Cross-code superstar Jarryd Hayne has fallen from the heights of a million-dollar-a-season NRL contract and a burgeoning career in the NFL to being found guilty of sexual assault and facing up to 14 years in prison.
Jarryd Hayne (pictured right with wife Amelia Bonnici left) has been found guilty of two counts of sexual assault
Hayne, 33, was found guilty on Monday at the NSW District Court of two counts of sexual assault.
Hayne was found not guilty of alternative charges of aggravated sexual intercourse without consent inflicting actual bodily harm to the woman.
Hayne will be under virtual house arrest at home in Woy Woy, on the NSW Central Coast, until his sentencing in May.
The former Parramatta Eels star was once celebrated as a preeminent Australian sports star – the product of a house commission family from Minto in Sydney’s west who became one of the country’s most recognisable and revered athletes.
Hayne put together one of the finest individual seasons in rugby league history in 2009, leading the Eels to the grand final and winning the Dally M medal as the game’s finest player.
He also had a two-year hiatus to attempt to crack America’s National Football League, playing pre-season games with the San Francisco 49ers.
The fame and riches the devout Christian once enjoyed will now come to an abrupt end as he faces the prospect of years behind bars.
Dressed in a black suit and tie, Hayne, 33, bowed his head in the witness box as the first guilty verdict to a rape charge was entered
Hayne put together one of the finest individual seasons in rugby league history in 2009, leading the Eels to the grand final and winning the Dally M medal as the game’s finest player
Despite never having played the sport before, Hayne successfully made the San Francisco 49ers roster in 2015
Hayne was raised in Housing Commission flats in western Sydney by his single mother Jodie, who slept by the door to ensure her children would be safe from home invaders.
His father is former rugby league star Manoa Thompson, who was absent when Hayne was growing up but reunited with his son later in life.
After showing his prodigious football talent at Westfields Sports High School he signed with the Parramatta Eels and immediately became one of the game’s top performers.
He narrowly avoided being shot by a bikie gang member during a night out in Sydney’s Kings Cross in 2008 – a moment Hayne later said changed his life.
He turned to religion after playing for the Fijian rugby league team at the 2008 World Cup in what was a tumultuous year for the young footballer.
‘For the next year after that, there were sleepless nights… I knew I was a marked man. I was told I was. That was pretty much the pinnacle of where my life was going,’ he told Light FM Christian radio.
‘I sat down and told myself ”Man, I’m a rugby league player. I’m not a bikie. I’m not a gangster.” But the way that whole year developed, it became such a God-glorifying year. It was something that changed my life and made me who I am today.’
Hayne was raised in Housing Commission flats in western Sydney by his single mother Jodie, who slept by the door to ensure her children would be safe from home invaders
The next year Hayne broke out as a bona fide superstar – winning the prestigious Dally M medal aged just 21 and leading the Eels to the NRL grand final
Hayne later became the poster boy for Hillsong, a contemporary Pentecostal church.
The next year Hayne broke out as a bona fide superstar – winning the prestigious Dally M medal aged just 21 and leading the Eels to the NRL grand final.
Seeking a new challenge, he ditched his $2million contract with Parramatta in 2014, flew to America and tried to make it in one of the toughest sporting leagues in the world as a completely inexperienced rookie.
Despite the odds and public expectation going against him, Hayne made the five-time Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers’ roster.
Seeking a new challenge, he ditched his $2million contract with Parramatta in 2014, flew to America and tried to make it in one of the toughest sporting leagues in the world as a completely inexperienced rookie
Seeking a new challenge, he ditched his $2million contract with Parramatta in 2014, flew to America and tried to make it in one of the toughest sporting leagues in the world
Hayne (pictured with girlfriend Amelia Bonnici and their daughter Beliviah Ivy) played rugby sevens for Fiji in an attempt to make the side in time for the Olympics before returning to Australia to play for the Gold Coast Titans in 2016
Hayne then played rugby sevens for Fiji in an attempt to make the side in time for the Olympics before returning to Australia to play for the Gold Coast Titans in 2016.
He rejoined the Eels this year but was a shadow of his former self.
The footballer allegedly met and had sex with his accuser in the Hunter region on the night of the NRL grand final on September 30, after they began messaging on social media.
Hayne was arrested in 2018 after being charged with sexual assualt
Despite the odds and public expectation going against him, Hayne made the five-time Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers’ roster
The 26-year-old woman claimed she and Hayne were having consensual sex but she ‘withdrew her consent’.
She allegedly suffered injuries during the sexual encounter with Hayne and required medical treatment.
The woman originally made a complaint to the NRL’s Integrity Unit about the incident which referred the woman to the police.
Hayne pictured with fellow Hillsong Church followers Wes Naiqama (left) and Junior Sau at its annual conference in 2012
His father is former rugby league star Manoa Thompson (left), who was absent when Hayne was growing up but reunited with his son later in life
The footy star also settled a civil case in the United States after a woman claimed he raped her while he was a member of the 49ers in 2015.
Police declined to charge Hayne after investigating the allegations, and the woman lodged a civil suit in relation to an alleged incident in San Jose, California.
The woman alleged the pair met at a bar following a game between the 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals.
She alleged Hayne took her back to his home in an Uber where he raped her.
The woman says she doesn’t have a strong recollection of the alleged incident, only that someone of Hayne’s build was coming towards her before the alleged rape.
The case was settled in 2019.
