A bit exhausted by all this, tbh.

Hayne is just a great sportsman who has done what great sportsmen often do - make a series of fairly mercenary and opportunistic decisions to advance in his career. So far so good - more power to him - but it's the way he moralises these decisions and frames them as part of his personal calling that seems to alienate people, myself included. It's the worst combination - an incredibly self-promoting player who always seems to be banging on about how his self-promotion is a moral victory as well.

I also find his take on the media pretty disingenuous - their hype has made his transition back into the NRL (and probably into the NFL) much easier than it might have been. Also, if Hayne didn't want the hype why did he start franchising NFL gear before he'd even played a single game?

I also think the context of the comment is telling. This is the first week Hayne will be at fullback - and that's a big deal for a player like David Mead who has been working at no. 1 for the Titans at such a long time. While a team has to pick the best player on the day, Hayne should be mindful that he's pretty much swanned in and taken someone else's position - mindful enough, at least, not to act like a martyr when the media asks him to comment on it. If I was Mead, I'd be amazed and irritated that Hayne had chosen this exact moment to pull that martyr act. If you're replacing an incumbent fullback under such unusual conditions, you should respect him enough to give a proper press statement about the replacement.