Less than 12 months ago, Jarryd Hayne was target number one in the eyes of the Brisbane Broncos.
Now, he’s the Cinderella story of the NFL and those same old enemies couldn’t be happier for the former Eels flyer.
“Over here, he was a gun,” Corey Oates told WilliamHill.com.au.
“Everyone is behind him and his decision to go over there. You can just see from the game (against Dallas) that it’s all working out for him.”
The majority are fans of the American game, with their former rival both captivating and entertaining them on a single iPhone on board the team bus.
Some are still surprised the Hayne Plane has taken off so quickly, but one who wasn’t though was Ben Hunt.
Many of his teammates were stunned to find out the Broncos halfback had selected Hayne as part of his NFL Fantasy squad for the upcoming season, but at this rate it could very well turn into a stroke of genius.
“They’re all sort of starting to realise how good of an athlete he is,” Hunt said while visiting the William Hill offices in Sydney.
“I picked him up in the late rounds of my fantasy team for a bit of fun. Hopefully, if he comes good and makes the squad I might slip him in to my starting side later in the year.
“He’s obviously put his head down, been training hard and I think he’s got a good shot at making the team.
“Every time he got the ball, you knew he was going to do something great. He had the presence in the NRL of someone who had to be respected and he’s showing the US now too.”
Hayne has come into $1.18 to play a single NFL game in 2015 with bookmaker WilliamHill.com.au and $2.75 to score a regular season touchdown.
The doubters are being silenced with every catch, step and run and it’s a story that could tempt even more of the NRL’s best in the future.
“It was a big risk for him and I’m sure there are a few NRL players that could go over and make that transition pretty easily as well,” Lachlan Maranta said.
“Players like G.I. (Greg Inglis), who knows? Maybe it opens up someone like his eyes to maybe have a crack at it.”
