The NRL needs superstars. There’s no doubt about it. And they’ve got them in bucket loads with the likes of Jonathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk and Sam Burgess, but they’re not bigger than rugby league. Jarryd Hayne, you’re not an exception.

Hayne famously left the code at the end of 2014, pursuing his dream of becoming an NFL player, signing with the San Francisco 49ers. After eighteen months, he left to follow another dream, playing Rugby 7s for Fiji.

Returning to rugby league with the Gold Coast Titans, Hayne finds himself offside with his teammates regarding his poor attitude both on and off the field. Missing a training session over the off-season saw ‘the Hayne Plane’ fined by his fellow teammates, and dropped from the leadership group, a far cry from the focused fullback that took out the 2014 Dally M medal.

Currently sidelined with an ankle injury suffered against the Newcastle Knights, don’t be surprised if the Gold Coast Titans improve without the two-time Dally M medallist.

NEWCASTLE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 11: Jarryd Hayne of the Titans leaves the ground after sustaining an injury during the round two NRL match between the Newcastle Knights and the Gold Coast Titans at McDonald Jones Stadium on March 11, 2017 in Newcastle, Australia. (Photo by Tony Feder/Getty Images)

The Titan’s strong form last year dropped off significantly after Hayne joined the team, the immense spotlight proving too much for the Gold Coast, fizzling out with a poor loss to Brisbane in the first week of the finals. With Hayne sitting on the pine for an extended period, the Titans have the perfect excuse to drop back under the radar and improve after their 0-2 start to the season.

To put it simply, Jarryd Hayne needs to be pulled into line. He tweeted last week ‘Loose lips sink ships’, a message many think was directed at coach Neil Henry, but a more plausible target appears to be Australian journalists, who the custodian has a constant battle with.

After a fan tweeted Hayne to tell the superstar he was sick of all the gossip in the media, Hayne replied with ‘Same!!! But grubs gotta sell papers bud!’, a far cry from the role model the man should be.

If Henry wants Hayne’s focus on football, the first step should be a social media ban. It simply has too much control over the former Parramatta speedster. There’s a reason most players avoid things like newspapers and online stories, it gets to them. It puts them off their game. It lets the outside world seep in. And that is what’s has happened to Hayne.

The man has always been someone to ignore the norm and pursue what he believes, no matter what effect it has on his own public image. While it’s respectable to some extent, Hayne is someone kids and fans alike look up to, aspire to be. The man needs to know that, especially after recently becoming a father.

No man is bigger than the game. Hayne owes all he is to rugby league, because where would he be without it? So dear Jarryd Hayne, please remember that it was rugby league that made you, not the other way around and it’s time to repay it, and the fans that adore you.