Stop wasting your time: Immortal Andrew Johns slams Jarryd Hayne and Valentine Holmes for attempting to make the NFL as adults when they’d never played the game
- NRL great Andrew Johns took aim at stars Jarryd Hayne and Valentine Holmes
- He said pair had sunk potentially lucrative deals with NRL to play in the NFL
- Haynes briefly played for San Francisco 49ers when he lived in America
- Holmes tried out for New York Jets and landed on the team’s practice squad
Rugby league legend Andrew Johns has taken aim at Jarryd Hayne and Valentine Holmes for chasing a career in American football.
The star halfback told his ‘Freddy and the Eighth’ podcast the pair had ruined potentially lucrative deals with the NRL when they travelled overseas to try their hand at the NFL.
‘One of the best we’ve seen in ages, Jarryd Hayne, went over and wasn’t successful,’ Johns said.
‘Val Holmes, an amazing athlete, a freakish athlete, didn’t make it.’
Rugby league legend Andrew Johns (pictured, with partner Caroline Mahoney) has taken aim at Jarryd Hayne and Valentine Holmes for chasing a career in American football
At the time, the two-time Dally M Medallist was one of rugby league’s top players but went on to become a rookie for the San Francisco 49ers in America (pictured, Jarryd Hayne)
Hayne temporarily walked away from rugby league to play for the San Francisco 49ers the NFL in 2015.
At the time, the two-time Dally M Medallist was one of rugby league’s top players.
Hayne lasted just a season before he eventually returned to the NRL – but failed to reach the heights of his successful first stint in rugby league.
Holmes made a dramatic exit from the Cronulla Sharks to try his luck in the NFL this year.
He fell short of his goal to make the New York Jets roster, and was named on the practice-only squad.
The 24-year-old has not only missed out on this year’s season but also on up to $1million playing rugby league – as he will make just $200,000 to sit on the sidelines during Jets games this season.
‘They go over there for 18 months and waste 18 months and not make it,’ Johns said in his podcast.
‘(You) cost yourself a lot of money. Play (rugby) league.’
Unhappy with sitting out a season, Holmes is understood to have made the decision to return to the NRL.
He is reported to be taking up a $1million contract with the Cowboys and will return for the 2020 season.
Holmes (pictured) fell even shorter of Hayne’s achievement and only managed to get a place on the New York Jet’s practice squad