The Aussie new boy stepped off the plane after signing up for the rest of the season and learned rapidly how angry some people can get.
Sunsport understands as he went to the Post Office to get his visa stamped, Hastings was told to 'f*** off!'
“I ran into one or two interesting characters at the precinct," said the 21-year-old scrum-half. “They let it go. It was scary, I landed at 6am, got off the plane then I had to sort my visa out so I could play on Friday. I walked straight into it!”
Hastings' departure from Australia came after a series of fallouts and bust-ups at NRL side Manly.
But even though he pointedly thanked reserve grade side Blacktown Workers by saying, 'my club, not Manly,' he believes he can show he is growing up in Super League.
And he has already been left starstruck after meeting Leeds director of rugby Kevin Sinfield, who he listened to intently in a speech while at Sydney Roosters, after helping demolish his side 38-22 on his debut.
Hastings, who takes on Hull KR in Salford's first Qualifiers game on Friday, added: “I grew up watching him play – he’s held in very high regard in Australia, over here he’s one of, if not the greatest player to ever play.
“I went up to him after the game and said, ‘I’ve got a lot of respect for you and it was an honour to play against a team you coached.’ I’ll keep learning from him.“I’ve always been erratic with my emotions and he told us how to control a game and all the hours he’d put into his body, I got a massive amount out of it.
“In the last six months I've realised I’m a very emotional person. Previously, I bottled a lot of it up and people saw some of my actions on the field that I’ve not been too proud of. Before I just looked like and angry guy and I can understand now why people thought certain things about me.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of people about players and Kevin Sinfield would be up there. To get praise of him, a bloke you put ‘Sir’ in front of, is one of the better moments I’ve had.”
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