Jackson Hastings opens up on crying himself to sleep at night

Ex-Wigan Warriors and Salford Red Devils star Jackson Hastings has opened up on his traumatic experience as a young man having to spend time away from his father.

He opened up on the toll his footy legend father’s absence took on him as a child.

His father Kevin was one of the best players in the game as he took the field for the Roosters from 1976 to 1987.

‘I probably didn’t realise…how tough and traumatic it was for me,’ the younger Hastings said of the pair’s estrangement on James Graham’s The Bye Round podcast.

‘I remember when it was Father’s Day at school. Everyone would bring their dad into the classroom to look at the artwork and stuff.

‘I was just sitting there on my own. teachers would say, ‘Where’s your dad?’ He was in America doing his own thing.

‘I respect what my father did in the game but we’re not close as father and son. We don’t talk often … In real life he was never there. I had a mum who was my mum and my dad.

‘Everywhere I looked, I saw him but in real life he was never there,’ he explained.

‘I could never come home from school and go kick the footy with Dad. It was, Mum, can you come catch these bombs for me? Or, can you pass the footy to me? And she did.’

‘I don’t blame that [his dad’s absence] for how I was but it definitely impacted me,’ he explained.

‘What disappoints me most – and hopefully one day I will have kids – I’ll make sure no matter what happens in any situation, that would never happen with my kids. I just wouldn’t let it happen.

‘It’s traumatic, mate. You go to bed as a teenager and I used to cry myself to sleep some nights just thinking, I wish my mum and dad were together.’