SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 18: Jackson Hastings of the Sea Eagles gestures during the round two NRL match between the Manly Sea Eagles and the Parramatta Eels at Lottoland on March 18, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
White-hot Tigers playmaker Jackson Hastings has claimed that he is yet to open dialogue with Trent Barrett following his acrimonious exit from the Sea Eagles in 2018.
However, the Great Britain representative stated that old wounds between he and Manly skipper Daly Cherry-Evans have been smoothed over.
Hastings is set to venture to Brookvale on Saturday for the first time since he was shown the door halfway through the 2018 season.
But while the familiar surroundings may well open old wounds for the 26-year-old, Hastings told The Sydney Morning Herald that he and Cherry-Evans had made up after their highly-publicised bust-up in Gladstone four years ago.
“I’m perfectly fine with Daly. We had a 15-minute chat after the Manly trial, he asked how my family was going and I asked the same questions,” Hastings said.
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“Daly is a fantastic player and leader. He helped me a lot with my game. It would have been great to get a bit of time alongside him and play with him – I feel like our games would have complemented each other well.
“I’ve got no grudges with Manly. I’ve got no grudges with Daly. It’s not even a lingering issue. We’re both big enough and ugly enough to move on from what happened.”
Still, it appears that this same level of courtesy has not been extended to Barrett, the man tasked with freezing Hastings out of the northern beaches club.
“I haven’t spoken to Trent since I got flicked,” Hastings stated unequivocally.
In spite of this silence, the much-improved linchpin who claimed the 2019 Super League ‘Man of Steel’ award also delineated that he didn’t hold a grudge against his former boss.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 17: Sea Eagles coach Trent Barrett speaks to the media in a post match press conference during the round 23 NRL match between the Manly Sea Eagles and the Gold Coast Titans at Lottoland on August 17, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
“I don’t hold grudges. I get over things pretty quickly,” he added.
“I understand I’ve let myself down on a few occasions and put myself in situations where I deserved a lot of what I got. There were also a lot of things I didn’t deserve and copped.
“We don’t really have any sort of relationship. I don’t speak to him, but I don’t wish anything bad upon him.”
Given Barrett has taken his brand of coaching to Belmore, Hastings will miss out on an opportunity to bury his remaining hatchet this weekend, but with a date against the Dogs on May 20 at Leichhardt Oval, Hastings will not have to wait long.
Kick-off in the Tigers and Sea Eagles’ clash is set for 3:00pm (AEST) on Saturday afternoon.
Source:: ZeroTackle
