New Gold Coast Titans signing Jarryd Hayne has revealed he is “devastated” he didn’t end up rejoining former club Parramatta: but says that a lack of progress over any offer from the Eels left him with no choice but to look elsewhere.
Hayne returned to rugby league earlier this week, signing a bumper deal with Gold Coast until the end of the 2018 season, ending speculation about where his next move would be.
Parramatta made a late move for Hayne, but it was understood to be for less than what the Titans offered, according to reports in Australia.
And Hayne said he was disappointed negotiations with Parra didn’t work out, revealing he was rejecting offers to return to work in the hope of an offer from the Eels, adding he waited as long as he could for a deal to put on the table.
“I’m just as frustrated that it couldn’t get worked out,” Hayne told AAP. “They’re obviously upset … they’re obviously a very emotional bunch and so am I. I’m just as devastated that it had to go like this.”
“I’d been unemployed for almost a month, knocking back offers for that long, waiting for theirs,” he said. “If you’ve got to call someone to ask what’s going on, it’s not a good sign. I waited as long as I could, did all that I could.”