"This is God's way of saying you've achieved so much, here's your chance to play against the world's best players. There's got to be some reason behind it. It has to be God. It's been created because of Him and the belief the boys have in Him."
This is Jarryd Hayne speaking. Jarryd Hayne, the Eels prodigy who was living the dream during the pre-season, living it like a self-confessed "rock star", running wild in Kings Cross, dodging gunshots fired from a car cruising by.
Jarryd Hayne, who fumbled his way through the season, was shunned by Australian selectors for the World Cup and effectively fingered by Michael Hagan as the reason the Eels coach was quitting.
Jarryd Hayne, who joined Fiji because he had nothing to lose and unexpectedly found a group of players, coaches and officials who have created an environment so significant he calls the experience the "turning point of my life".
Jarryd Hayne, who during the course of the tournament, through two visits to church a day with his teammates, through the pastors attached to the squad, has found God.
Jarryd Hayne, who will take Him into tomorrow night's World Cup semi-final against the Kangaroos at the Sydney Football Stadium.
"In ways, yes," he says, when asked if this is precisely what he needed to cap this season from hell. "Just to get my head straight and focused. A lot of different feelings come from it. It's not about God and going to church. It's not about that. It's about being a better person, a person people look up to, and being the person you want to become. I don't want to have another season like the one I just have …"
Redemption has become the vogue word of rugby league. Every player has a debt to repay, a path to follow and stray from.
Hayne isn't so presumptuous as to declare he's a new man - "There's still a lot of change in me, there's a lot of stuff around the corner I will have to learn" - but this personal revolution shouldn't be dismissed as hyperbole.
He will sit before you at the Fijian team hotel and speak with a self-assuredness devoid of the arrogance and cockiness that might've been there when he shot to fame as a 19-year-old last year, when he soared into the NSW State of Origin team and made his Test debut for Australia.
While critics point to Australia's dominance as lamentable erosion of the international game's credibility, Hayne is proof there is more at play than lopsided scorelines.
The renaissance started when he was overlooked for Australia's 24-man squad for the tournament. "That's when it became a reality, when I didn't get picked," he says. "All that put together with the rest of the year, it put everything in perspective. That's when I hit rock bottom."
Weeks later, he was walking into an army camp on a remote island in Fiji with Bulldogs centre Daryl Millard.
"It was torture," he laughs. "We said hello, and all they did was hand us a mosquito net. Daryl had a big hole in his, I didn't put mine up properly and two mosquitoes got in and just hammered me all night. The coach [Joe Dakuitoga] was sleeping next to us. He doesn't snore, he chokes … Then we woke at 5.30 the next morning and off to church."
When Hayne returned to Australia, he received a phone call from Eels captain Nathan Cayless, who informed him about Hagan's departing comments that suggested the younger players in his club didn't respect the game, and this was one of the reasons he was quitting.
"I was a bit disappointed [in the remarks], although I'm sure that wasn't his entire decision to leave," Hayne says. "'Hages' is very old school and he's used to the senior players doing a lot more for the team than what he's used to. When you look at me being a senior player at 20 … it's a bit tough to look at [me] for leadership. I was a bit daunted with that … Here, it's about life in general. These coaches are more worried about me off the field than on it."
Throughout Fiji's charmed run, from 500-1 shots to semi-finalists against the defending champions, Hayne has stood tall. Captain Wes Naiqama says he was shocked when he learnt his new teammate was only 20.
"I thought he was older," Naiqama reveals. "He's stepped up and taken on a leadership role. He's taken a lot of weight off my shoulders, because this captaincy thing is new to me, too."
Hayne is not the only one who has matured rapidly this season. During the week, he had breakfast with some Parramatta teammates he declines to name but admits he was hitting the clubs and bars with around this time last year.
"We were partying every weekend," he says. "We were going a bit crazy there for a while. Now, everything's mellowed down and chilled. I asked them what they've been up to: 'Any stories?' And they said they haven't really been out. That rocked me. The whole attitude has changed since last year."
And this year. When NRL chief executive David Gallop delivered his speech at Birchgrove Oval in March to open the centenary season, you could hear the embarrassment in his tone because it came just days after Hayne had been shot at during a late night out in Kings Cross.
Should the Kangaroos end the Fijian dream tomorrow night, Hayne is unlikely to lament the loss. Not when there's so much that he has gained. "There's more important things than winning," he says. "There's more important things in life than a football game." HOW THEY LINE UP Australia: Billy Slater, Joel Monaghan, Greg Inglis, Israel Folau, Brent Tate, Darren Lockyer (c), Johnathan Thurston, Petero Civoniceva, Cam Smith, Steve Price, Glenn Stewart, Anthony Laffranchi, Paul Gallen. Res: Karmichael Hunt, Craig Fitzgibbon, Anthony Tupou, Brent Kite.
Fiji: Jarryd Hayne, Semi Tadulula, Wes Naiqama (c), Daryl Millard, Akuila Uate, Alipate Noilea, Aaron Groom, Osea Sadrau, Waisele Sukanaveita, Ilisoni Vonomateiratu, Ashton Sims, Seavania Koroi, Jayson Bukuya. Res: James Storer, Nick Bradley-Qalilawa, Jone Macilai, Semisi Tora, Vula Naqau, Jone Wesele.