Jarryd Hayne could compete at the Olympics and return for the rugby league finals series this season with the National Rugby League to "consider registering his contract" if it was deemed "in the best interest" of the sport, according to Chammas & Decent of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. The future of Hayne "remains up in the air after the 28-year-old's stunning decision to quit the NFL in the hope of representing Fiji at the Rio Olympics in August," but the rules do not prohibit him from returning to the NRL in time for the finals series. If Hayne does not make the final Fiji squad of 12 after the June training camp, the NRL is "likely to register his contract before the June 30 deadline," however even if he earns a spot on the plane to Brazil, it does not "rule him out of an NRL return this season." If a team with salary cap space like the Sydney Roosters or Gold Coast Titans "signed the code-hopping superstar before June 30 and agreed to allow him to play in Rio, he would then be able to feature in time for the finals, if the team qualified." NRL Salary Cap Auditor Jamie L'Oste Brown "would be reluctant to approve Hayne's contract for this season if he was to play in Rio, but it remains possibility" (SMH, 5/16).
DOPING TESTS QUESTIONS: REUTERS' Greg Stutchbury wrote Fiji's Olympic committee sees "no impediment" to Hayne joining its rugby sevens team for the Rio Games, "even though he has not been subject to World Anti-Doping Agency accredited testing procedures while playing in the NFL." Former Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority Head Richard Ings, however, said in comments "widely reported by Australian media that the former rugby league international would be ineligible for the Olympics." The head of Fiji's Olympic Committee said that she could not speak about Hayne specifically but said the committee's selection policies "did not require athletes to go through an effective six month stand down period while they entered the testing program prior to representing the country" (REUTERS, 5/16).
NO PLAN B YET: In Sydney, Jamie Marcuson reported Hayne's Australian Manager Wayne Beavis said that "there is no plan B after the Olympics for the cross-code star." Beavis said that Hayne had "achieved everything he could in the NFL and couldn't turn down the opportunity" to chase an Olympic Gold Medal. Beavis was "quick to shut down speculation that Hayne was pre-emptively jumping ship as he was going to be cut from new 49ers coach Chip Kelly's active roster." Beavis: "The coach was very happy with him and happy with his progress. Everything was going swimmingly. Then out of left-field came the Rio opportunity, [which] really got him thinking. ... A fortnight ago Jarryd Hayne was going to be an NFL player in 2016 and 2017. So we haven't had a chance to talk about Plan B but I'm sure there will be no lack of opportunities for him if he comes back to Australia" (SMH, 5/16).
