Magic WKND: Hastings on being True Blue

Let's start with the 64 million dollar question and see if Jackson Hastings is a true Blue.

“Do you hate Liverpool or are you too nice a guy to be like that yet?”

The St Helens star, a relatively new Everton fan, laughs and says: “I’m definitely not too nice a guy. Anyone who’s ever met me would say that! We hate them. Yeah, we don’t like them.”

That’s one allegiance ticked off and with the World Cup in its infancy when we speak, who will he be supporting in the tournament?

You’d think it would be a tough call for a man with his accent born in Wollongong - but one who’s also played for Great Britain through his English grandmother. And yet there’s no hesitation.

“I’ve got family ties to England,” he says. “Obviously I’d like to see the Socceroos do well but I’m also a realist.” Ouch.

“I’m Team England, man. My daughter Scottie’s English. We had to dress her up for nursery the other day and she’s got the England kit on. We are all in, supporting the Three Lions.”

The 30-year-old half-back played for Salford and Wigan before joining Saints so with both Manchester clubs and Liverpool on his doorstep, why Everton?

He says: “The gear guy at Saints, Sammy, is a die-hard and I got really close to him when he was at the club and he asked me to go with him to a game one day.

“I remember the first time I went it was just such a wonderful experience. They had a jersey there waiting for me with my name on it.

“I watched the boys warm up and I didn’t have a team here and these guys were so welcoming and I suppose it just grew from there.

“I’ve met a couple of players and they are top, top lads as well so it’s become a natural born connection. It’s a club that’s like a hidden giant.”

One player he’s formed a particular bond with is Toffees skipper James Tarkowski.

Hastings laughs. “Tarky came down to training and we ran him through some drills and I didn’t realise how big he was. Jeez. He hit the bag well and he kicked goals from everywhere.

“We got the football out and he showed us a bit of technique of how he stands on the field from deep in his own half with the wingers and strikers and how he kicks the ball.

“As a kicker myself I learned a few things from him. So being able to have experiences like that, you know, I’m a kid born on the south coast of New South Wales and I never thought I’d have the chance to rub shoulders with the captain of a Premier League club.

“When I met him and he was running through the tackle pad drills you can be naive and automatically think he’s not going to be able to do this but he got the technique straight away - right leg and right shoulder.

“He got his foot close to contact and he hit the pad pretty hard and we had a few big lads holding the pads and he was moving them back.

“Even things like being able to kick. We call it the floater when you hold the ball parallel to the ground, flat, and you hit the belly and it floats.

“First attempt and he nails it and makes Tristan Sailor drop it!

“But not only as an athlete, he was an impressive human being and he’s had such a long and distinguished career so he has my full support.”

Was football (not soccer - these are our terms) an option for a young Jackson?

“I played and I didn’t start Rugby League until I was nine. My mum tells a funny story,” he adds.

“Obviously my mum passed away and when I used to go to (pause) I’ll say football for you and I’d fall over and get my hands muddy.

“I’d start crying and run over to my mum and she would have a towelette and clean my hands before I went back out there. Real prima donna.

“Now when you watch me play it’s a complete role reversal and you’d never think I’d ever been like that. I play the game as hard as I can, legally, obviously.

“So yeah I was a prima donna softie but being raised by such a strong individual that formed my love for Rugby League.”

Dad Kevin was an Eastern Suburbs legend who won Dally M half-back of the year three times but that respect for his mother Megan, who died from a heart attack at 61 last year, is palpable.

Hastings follows a rich seam of players with deep connections to Everton.

Former two-time Man of Steel Paul Sculthorpe is a Blue who has worked on the corporate side of the club. As a youngster he played and followed football through younger brother, well-travelled former Super League prop Danny.

Another Great Britain legend James Graham grew up in Maghull and still talks reverentially about the club’s last
trophy, the 1995 FA Cup final.

The two represented those GB Lions together and Hastings adds: “I might get in touch with him now and have a yarn
because he’s like an encyclopedia about life. He’s one of the smartest men I’ve met so he would definitely be able to
teach me a thing or two.”

Scrum-halves Danny Richardson and Matty Smith were both on Everton’s books as kids before joining the Saints
academy.

When Richardson’s dad told Everton his lad would be focusing on Rugby League he was told “oh right, we
thought he had a bit of aggression in him”.

Smith was one year below Wayne Rooney in his three years there. Both, of course, went on to play at Wembley.

And while he was no Saint, an honourable mention must be given to Clarence Herbert Berry who played both
sporting codes at the highest level.

Clarence, an apprentice pattern maker, played for Warrington - a goalkicker of course - before moving to Everton as a goalkeeper in 1908. After four seasons he eventually returned to the Wire.

Has Hastings dragged any of his teammates into the complicated emotional rollercoaster of being a Toffees fan?

“Tristan likes it a fair bit. He wears the jersey and we are trying to get him more involved,” he says.

So now we have this weekend where Hastings gets to

So now we have this weekend where Hastings gets to step out on to what is now his second home turf in the wonderful arena of Hill Dickinson Stadium.

He adds: “Oh it’s mega. I’ve been to the sheds, I’ve seen every inch of the stadium, sat in the press box, sat in the
players’ boxes so to be able to get the chance to actually run out there and play is unbelievable.

“In the back of your mind you still pinch yourself that you get to grace the field that some of the best players in the
world get to play football on.”

And with that we return to that Liverpool thing and the words every Everton fan wants to hear.

Hastings adds: “We don’t get the chance to really play in these stadiums unless you’re in big finals or Magic Weekend. So I’ve played at Anfield - but this is different gravy.”

By Nigel Wiskar