As 49ers head to Australia, Jarryd Hayne says he’s ‘a free man.’ His return remains contested

Editor’s note: This story discusses allegations of sexual assault.

Jarryd Hayne left Australian stardom for a dream shot at the NFL, and he made it.

In turn, the 49ers found themselves a 2015 summer sensation who doubled as a conduit to new fans in an untapped market Down Under.

Then Hayne’s story became about something far more serious than his lone season as the 49ers’ ball-bobbling punt returner and novice running back: sexual-assault allegations in two countries that remain inseparable from his public legacy.

“At the end of the day, I’m a free man,” Hayne said recently in an exclusive interview with the Bay Area News Group. “Everything’s been dropped. And we move forward.”

The criminal case against Hayne is over. The fuller legal picture is more complicated.

Hayne, 38, is trying to rebuild his public life after an Australian sexual-assault case that spanned three trials, produced guilty verdicts in two and resulted in him spending about 23 months in prison across two periods. Both sets of convictions were overturned because of trial errors, and prosecutors ultimately decided against pursuing a fourth trial.

In its latest ruling, the appeals court did not enter acquittals. The woman’s separate civil damages lawsuit also remained active as recently as Aug. 31, according to New South Wales Supreme Court records.

His Australian case came after a December 2015 rape accusation in San Jose. Santa Clara County prosecutors declined to file criminal charges because they did not believe they had enough evidence to obtain a conviction. The woman later sued Hayne, and the parties resolved the case in 2019.

“It’s disappointing, everything that’s happened,” Hayne said. “I haven’t really spoken on it yet. We’re doing some stuff behind the scenes where I’ll have my say eventually. I’ve kind of sat back and copped the heat for eight years and not been able to tell my side of the story.”

The woman in the San Jose case, who was identified in court documents only by her initials, has not spoken out publicly. Her former attorneys did not respond to requests for comment in time for this story.

Hayne’s name is circling again because the 49ers now find themselves in Australia as pioneers. They’ll face the Los Angeles Rams in the NFL’s first-ever regular-season game on that continent, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sept. 10.

Hayne plans on being there to root for the 49ers alongside one of the five children he has with his wife, Amellia.

During last week’s Zoom interview, Hayne looked and sounded relaxed and upbeat. He has launched a training academy for up-and-coming rugby-league players in his native Sydney, and he’ll soon be sharing his rugby-league and NFL insights in the podcasting and social media realm.

“I’ve been through a lot, so I’m getting on track and starting the new career,” Hayne said.

The American Dream

As one 49ers executive reflected last week, Hayne came to them as “the Michael Jordan of Australia’s rugby league,” a superstar who left his country at the pinnacle of his sport, having won a share of his second Dally M Medal as the National Rugby League’s MVP.

“I was looking to get away and escape the hype and the media,” said Hayne, who was 18 when he began a nine-year run on the NRL’s Parramatta Eels. “I’ve always wanted to test my ability and I thought the NFL would be the course, that I could go over for a year or two to see if I had the ability to make it.”

Australians tuned in with rabid interest. Every move Hayne made was relayed back home, at least for the few months and games that project lasted.

“It did generate a little bit of excitement around football and probably brought it onto the map a little bit more,” Troy Wykes, president of American Football Queensland, said this week. “I dare say it definitely unlocked the doors for a couple of other guys, like Valentine Holmes,” who left the NRL for the 2019 New York Jets’ practice squad.

Hayne was floored instantly by the volume and verbiage of an NFL playbook, all while he was being taught the nuances of playing running back by assistant coach and 49ers legend Tom Rathman, who also worked with him as a punt returner.

“All the hype he brought to the table, that was one of the biggest things I can remember,” Rathman said Wednesday in an exclusive interview.

The Hayne Plane

Expectations soared once Hayne debuted in the preseason at Houston, where he followed a Bruce Miller block and sprang “that 53-yard run,” as Hayne vividly recalled. Five Australian reporters were witnesses in the press box, and one jumped out of her seat to shout, “Go Haynsie!”

The Aussie spotlight had found him again, even if he wasn’t reliving his rugby-league celebration of spreading his arms and soaring as “The Hayne Plane.”

“I remember the first couple of weeks, it was a big thing, and it felt awkward,” Hayne said. “Obviously I’m being spoken about in the same breath as Colin Kaepernick, NaVorro Bowman and Aldon Smith. I’m just this little rookie from Australia.”

On the big stage of “Monday Night Football,” Hayne’s regular-season debut went awry as he muffed his first career punt return near midfield against the Minnesota Vikings.

“I lost sight of the ball, saw it late. Silly me, the mistake I made was I tried to catch it like a rugby ball with my forearms,” Hayne said. “A rugby ball is so big you have some leeway. The NFL ball is so much smaller.”

He returned at least one punt in each of the first six games, averaging 9.5 yards per return, with a career-best 37-yarder in Week 3 at Arizona. But he muffed another punt in Week 4, then fumbled on a Week 6 return, and come Halloween, he was cut and shipped to the practice squad.

“It was crazy. Throughout the preseason I was so comfortable under the high ball. It was fine. Then in the (regular) season, I dropped it three times, man,” Hayne said.

As first-year coach Jim Tomsula’s doomed tenure neared an end, Hayne was called back up for the penultimate game, on Dec. 27 at Detroit. He had nine carries for 27 yards and five receptions for 20 yards, and no punt returns.

“There was a game in Detroit, and he played really solid,” Rathman said. “There was some ability, but it just didn’t work out.”

A decade later, Hayne thinks he could have flourished in Kyle Shanahan’s offense, “more like a Deebo Samuel” who could exploit man-to-man matchups.

Going back home

On May 15, 2016, Hayne announced his retirement rather than make an encore with the 49ers under new coach Chip Kelly. Hayne’s next dream was to play on Fiji’s rugby sevens Olympic team; he didn’t make it.

Back to the NRL he went, joining the Gold Coast Titans for two seasons before a 2018 closing act back with Parramatta.

After the NRL’s 2018 grand final, Hayne’s life took a momentous turn: A 26-year-old woman accused him of sexual assault at her Newcastle home. Hayne maintained that the sexual contact was consensual.

His first trial ended in a hung jury in 2020. A second jury convicted him in 2021, but an appeals court overturned those convictions after finding errors involving the judge’s instructions to jurors and the exclusion of text-message evidence.

In April 2023, another jury found Hayne guilty, and he was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison, with a three-year non-parole period.

A year later, the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal overturned those convictions in a 2-1 ruling.

The majority found that the trial judge should have allowed further cross-examination of the woman about messages she had sent and improperly instructed jurors about how to treat allegations that she had lied.

The judges split differently on separate questions. Justices Anthony Meagher and Stephen Rothman concluded it was open to the jury to convict Hayne based on the evidence. Rothman nevertheless joined Justice Deborah Sweeney in overturning the convictions because of the trial errors. Sweeney would have gone further and acquitted Hayne, writing that there was a significant possibility an innocent person had been convicted.

After considering what it called “the many competing factors” informing its public-interest assessment, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions decided not to pursue a fourth trial. The office said its specific reasons were legally privileged.

Angie Schultz, a University of Northern Colorado sociology professor who focuses on sexual violence and sport, said repeated trials followed by overturned convictions can discourage sexual-assault survivors from participating in the legal process. Some may tell themselves, she said: “Why seek justice in the first place? Go to therapy and move on.”

The criminal case formally ended in June 2024, but the woman’s civil damages claim continued. Hayne’s attorney asked the New South Wales Supreme Court last year to dismiss it because of delays in the proceedings. The lawsuit remained on court records last month.

Hayne said he intends to tell his side more fully in the future. He also criticized how the allegations against him have been discussed publicly.

His legal troubles in America surfaced after he’d already returned to Australia.

In October 2016, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office declined to charge him after police investigated a December 2015 rape allegation.

The woman, identified only as “J.V.,” said she met Hayne and his friends at a bar, then traveled with him to his apartment while intoxicated, where she alleged he raped her.

Hayne denied raping her and said they “willingly engaged in sexual interaction that did not include sexual intercourse.”

J.V. filed a lawsuit in 2017. The parties resolved the case and voluntarily dismissed it with prejudice two years later. The terms were not disclosed.

A contested return

Hayne’s return to public life has not been welcomed in all corners.

The divided reaction was evident last month after an Eels team reunion. The club drew so much scorn for posting an Instagram picture of Hayne with active players that it shut down the comments within 24 hours.

Danny Weidler of the Sydney Morning Herald criticized the Eels’ embrace of Hayne, noting that while his convictions were overturned, “the damage to his life and that of the young lady can’t be undone.”

“I’ve seen the comments that were made before they were removed, and they were damning of both him and the club,” Weidler wrote. “At best, it was naive from the Eels. It felt tone-deaf.”

Because Hayne’s convictions were overturned over trial errors rather than a finding that the allegation was false, Schultz said, some Australians may remain reluctant to embrace his return.

Hayne enjoyed that celebration of the Eels’ 2009 Grand Final team. He said his wife became emotional over how warmly some fans received him, as if it were “like old times” and his legacy as a premier scorer remained celebrated.

“You just have to pick your socks up and push on,” Hayne said. “You can’t worry about the past and what drags you down. You have to push forward and do what’s best for your family.”

He met his wife in 2016, and she was by his side throughout the trials and appeals. They largely kept their growing family away from the public eye.

“I’m a private person and don’t do things in the spotlight with my family, especially with what I’ve been through,” Hayne said. “I’m just enjoying being a dad, and doing work with the academy, setting that up. Now I’m going to get a podcast to bring insight into rugby league.

“It’s all starting to come together, and it’s been good.”

The Jarryd Hayne Sporting Academy opened last November, catering to youth rugby-league players in the Sydney area, especially during holiday sessions. Clinics have attracted dozens to over 100 prospects, according to the academy, which has posted parent testimonials on Instagram.

Hayne’s passion for teaching skills could be heard loud and clear as he described a 14-year-old prospect, comparing him to another player who made the NFL leap.

“He’s 6-4, 148 kilos, and he runs like the wind,” Hayne said, comparing him to Philadelphia Eagles left tackle and former Aussie rugby-league player Jordan Mailata. “He’s only 14. No other kid can tackle him.”

Aside from Mailata and a few other success stories, Australians’ path to the NFL often has come as punters. Hayne was an exception, to his delight.

“I knew I wasn’t going to make a long career out of it. The goal was I wanted to see if I could make it; I wanted to see if I could become an NFL player,” Hayne said. “That was me being true to myself. That’s why I left.

“The 49ers gave me that opportunity.”

The 49ers’ arrival in Australia gives Hayne another chance to revisit that celebrated chapter of his life. Whether the public is ready to move forward with him remains a far more complicated question.

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, free, confidential support is available 24/7 through RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline. Call 800-656-HOPE (4673), text HOPE to 64673 or visit RAINN.org/hotline. In Australia, call 1800RESPECT at 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au.