NRL bad boys Jarryd Hayne, Ben Barba and Michael Jennings are all making a footy comeback – in the same team
- Have promised to play for ‘stacked’ United Sporting Club
- Nines footy tournament on the Gold Coast later this month
- Off-field scandals have plagued the talented football stars
Former NRL bad boys Jarryd Hayne, Ben Barba and Michael Jennings have all been tipped to make a comeback – in the same team – at the Premier League Nines tournament on the Gold Coast later this month.
The trio includes Cronulla premiership winner Andrew Fifita, his brother David, ex-Raiders five-eighth Blake Austin and Eels winger Ken Sio.
Andrew Fifita later shared the proposed team list in an Instagram story – and acknowledged that United Sporting Club is ‘stacked’.
“Please remember that we are now a retirement village,” said the decorated prop, geared towards the ages of the players.
“But take us back ten years, no one can stop us.”
All the talented football stars in their major off-field dramas have engulfed players like Hayne, Barba and Jennings.
Jarryd Hayne is tipped to feature in the Premier League Nines tournament on the Gold Coast later this month (pictured, with fellow Eels legend Peter Wynn)
Hayne is joined by Ben Barba, who was a fan favorite at the Bulldogs and then the Sharks, where he won a premiership in 2016 (pictured)
Former NSW Blues center Michael Jennings is another ex-NRL star named to represent the United Sporting Club
Hayne – who is rumored to be playing for Wentworthville Magpies in the Ron Massey Cup this season – was convicted twice and has served a prison sentence after being accused of sexual assault in 2018.
He was accused of assaulting a woman – who lived on the outskirts of Newcastle in NSW – with his hands and mouth, leaving her to bleed from the genitals.
Hayne has always maintained that the acts of digital penetration and oral sex were “entirely consensual.”
His convictions were overturned on appeal in November 2023 and he was released from prison.
He also settled a civil lawsuit over an alleged rape while playing in the US NFL for the San Francisco 49ers in 2015.
Barba, who won a premiership with the Sharks in 2016, was released by the North Queensland Cowboys in 2019 before playing a game following an alleged domestic violence incident involving his partner Ainslie Currie at Townsville’s Ville Resort Casino.
Currie did not press charges. Barba was given a lifetime ban by the NRL after the league’s Integrity Unit reviewed CCTV footage of the alleged incident at the casino.
The 2012 Dally M medalist also tested positive for cocaine after winning the grand final with the Sharks.
Sharks cult hero Andrew Fifita shared the proposed team list in an Instagram story – and acknowledged that United Sporting Club is ‘stacked’
Barba was later forced to seek work as a metalworker after his colorful football career ended abruptly.
Jennings was accused of raping his ex-wife Kirra Wilden in a civil case and was also suspended by the NRL after testing positive for a banned steroid while on the Eels’ books in 2020.
He also lost an appeal in 2023 following a court order that he pay Wilden nearly $500,000 in damages.
The 36-year-old center played for the Roosters last season but was not offered an NRL deal for 2025 and beyond.