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Matt Henjak has broken his silence on his sacking from the Western Force, claiming "rugby union here has turned its back on me".
Speaking exclusively to The Sun-Herald, Henjak talked about the agony of having his Force contract torn up after breaking the jaw of teammate Haig Sare in an alcohol-fuelled altercation.
"It's been a pretty tough week," Henjak said. "Some people mightn't understand how big an impact it's having on my life.
"Someone said to me the other day it's probably a bit like being a plumber, you spend four years doing your apprenticeship, then work for a couple more years to get better at it. Then, all of a sudden, someone tells you that you can't work as a plumber in Australia any more and you'll have to head overseas to find work.
"That's the hardest part - I've spent all my working life training to play professional rugby here in Australia and now that's been taken away from me.
"I've certainly made some mistakes and handled things the wrong way at times, but a part of me feels as though rugby union here has turned its back on me."
Asked if he felt he received a fair hearing, Henjak said: "I've got my thoughts on that but I'll keep them to myself for the time being. At the end of the day, though, I accept responsibility for my own actions."
The former Wallaby was concerned the latest incident would forever tarnish his reputation but vowed to take steps to overcome his personal problems.
"[My reputation] is not the best and I recognise that," he said. "I've got to look at the positives though and I've now got an opportunity to try and change that.
"There are certain things I need to work on and I'm going to get professional help.
"Sometimes we all think we're capable of handling problems on our own but I know from experience that if you bottle things up and don't get help then sometimes you can react badly to certain situations.
"That's been my undoing more than once … I don't want to make excuses - I know I've got to change a few things."
The 26-year-old believed he still had a lot to offer rugby.
"I'd like to keep playing rugby union overseas," he said. "There's already been some interest from two or three leading European clubs, so hopefully something concrete will come up soon."
However, he wouldn't rule out a move to the NRL.
"I'd play NRL if the right opportunity came up," he said. "I think I could adapt well to league, I played a fair bit of it as a kid. Still, my preference is to keep playing rugby and I realise that to do that I have to move overseas …
Everything's a bit uncertain at the moment, which isn't easy to deal with. I've got a mortgage like a lot of people.
"Not knowing when or where my next pay cheque is coming from is hard."
The ARU approved the Force's decision to sack Henjak, although chief executive John O'Neill left the door slightly ajar for Henjak to resume his rugby career in Australia. The development has kept alive Henjak's dream of again representing the Wallabies.
"I'll never say never when it comes to the Wallabies," he said.
"I know I can play and if I can get a good season or two under my belt in Europe then I'd like to think that I could get an opportunity to come back and play here.
"It was an honour to represent Australia and I'll always be aiming to do that again."
Henjak thanked his supporters for helping him through the most tumultuous period of his life.
"My girlfriend Bree and my family, friends and my manager have given me so much support," he said. "I would have struggled without them."
Speaking after the Force's 16-15 win over the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein, former Force teammate Drew Mitchell said his team would look to support Henjak through the tough times ahead.
"I think it's up to us now to really support Matt through the hard times ahead for him," Mitchell said. "He's a great guy.
"We just need to be there to support him through these times."
Proudly bought to you by a brewery somewhere....
Insteresting...I was under the impression he could still be signed by an australian super 14 team?
"Remember lads, rugby is a team game; all 14 of you make sure you pass the ball to Giteau."
"Someone said to me the other day it's probably a bit like being a plumber, you spend four years doing your apprenticeship, then work for a couple more years to get better at it. Then, all of a sudden, someone tells you that you can't work as a plumber in Australia any more and you'll have to head overseas to find work. Not sure if that was the right analogy,Yaks, and its not as simple as that. I would thing its like being a plumber and your dopey work's flooded not just one but probably half a dozen houses, and you had an altercation with an owner or an inspector and now you've been blacklisted.
"I've certainly made some mistakes and handled things the wrong way at times, but a part of me feels as though rugby union here has turned its back on me."" You've got to be kidding me..maybe this was "taken out of contect". Not only has he been given numerous opportunity to right himself but also has the option to resume playing in Australia still on the table..
Asked if he felt he received a fair hearing, Henjak said: "I've got my thoughts on that but I'll keep them to myself for the time being. At the end of the day, though, I accept responsibility for my own actions."Doesn't sound like it.
"Sometimes we all think we're capable of handling problems on our own but I know from experience that if you bottle things up and don't get help then sometimes you can react badly to certain situations." I guess they call that the first step..acknowledging that you need help..we'll see. All the best Yaks, I do hope you get sorted.
I kind of agree with Henjak, I don't think the ARU should completely turn their back on him. I think they have some responsibility to help him rehab his problems - not necessarily with money, but with support and counselling maybe.
Having been totally immersed in the rugby culture for so long, it must be hard to have it ripped away from you suddenly and not know where to turn for help. I agree he brought it on himself, but still think he should be given support.
Laugh and the world laughs with you.......
......cry and you'll weaken your beer
watch out rugby, we all know what happened when haig had his back turned!!!
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the ARU have offered him more counselling - RugbyWA have been giving him counselling - you can lead a horse to water....
61 years between Grand SlamsWas the wait worth it - Ya betta baby
I don't think the ARU or RugbyWA HAS turned their back on him Eley....He might feel that way, but both JO'N and Geoff Stooke made mention of follow up, as well as several players talking in the media about thier responsibilities to him....He mightn't be hearing it....He might be getting stage menaged into a position so the uninformed can get a better opinion of him, but to people who have been following this case, he's going down the wrong track with this one..........Unless of course the RugbyWA hearing was a bloody great Kangaroo court and he actually didn't do anything wrong that night at all....that's the only time I would think this sort of statement is justified.....even then you'd have to know that the statement isn't going to help you achieve anything!
C'mon the![]()
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"I've certainly made some mistakes and handled things the wrong way at times, but a part of me feels as though rugby union here has turned its back on me."
Its so easy to blame everyone else for your own failings once the S*%# has hit the fan!!!
well Yak all i can say is all the best for the future mate. come back bigger and stronger you already have the talent.
How about this old classic..........you reap what you sow! Let it rest Matt and get yourself sorted.
the punters friend..... stick with me and you will be wearing
would love to see jak back playing for the force, if he gets his head sorted...
Maybe what he needs is to get away from Rugby for 6 months, completely get away from it, go to the country or something and completely rid himself of that 'rugby culture' that keeps getting mentioned. At the same time continue with counselling, rehab and keeping fit. Then when (and only when) the issues are sorted, come back, train and prove to ARU that they made a HUGE mistake and you're ready to pull on the Force & Wallabies jersey again!!
It is not, nor ever has been, rugby culture to get drunk and violent towards your team mates.
It is not rugby culture to lash out at others when things don't go your way.
It is not rugby culture to blame others for your shortcomings and inadequacies.
These are merely symptoms of a personal culture of selfishness, lack of self control and immaturity.
By 'rugby culture' I didn't mean that Fulvio, I meant the
-"we won, lets go for a few drinks at the pub"
-"we're going away for 3 weeks of intense rugby, lets make the most of the time we have on our last day off, for a while"
-"lets go out for some team bonding at the pub"
I by no means condone the punch up but I do think that being in such an intense environment of training etc, and being so amped for the games ahead tempers are set to fray and it just so happaned that with alocohol in the mix, Henjak's temper/issues got the better of him.