Gunnedah Bulldogs captain Callum Hayne will be seeking a new home in 2019 after leaving the club off the back of the decision not to reinstate his father Sean as head coach.
Hayne led the Dogs to an unsuccessful grand final appearance against the North Tamworth Bears and went on to claim the club’s first grade players’ player and best and fairest awards this season.
He is contemplating a switch to rugby union.
“It’s pretty much the main reason for me to want to move on.
“I haven’t thought too much about next season yet, but I definitely won’t be playing league here [Gunnedah] next year.”
A move to rugby union would be a first for the Gunnedah youngster, having never played the game before.
“I’m probably leaning more towards playing union with the Red Devils, but I will see how I feel when we get a bit closer to the season, I reckon,” Hayne said.
“At this stage it is probably either union or nothing at all.”
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Hayne said the prospect of lining up for the Red Devils held a lot of unknowns for him.
“I guess the challenge of playing a sport I’ve never really tried before is certainly something that interests me about it,” he said.
“I’ve never played before, a few of my mates play and it is certainly something different. I’m not too sure what position I would play, to be honest.
“Maybe something like outside back or halfback, I actually don’t really know.
“I guess we figure that out if I get into it.”
Hayne said he had fielded inquiries from “pretty much every club in Group 4” since the news of Gunnedah’s coaching restructure broke.
“I don’t know if it has been every club, but there certainly has been a lot get in touch with me,” he said.
“As I said, at this stage I’m not too keen to play league next year, but I will probably have a bit better of an idea when the season gets a bit closer.
“Who knows, I might get the feeling and desire back to play league as the season draws closer, but at the moment it’s not really on the cards.
“In the meantime I will just focus on cricket and weigh things up as the season gets closer.”
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
