Hayne sets up try, gets through return game unscathed

Jarryd Hayne got through his rugby league return unscathed, laying on a try in front of a few hundred people in the third-tier Ron Massey Cup for Wentworthville.

Playing in his first game since September 2018, Hayne had plenty of touches at five-eighth and offered one glimpse of his past self against Canterbury.

With scores locked at 14-14, the former Parramatta favourite produced a three-man cut-out ball for his winger Austin Quast to go over.

The play proved decisive, with Wentworthville going on to win the game 22-14 at Ringrose Park.

The No.6 had earlier gone close to scoring in the first half, putting his second-rower Felix Niutili-Schmidt through a hole and almost going over himself from dummy-half on the next play.

Hayne's comeback came after a hamstring injury had ruled him out of the opening seven rounds of the competition, with the Magpies taking a conservative approach.

Now aged 37, Hayne was cheered on to the ground by a small crowd, with some fans holding up posters celebrating his career.

The former NSW and Australian representative last played for the Eels at the end of the 2018 season, and was left unsigned as he pushed for a new deal.

But any hope of that was killed when he was charged with two counts of sexual intercourse without consent.

The fullback spent more than a year in prison and was found guilty following two trials, but was released last June when his conviction was overturned.

Hayne had maintained his innocence throughout the process, and the charges were ultimately dropped after his successful appeal.

The two-time Dally M Medal winner stepped back into rugby league as part of Fiji's coaching staff during last year's Pacific Championships.

He then briefly featured in a Nines tournament on the Gold Coast in January, before the hamstring injury derailed that weekend and his return to play at Wentworthville.

The Magpies act as a feeder club to Parramatta, but any return to the NRL is extremely unlikely. At best, Hayne has not given up hope of playing for Fiji again.