“You’re kidding me.”

That was the reported response of Kangaroos coach Tim Sheens, but he might as well have been speaking for the entire rugby league world.

Running out for what might well be his last game for the Eels. Photo: AAP

There was snow on the Blue Mountains, the power was out and Jarryd Hayne was quitting the Eels to try out for the NFL in America.

The world had gone topsy-turvy.

This is surely the most mind-blowing defection in Australian sporting history, a shattering blow for the game’s powerbrokers and supporters.

• Jarryd Hayne sets a new benchmark for courage

And it had nothing to do with money.

“I was just about to become the highest-paid player in the NRL,” Hayne told a packed and bemused media conference.

But the self-described “kid from Minto” said that once he had fulfilled his dream to “buy my mum a house”, everything else was a bonus.

Now, it was all about the challenge of conquering a new frontier.

Hayne, 26, explained that it had always been his dream to play NFL. “At my age, this is my one and only chance at having a crack,” he said. “Life’s a gamble.”

While Hayne met reigning Super Bowl champions the Seattle Seahawks last month, he does not have a contract. He hopes to break into the NFL next season.

“I’m going as a rookie, as a kid whose got to start from the bottom,” he said.

The most immediate fallout is his withdrawal from Australia’s Four Nations squad.

But the repercussions are far greater for the NRL and Parramatta.

Hayne has become one of the faces of the game: he was joint winner of the 2014 Dally M Medal after a career-best year; he was joint winner of the Brad Fittler Medal as a spearhead of NSW’s drought-breaking Origin series win; and he had developed into an automatic Test selection for the first time in his career thanks to his starring role in last year’s World Cup success.

Leading the Blues to triumph on the 2014 State of Origin series. Photo: AAP

Eels fans are crestfallen. For so long a one-man band for the struggling club, Hayne has been in blue and gold for a decade and their No.1 player for most of that time.

The co-captain leaves at a gut-wrenching juncture – Parramatta turned a major corner in 2014, going within an ace of reaching the finals after back-to-back wooden spoons, with Hayne the undisputed linchpin.

Hayne recognised as much in his statement.

“It hasn’t been an easy decision for me to leave the Eels, the club’s been my home and family since I was 13, and I’ve always been proud to pull on the blue and gold jersey with my teammates,” he said.

“The hardest thing about leaving the club is there’s stability for the first time in a long time, but I know where my heart lies and I’m following that.”

In the faintest of silver linings for the Eels, Hayne added: “I’m leaving knowing that I have signed a ‘lifetime agreement’ with the Eels, so if I return to the NRL, it will be to Parramatta.”

The defection of Karmichael Hunt and Israel Folau to the AFL were body blows that stunned the NRL, while the regular poaching of rugby league stars by rugby union – including the departure of premiership-winning heroes Sonny Bill Williams and Sam Burgess at the end of this season – has been a constant threat to the code’s pool of superstars.

Ben Graham says Jarryd Hayne will have to defy the odds to succeed in the NFL. Photo: AAP

But Hayne’s NFL sea change is unprecedented.

Paul Sironen took up a gridiron scholarship with the University of Hawaii in 1984 before returning to Australia and becoming a Balmain, NSW and Kangaroos great, but that tenuous link is the only example of blue-chip rugby league talent heading to the United States and donning a helmet and shoulder pads.

AFL players have crafted a colourful history of switching to the NFL over the last two decades, but they’ve predominantly been recruited as punters – a bit-part role in the gamut of American football positions.

Former West Coast and Melbourne forward Darren Bennett was a solid, but limited, player before enjoying a very successful tenure as a punter with the San Diego Chargers. Geelong star Ben Graham, the first Australian to play in a Super Bowl, and Collingwood and North Melbourne veteran Sav Rocca, the oldest-ever NFL rookie, were high-profile acquisitions but left Australia at the tail-end of their AFL careers.

Hayne is a bona fide marquee player, a modern-day great, in his absolute prime.

One of the great unknowns of Hayne’s ambitious expedition is what position he would fill in an NFL line-up. It would be a huge ask for a novice to be thrown in as a running back from the outset, with a role as a tight end or kick returner his most likely location on the team sheet – at least initially – if he makes the grade.

If he is to emulate the likes of Australian Jesse Williams, a huge star as a defensive tackle for the Seahawks, it is destined to be an arduous path.

Graham, asked about Hayne’s prospects, said he had a “hell of a lot of work to do”.

“There are thousands upon thousands of athletes in America who want to play in the NFL,” he said.

Fully supportive of the @jarrydhayne_1 move to pursue the NFL. Tough road ahead, good luck mate

— Ben Graham (@bengraham7) October 15, 2014

But the man who has sent news outlets into overdrive all over Australia today recognises that fact.

“I’m under no illusion. It’s going to be tough. I’m risking a lot,” Hayne said.

“Putting a lot on the line. But if there’s no risk, there’s no reward.”

The undoubtedly dumbstruck NRL can rest reasonably easy in the knowledge that Hayne is a once-in-a-generation athlete, and that few are likely to beat a similar stateside path.

But that doesn’t make it any easier for rugby league fans to see one of the game’s great entertainers go.

ABSOLUTELY LOVE this move by Haynezy!! Look forward to watching on! @jarrydhayne_1 you boss boy!

— Karmichael (@karmichaelhunt) October 15, 2014