Jarryd Hayne and two other Parramatta players have provided statements at Kings Cross police station following a shooting outside a nightclub near the corner of Ward Avenue and Kellett Street early today.
The three Parramatta players spent much of the afternoon at Kings Cross police station giving statements about the shooting, but did not speak to the media.
Police appealed for witnesses and said they want to speak to a taxi driver who may have seen the shooter, described as being of Pacific Islander appearance.
Hayne was apparently shot at by a gunman from the back seat of a light-coloured vehicle in Ward St after the representative star had earlier intervened in an incident outside the nightclub.
It is understood another NRL star Mark Gasnier, from St George Illawarra, had been involved in a verbal confrontation with a group of men inside the nightclub and that Hayne had intervened on his behalf.
Hayne later went to find his two Eels teammates, who had apparently gone to buy something to eat. The three had linked up on the footpath by the time shots were fired.
The Herald understands the other Parramatta players were Junior Paulo and Weller Hauraki.
Gasnier is not believed to have been in the area when shots were fired.
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Parramatta officials are assisting police in their investigation and also conducting an inquiry into why several of their players were out so late at Kings Cross. Officials have spoken to Hayne.
Parramatta players had already been scheduled to have today and tomorrow off training after playing their final pre-season trial on Saturday night.
The club is expected to release a statement later today.
A taxi was seen in the area at the time, with police appealing
for the driver to come forward.
Hayne shot at
"It's my information that the player that was shot at is Parramatta's Jarryd Hayne," Macquarie Radio rugby league commentator Ray Hadley said.
"I've spoken to [Parramatta CEO] Denis Fitzgerald [and] he has confirmed that he understands that Jarryd Hayne was the subject of gunfire outside or near the nightclub this morning."
Mr Fitzgerald told Macquarie Radio that Parramatta players had earlier been at the cricket but most had gone home about midnight.
"A few of them decided to go further and go to a nightclub at Kings Cross, and that's a real worry when this incident happened in the vicinity of four o'clock,'' he said.
Mr Fitzgerald later said the club was trying to contact Hayne.
"We've obviously heard the reports but have been unable to contact Jarryd Hayne so we are none the wiser in regard to that at this stage," he said.
"We are trying to locate him and others ... "
Hayne's manager Wayne Beavis said he had yet to speak to the 20-year-old Test star, but will be doing so later today.
"I will be talking to him shortly," Beavis said.
"I have to get possession of the facts before I have anything else to say."
St George-Illawarra CEO Peter Doust said he was not yet in a position to comment about Gasnier's involvement.
He refused to say if he had been in contact with Gasnier.
"I will have some appropriate comments to make later in the day," Mr Doust said.
Sky News reported that Gasnier's manager, George Mimis, said that the Dragons skipper had left the area before the time of the shooting.
It was reported earlier that the players escaped injury in the shooting, which occurred about 4am.
NRL players not involved in earlier shooting
It is understood a man involved in an incident with the NRL players inside the Sapphire Suite nightclub fired shots at them from the rear seat of a light-coloured vehicle.
The shooting was the second in the area in less than 12 hours, after a 55-year-old man was shot in the leg last night.
Police said the man, reported to be Charlie Saleh, the owner of the Sapphire Suite, was found slumped in its doorway about 8.40pm yesterday.
He was taken to St Vincent's Hospital where he remained in a stable condition.
Mr Saleh's son Hassan, a former rugby league player and manager of the Sapphire Suite, said the club opened only 20 minutes before his father was shot and there were no patrons inside.
He said the club was closed after the shooting and didn't open for the rest of the night.
He also said he had not seen Hayne or Gasnier, and they had not been at the Sapphire Suite at any point during the night.
"I was down at the Golden Sheaf with [NRL players] Brett Finch and Mark Riddell when I heard my dad had been shot so I went straight back."
He said he'd spoken to his father about the incident but he did not know why the shooting had occurred.
"I don't really have any answer for it, I've no idea, maybe [it was] a disgruntled patron."
He said his father was awake and doing fine.
When asked if he was worried about continuing in his job he said: "I suppose a little bit, but I suppose a guys's got to make a living."
Police said the incident involving Hayne and Gasnier was not linked to the shooting of Mr Saleh.
"A Parramatta man in his 20s informed police that he was walking in the [Kings Cross] area with two friends when he noticed a man standing beside a car," a police spokeswoman told reporters today, referring to the second shooting.
"The man then fired a single shot in his direction.
"The three men then ran from the area and contacted police.
"The man who fired the shot then returned to the car and left the scene."
The Parramatta man was shot at in Ward Avenue, just around the corner from Kellett Street, police said.
Police would not say whether Hayne and Gasnier were among the group of three men.
with Dylan Welch and AAP
