henry (inset).Credit: AAP
The latest drama has only added to Hayne's reputation as being difficult to handle. However, one of the men who knows him best came to his support.
Mannah, a long-time teammate of the enigmatic fullback, has remained in touch after Hayne left the Eels. Save for their birth date — both men were born on February 15, 1988 — the pair appear to be polar opposites. Mannah is the hard-toiling prop who has maximised every ounce of ability out of himself during a career that makes headlines only for his on-field achievements. Hayne, meanwhile, has been a magnet for controversy from the moment he made his debut, through to his defection from the NRL and back again.
Mannah believes the public hasn't had a chance to get to know the real Hayne.
"He's an easy target," Mannah said. "When you don't get results at your club, and he's obviously the marquee man, he's the first one they look at. You can't pinpoint everything that's gone wrong up there on Haynesy.
"I don't think he's divisive at all. Say what you want about his training ethic, when it comes to competing there are not many competitors like him," he said.
Meanwhile, forget moving the coach, Gold Coast should pack up and move to Brisbane. That's the opinion of league guru Phil Gould, who also believes Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga would be the perfect man to lead the rebuild of the struggling NRL club.
The two-time premiership-winning coach suggested Meninga should be handed the reins of a football program and guide a rookie NRL mentor such as Kevin Walters or Adrian Lam.
"Adrian's like Kevin Walters, he's always coveted an NRL coaching role," Gould said on his Six Tackles With Gus podcast. "He's had a few lower grade roles. If Mal's there, it doesn't matter who then coaches the side, because they'll have a coaching team and Mal will oversee the team, as he did with the Queensland team for many years."
While much of the focus has been on who takes over following the sacking of Neil Henry this week, Gould went one step further and said the club should move north to Brisbane.
"I think the logical solution for the Gold Coast Titans is to move to Suncorp Stadium and play week about with the Broncos and act as a the second Brisbane team," Gould said.
with AAP