The touching farewell from Jayden Hayward, who will say goodbye to Treviso after seven years
The letter
«A at the end of the season I will go back to Australia. It was an extremely difficult decision for me, but one that I felt necessary. After the Six Nations 2020 I gave up international rugby due to my son’s health problems. Although most of these problems have been overcome at the moment, we have decided that the lifestyle in Australia will be more suitable for my child who has autism and attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder. My family has sacrificed a lot for me over the years so that I could follow my dream and now it’s time to put them first. In these seven years I hope to have made my mark on Benetton and to have contributed to the growth of the club. I feel I have given 100% and will forever be happy to have been a part of this team. I would like to thank all the players, the coaches, the managers and, above all, the fans. The favorite memory of these years is certainly entering the field with my son Noah on the occasion of my 100th match with Benetton, embellished by the victory in front of a full and festive Monigo Stadium. Treviso will always have a special place in my heart. This is where Noah was born, a city of which we will have many good memories, places I could only dream of. I will always be grateful for this amazing opportunity. Come on Leoni ».
Not just a life choice, but a choice of love. That of Jayden Hayward, the 34-year-old Benetton Rugby extreme New Zealander, is 100 percent so: he stops playing, he returns to Australia, the homeland of his wife Ana, for the love of his son Noah, 5, suffering from autism. He wants to make him feel the warmth of his relatives, the warm embrace of an environment that he still does not know, having been born and raised in Treviso.
Understandable the suffering that must have entailed a similar decision for those who came to us in 2014; a boy who has constantly worked with the utmost commitment, despite the concern for his family. In Treviso, he always repeats, he found himself marvelously. He gave us 303 points in 121 games, all played flawlessly. Jayden was about to expire his contract but he could have continued for a couple of years, also by the will of the club: healthy physique, experience to sell, he had also made his debut in the national team in 2017. the fragility of the little son.
However, Hayward has not yet taken off the green-and-white shirt for good. From tomorrow he will participate in the appendix of Pro 14, the Rainbow Cup against the Glasgow Warriors in Monigo, then he will fly to the other hemisphere when the season is over and he will have organized the definitive return, in a couple of months or less.
To say that he will leave a great void in Benetton Rugby is not the usual rhetorical exercise but the truth: he was a pillar of the Lions, an example for everyone: skill, experience, fairness. Come on Jayden. –
Silvano Focarelli