From an NRL superstar to chasing an NFL career in the United States, Jarryd Hayne was one of Australia’s most successful sports stars until a string of public scandals brought it all crashing down.
At 33 years of age, Hayne has received a Dally M Medal, signed a lucrative $2.1m deal to play in the NFL for the San Francisco 49ers and spent Christmas behind bars at Cooma Correctional Centre.
After growing up in a Minto housing commission estate with his single mum in Sydney’s outer southwest, Hayne burst onto the NRL scene with his first-grade debut as a teenager in 2006 with the Parramatta Eels before graduating to State of Origin.
In 2008 he represented Fiji at the 2008 World Cup and reached the semi-finals before his dreams were crushed by the Kangaroos.
A year later he helped the Eels make a run to the grand final and while they lost, Hayne accepted the first of his two Dally M medals.
While the Eels endure a few bad years, Hayne still shined, becoming the top tryscorer at the 2013 World Cup with the Kangaroos. He then won his second Dally M in 2014.
Hayne was quickly dubbed the best player in the league before making the ambitious switch to play with the 49ers in the NFL, signing a contract reportedly worth $2.1m over three years.
Hayne insisted he was in the US for good but was subsequently waived by the 49ers after playing eight games and returned on a flight back to Australia.
The 33-year-old was first accused of sexual assault in December 2015 while playing in the NFL.
San Jose police began investigating the rape allegations in May 2016 when the woman, known only as JV, alleged Hayne took her home after meeting in a Californian bar and raped her.
The civil case alleged the woman was intoxicated and had no memory before Hayne took her back to his apartment in an Uber and allegedly raped the devout Christian.
She was “fearful” of telling police about the incident, believing alleged victims of professional athletes were “discredited and blamed” for alleged sexual assaults.
JV reported the alleged rape to police in May 2016 after becoming overcome with anxiety.
Days later, Hayne left the US to try out for Fiji’s Rugby Sevens team.
Hayne quietly returned to Australia before the allegations were made public in 2017.
The case was settled for nearly $100,000 in August 2019 despite Hayne maintaining his innocence.
When he returned to Australia, Hayne played for the Gold Coast Titans.
He met his wife Amellia Bonnici in 2016 when he returned to Australia and she quickly fell pregnant, giving birth to their first child, daughter Beliviah Ivy, in December 2016.
Hayne moved Ms Bonnici to his Gold Coast home, but she returned to Sydney and the couple spent time living apart.
The Dally M winner made a desperate return to the Parramatta Eels for the 2018 NRL season to be closer to his partner and daughter in what would be his last season of NRL.
In 2020, Hayne was hit with fresh charges in Australia when police alleged he had sex with a woman without her consent in Newcastle on NRL grand final night in 2018.
He handed himself in at Ryde police station and re he was charged and released on strict bail conditions.
Hayne has maintained his innocexjmtzywnce and the sex was consensual, telling media outside court in July 2019: “I want to make it very clear, I’m innocent of these charges.
“It’s been a very hard time for my family … but justice will be served.”
The matter went to trial in December 2020 and resulted in a hung jury.
The jury was told that Hayne called in on a woman in Newcastle around grand final time in 2018 and allegedly had sex with her against her will, causing serious injuries, with her mother downstairs in the home.
The court was told that the woman contacted him, saying she was injured and “upset”. Hayne allegedly apologised to her.
After the first sexual assault trial ended, the former star got down on one knee and proposed to Ms Bonnici, with the pair making the announcement on Instagram.
“‘He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favour from the LORD’. Proverbs 18:22 NKJV,” Hayne wrote.
“It’s been a rollercoaster. But I’m thankful for God and what the Holy Spirit has done through us. It’s only by the grace of God we are here and were excited moving forward as Husband n Wife,” he added with a love heart emoji.
The post was liked by nearly 20,000 Instagram users at the time of writing and plenty of people commented, sending the couple their best wishes.
The engagement lasted just four weeks, with the couple announcing their marriage on January 26, 2021.
Despite being married in secret at the Pullman Magenta Shores resort on the NSW Central Coast in front of 50 guests, the news of the wedding quickly leaked.
A District Court jury in March last year found Hayne guilty of two counts of sexual assault, accepting the woman’s version of events that he performed digital and oral sex on her without her consent.
He was subsequently sentenced by Judge Helen Syme to five years and nine months jail, with a non-parole period of three years and eight months. Hayne has spent nine months in prison.
He launched an appeal against his conviction, claiming the NSW District Court jury was given flawed directions and there were inconsistencies in the evidence.
His barrister Tim Game argued that the jury was given directions that were “flawed in almost every possible way” before they were sent to deliberate.
According to Mr Hayne’s barrister, Judge Syme used words like “might” and “may” when she should have used “beyond a reasonable doubt”.
Hayne successfully appealed on two of the four grounds on which he relied.
The conviction was sensationally overturned on Monday in the Court of Criminal Appeal after Hayne claimed the jury was given flawed directions and there were inconsistencies in the evidence.
During a half-day hearing late last year, his lawyers argued that Judge Syme made an error when giving directions to the jury on the “mental” element of the offences and consent.
He was also successfully argued that Judge Syme was wrong to overturn a ruling from Hayne’s first trial relating to messages sent between the woman and another person.
Mr Game also argued before the Court of Appeal that the woman’s words in a text sent to a friend did not accord with her evidence that she repeatedly said “no” and “stop”.
However that ground was not successful.
The former Parramatta Eels fullback and NFL player has persistently maintained his innocence – stating so after he was in March found guilty by a jury.
“I‘d rather go to jail knowing I spoke the truth than be a free man living a lie,” Hayne said.
During a sentencing hearing in May, he again reiterated his innocence, saying: “I didn’t do it.”
Hayne has been ordered to face a fresh trial.
He remains in Cooma Correctional Centre and will on Tuesday appear before a bail hearing in Sydney’s Downing Centre, where he will fight to be freed while the case is heard.
