- They have committed to playing for the 'stacked' United Sporting Club
- Nines football tournament on Gold Coast later this month
- Off-field scandals have plagued talented soccer stars.
Former NRL bad boys Jarryd Hayne, Ben Barba and Michael Jennings are set to return to football, in the same team, at the Premier League Nines tournament on the Gold Coast later this month.
Joining the trio will be the likes of Cronulla premiership winner Andrew Fifita, his brother David, ex-Raiders five-eighth Blake Austin and Eels winger Ken Sio.
Andrew Fifita then 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,” the decorated object said, referring to the ages of the players.
“But if we go back 10 years, no one is stopping us.”
All talented football stars in their prime, off-field drama has engulfed players like Hayne, Barba and Jennings.
Jarryd Hayne is expected to feature in the Premier League Nines tournament on the Gold Coast later this month (pictured with Eels legend Peter Wynn)
Joining Hayne will be Ben Barba, who was a fan favorite at the Bulldogs and then the Sharks, where he won the premiership in 2016 (pictured).
Former NSW Blues center Michael Jennings is another former NRL star who has been named to represent the United Sporting Club.
Hayne, who is rumored to play for Wentworthville Magpies in the Ron Massey Cup this season, was convicted twice and served time in prison after being accused of sexual assault in 2018.
He was accused of attacking a woman – who lived on the outskirts of Newcastle, New South Wales – with his hands and mouth, leaving her bleeding from her 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.
He also settled a civil lawsuit over an alleged rape while he was in the United States playing in the 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 teammate Ainslie Currie at the Ville Resort Casino in Townsville.
Currie did not press charges. The NRL handed Barba a lifetime ban after the league's Integrity Unit viewed CCTV of the alleged casino incident.
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 look for work as a metal worker 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 requiring him to pay Wilden nearly $500,000 in damages.
The center, 36, played for the Roosters last season but was not offered an NRL contract for 2025 and beyond.