twentyforty
Well-known member
I think Hastings was moved on for the same reasons Maguire was, the club has this idea that there needs to be a vacancy before hiring a new guy. Weird right?m
Hastings - Reasons for leaving
- Thread starter earl
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diedpretty
Well-known member
How is it not his doing. He could have just said no and stayed here and played in the 13. He was offered something better and took it. He then uses the media to make out WT are the bad guys.
twentyforty
Well-known member
I don’t get all this bad mouthing a player after he’s gone?
diedpretty
Well-known member
I don't think anyone is bad mouthing him - i think people are a little put off with him using the media and social media to change the narrative of what actually went down.
Tiga
Well-known member
Wasn't he traded for Klemmer?
Tucker
Well-known member
Wouldn’t he be far more aware of what went down than the fans who are criticising him?
diedpretty
Well-known member
no - Sheens told him he would be playing lock and didn't see him as a no.7 - he was offered the 7 and an upgrade on his contract by Newcastle and WT said they wouldn't stand in his way if he wished to leave. He could have stayed at WT but chose to leave. The Klemmer deal may have been used as a sweetener to release Hastings but it wasn't a swap.
twentyforty
Well-known member
It’s great to have a player get sacked and not be very negative about the club for a change. I think some of us are maybe taken by surprise?
diedpretty
Well-known member
Or those who are backing everything he says
diedpretty
Well-known member
He didn't get sacked - what a total beat up.
twentyforty
Well-known member
Do you think Hastings failed at WT?
I don’t think he failed. Thought he was one of our best and showed some leadership.
tony soprano
Well-known member
Talks too much what ever happened to the strong silent type.
crazycat
Well-known member
Even more then this:
Your a brand. You have X years in the limelight as a football player. The better known you are the more marketable you will be. Take Benji Marshall vs Andrew Moag. Both classy 5/8's one captained New Zealand and took us to a grand final. The other was 5/8 for Queensland one year and NOTHING. (picking a player at random, another Tim Moltzen... Yes a huge boon at the time, now had 2-3 years in the League limelight then fizzled.).
Hastings, Matterson, every smart player manager is going to be whispering to their players: "have an active social media profile. SAY NOTHING SEXIST OR REALLY STUPID". Heck even if they do act stupid they will probably be rewarded with a big brother contract.
I am glad Hastings leaving was pleasant. Look he wasn't "all that" when he played here, yet he showed a stack of potential to be a classy halfback.
Man Jirskyr I think you nailed it. Hastings has maintained his personal brand through all this, I don't know if that's the plan OR if Hastings really has become a better person?
Heck good on him the crying when people leave is beyond stupid.
I wonder what was pitched to him when he agreed to sign with the Tigers. There were media reports at the time that he was signed to play lock, but maybe he was told he would be the halfback. If he was I can understand him being annoyed about a permanent move to the pack. If he was told he would be the lock seems odd that he would sign then sook about playing there.
Either way, I'm glad he is at least not publicly bagging the club as many others have and don't think he is much of a loss.
Either way, I'm glad he is at least not publicly bagging the club as many others have and don't think he is much of a loss.
TillLindemann
Well-known member
Normally when a player leaves they can't wait to trash us. Hastings first player I can remember saying they didn't want to leave the Tigers.
bathursttiger1
Well-known member
From SMH
Jackson Hastings has spoken for the first time about his disappointment at having to leave Wests Tigers with a year to run on his deal, declaring: “I wanted to be there, I wanted to win there, I wanted to be a part of that next wave that helped the Tigers play finals footy.”
Hastings has become an instant fan favourite in Newcastle, just as he was with long-suffering Tigers fans who appreciated his passion and commitment in a losing side most weeks.
Jackson Hastings at training with the Newcastle Knights.
The playmaker said he had no idea if his public support for sacked coach Michael Maguire played any part in his early exit, but was also grateful to forge a lifelong friendship with “Madge”, someone he still speaks to several times a week.
Signed with the Knights until the end of 2025 – and the favourite to wear Andrew Johns’ famous No.7 jersey come round one – Hastings could not have looked happier as he and his teammates paid a Christmas visit to John Hunter Children’s Hospital on Wednesday.
But it was not all smiles about six weeks ago when it emerged David Klemmer was leaving Newcastle for the Tigers, and Hastings was the Tiger included in the summer swap.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed,” Hastings told the Herald. “I wore my heart on my sleeve at every training session and every game.
Wests Tigers’ Jackson Hastings celebrates kicking the winning field goal against the Eels.CREDIT:GETTY
“Whether I wasn’t wanted or wasn’t needed, it took me a few days to get over it because I was angry at the fact I wanted to be there and be a part of the solution, not the problem.
“There were a few days there I was angry and hated the world for a bit.
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“But I’m a big boy, I’ve been in way worse situations than what has just gone on. I still love the club, and when I say I want them to do well, I genuinely mean it.
“I’ve got no hard feelings towards anyone at the Tigers. When I go back to Leichhardt in round two, hopefully I’m not booed because I really do love the club and enjoyed the year I had there.
“Hopefully both clubs go on to make the finals next year and we meet in a big game.”
Hastings knows his move saved new Tigers coach Tim Sheens from trying to fit him, Luke Brooks and Adam Doueihi into the two starting halves positions.
The move to Newcastle would also promote healthy competition for starting spots in the halves. As it stands, Hastings, whose preferred position is halfback – not lock forward where he would have played at the Tigers – is likely to pair with Tyson Gamble or Kalyn Ponga, who has been training at five-eighth.
Hastings’ comments on Maguire will quickly explain why he was so gutted him when the coach was sacked in the middle of another disastrous season.
“I would have done anything on the field for Madge, and probably off the field as well – he made me feel like I was 10 foot tall and could run through a brick wall,” Hastings said.
“We still talk two or three times a week, and it’s not even about football. He’ll ask me about my family, my mum, my sisters – it’s a special relationship that happens every so often with people you meet. I have a mate for life.”
Hastings is familiar with many of the Knights players, including Adam Clune, who has been a good friend for 20 years, and Jack Hetherington, who he played under-20s with at the Sydney Roosters.
Adam Elliott was also a teammate in the NSW combined high schools side, Hastings was a ballboy for a few junior teams Tyson Frizell played in, and said with a laugh that he knew Dane Gagai because “of a few run-ins on the field”.
Jackson Hastings has spoken for the first time about his disappointment at having to leave Wests Tigers with a year to run on his deal, declaring: “I wanted to be there, I wanted to win there, I wanted to be a part of that next wave that helped the Tigers play finals footy.”
Hastings has become an instant fan favourite in Newcastle, just as he was with long-suffering Tigers fans who appreciated his passion and commitment in a losing side most weeks.
Jackson Hastings at training with the Newcastle Knights.
The playmaker said he had no idea if his public support for sacked coach Michael Maguire played any part in his early exit, but was also grateful to forge a lifelong friendship with “Madge”, someone he still speaks to several times a week.
Signed with the Knights until the end of 2025 – and the favourite to wear Andrew Johns’ famous No.7 jersey come round one – Hastings could not have looked happier as he and his teammates paid a Christmas visit to John Hunter Children’s Hospital on Wednesday.
But it was not all smiles about six weeks ago when it emerged David Klemmer was leaving Newcastle for the Tigers, and Hastings was the Tiger included in the summer swap.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed,” Hastings told the Herald. “I wore my heart on my sleeve at every training session and every game.
Wests Tigers’ Jackson Hastings celebrates kicking the winning field goal against the Eels.CREDIT:GETTY
“Whether I wasn’t wanted or wasn’t needed, it took me a few days to get over it because I was angry at the fact I wanted to be there and be a part of the solution, not the problem.
“There were a few days there I was angry and hated the world for a bit.
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“But I’m a big boy, I’ve been in way worse situations than what has just gone on. I still love the club, and when I say I want them to do well, I genuinely mean it.
“I’ve got no hard feelings towards anyone at the Tigers. When I go back to Leichhardt in round two, hopefully I’m not booed because I really do love the club and enjoyed the year I had there.
“Hopefully both clubs go on to make the finals next year and we meet in a big game.”
Hastings knows his move saved new Tigers coach Tim Sheens from trying to fit him, Luke Brooks and Adam Doueihi into the two starting halves positions.
The move to Newcastle would also promote healthy competition for starting spots in the halves. As it stands, Hastings, whose preferred position is halfback – not lock forward where he would have played at the Tigers – is likely to pair with Tyson Gamble or Kalyn Ponga, who has been training at five-eighth.
Hastings’ comments on Maguire will quickly explain why he was so gutted him when the coach was sacked in the middle of another disastrous season.
“I would have done anything on the field for Madge, and probably off the field as well – he made me feel like I was 10 foot tall and could run through a brick wall,” Hastings said.
“We still talk two or three times a week, and it’s not even about football. He’ll ask me about my family, my mum, my sisters – it’s a special relationship that happens every so often with people you meet. I have a mate for life.”
Hastings is familiar with many of the Knights players, including Adam Clune, who has been a good friend for 20 years, and Jack Hetherington, who he played under-20s with at the Sydney Roosters.
Adam Elliott was also a teammate in the NSW combined high schools side, Hastings was a ballboy for a few junior teams Tyson Frizell played in, and said with a laugh that he knew Dane Gagai because “of a few run-ins on the field”.
Mighty Mouse
Well-known member
The bottom line is that we will be worse off without him in 2023. We lost Hastings who was our best in 2022 and gained no one in that process and now have no game manager.
