NSW State of Origin coach Laurie Daley has told Jarryd Hayne he’ll need to train hard – and often – if he’s to be granted a fairytale return to the interstate arena this year.

After coming through unscathed in his return from injury for Gold Coast last week, Hayne has set his sights on a Blues recall by making himself unavailable for Fiji next week.

The Titans star will instead focus on strengthening his body as he attempts to up the ante before Daley picks his series-opening team in less than a month.

Daley on Thursday re-iterated his long-held stance that he wanted all his selected players to be available to train for the entire camp leading up to the match.His comments come after Hayne’s work ethic had been a hot topic earlier this year.

“I think he’s still having some issues with his foot so you’ve got to understand that you want these guys to be 100 per cent when they come into a rep environment,” Daley said.

“They’ve got to be able to train every session.

“I’ve made that clear over the last couple of years when guys are missing sessions. It’s hard when you’re bringing people together for a short period of time.

“He needs to get himself fit and making sure he’s injury-free, and then once he does that, he’ll certainly be someone that we’ll look at.”

Hayne has just two more matches before teams are selected for game one in Brisbane – Saturday’s clash with Newcastle and then Manly after next week’s rep round.

Daley said he liked what he saw in Hayne’s return against the Sharks, where he set up a decisive try late in the upset win.

“I thought he was good, had moments of brilliance. But Jarryd’s just getting back to some fitness. In a month’s time I’m sure he’ll be a lot better than what he is now,” he said.

“As a supporter of the game, that’s great. And as coach of NSW, that’s good too because he adds depth to our list that we get to choose from.”
– AAP