Hoops

NH: Jarrad Hayne makes San Francisco 49ers roster

What I am about to post must be taken in the right context, I am in no way making any comparison to this level of athleticism or skil, but I want to add my little bit of experience to the argument as an opinion with at least something to back it up with.

Having played both AFL style football (not in the AFL) and having played gridiron (of course not in the NFL), but doing these together over a few years at local level I have to say that although it looks remarkable that he has made an NFL roster, it is not without some level of expectation.

he must have given himself a chance, and that is the key here, he gave it a chance and had a good old fashioned go at it.

Going back a way, I always though Garry Ablett snr would have been a great full back in the NFL, certainly his some Garry jnr could have performed as a running back, so too could have someone like Billy Slater in my opinion.

Yes, the sports are different, but if you have someone that good athletically/powerful and he has a passion with the drive to have a real crack at the NFL, I can see others down the track that could do it also.

Good for Jarrad and I hope he does get a decent run this season, his jersey's are the number one selling tops for the SF 9'ers right now, so I am loving the media interest, all positive to me...

They talk about him almost everyday on the US PTI and the other ESPN talk show, Mike and something.... One of the PTI guys called him the story of the offseason. The 9ers were using him on there promotional material all preseason and he made the Sports centre top ten a few times. although its only preseason, they are still talking about him over there.

I would say a majority of players don't try and cross over due to how difficult it is and the fact they would be taking a pay cut.

I am surprised more NRL players don't give it a go.

Gridiron is more aligned to union and league than Australian football. Aussie Rules players make better punters as they are used to kicking, but gridiron is pretty much a league style of play/concept.

The interesting thing about Hayne is that he will bring a rugby style to the game in avoiding tackles by zig zagging to advance the ball by running, or else the physical charge approach by running into players to force the tackle.

The other point to note with gridiron is that they get one pass forward, but unlimited passes backwards (like rugby). The whole point is to get a touchdown, but they get 6 attempts to advance 10 yards. The safe strategy is to secure your 10 yard advance, then work on the next 10 yards etc until you cross the end zone.

The strategy slows the game down and an 80 minute of play game takes forever to play with all the stops and starts.

But what if (once you secured the 10 yard advance) a team kept the ball alive and go for the touchdown.

I think he'll actually shake up the strategy of the game a bit.

I think given the games are somewhat similar in how the mechanics work its a much smoother transition than NRL to AFL. Great effort but just remember unlike here or other US sports they have no guaranteed contracts so he could get cut at anytime. I think its helped him that he is basically special teams, its not a popular position for the most part and he can focus on running in the open which is similar to what he is used to.

Can't wait for the NFL season to start, hope he gets a run during the season, great effort and I wish him well...

Inglis and Tuivasa-Sheck are obvious candidates for blokes who could make it. The NFL people are also amazed at Hayne's range of skills, not just open field running and they haven't even seen him punt yet.