Jarryd Hayne

[AussieBengal]

Hi all,
I'm a long time Bengals fan from Australia. Used to post semi regularly on the old "official" boards on the Bengals site.

The NFL is starting to get a bit of coverage here in Australia thanks mainly to Jarryd Hayne making the 49ers team, there are stories on most news reports about him. What I was wondering was what are peoples opinion of him as an NFL player. He was arguably the best player in the NRL (National Rugby League), which is the other sport I follow. When the announcement was made that he was leaving the NRL to try and make the NFL I really believed he had absolutely no chance to make a 53 man roster. He has far surpassed my expectations, even with his muffed punt return last week. What do others think?

[6andcounting]

(09-19-2015, 11:35 PM)AussieBengal Wrote: Hi all,
I'm a long time Bengals fan from Australia. Used to post semi regularly on the old "official" boards on the Bengals site.

The NFL is starting to get a bit of coverage here in Australia thanks mainly to Jarryd Hayne making the 49ers team, there are stories on most news reports about him. What I was wondering was what are peoples opinion of him as an NFL player. He was arguably the best player in the NRL (National Rugby League), which is the other sport I follow. When the announcement was made that he was leaving the NRL to try and make the NFL I really believed he had absolutely no chance to make a 53 man roster. He has far surpassed my expectations, even with his muffed punt return last week. What do others think?

I heard about this story, but still don't know who the guy is. Maybe that will change after the game today.

[6andcounting]

After googling him apparently he was their starting punt returner last week. He tried to dive on a punt that bounced short, didn't secure it and the Vikings recovered the live ball. No word on if they still let him return punts this week, but it would be cool to see - and I wouldn't mind another mental error from a guy who is new to football.

[EatonFan]

He's a worthy player in the NFL. He won't (likely) be a star, but he is worthy to be on the field.

[ItsOdellThurman]

Worthy of a roster spot, no doubt. He plays special teams and has enough natural talent to contribute.

However, it's very difficult to acquire the instincts and vision needed to be a starting RB if you have never played the position. I suppose playing rugby takes some of the adaptation off of this transition, but still.

I wish him the best, even if he isn't on Cincinnati.

[AussieBengal]

I agree with the above comments, I was very surprised he made the 49ers roster as I expecting to be back in Australia having not made the cut. He was very impressive in the preseason though.
You wouldn't believe the publicity that this is generating for the NFL hear in Australia, Some are now calling Hayne one of the countries greatest ever sportsmen due to making the 49ers roster.


For anyone who is interested here are some of his highlights from playing rugby league.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yItnEVoD0VQ

[GreenCornBengal]

The 49ers are a very desperate hot mess right now. So while taking Hayne may have been a good decision, and worth the roster spot, people will disregard it because they are simply very mad at the 49ers right now. Everyone thinks their head coach is a joke and that every move they make is in desperation.

Hayne has played well in the preseason. He had a decent average and made a lot of long PR's and KR's worthy of mention. Unfortunately, most people don't care about the preseason and of course his first regular season action he puts it on the ground. Bad luck, nerves, whatever it was, didn't help his image. If they give him more chances he will be a good returner.

He is a Brandon Tate kind of player though, instead of Adam Jones. He will have a good average but he doesn't have the breakaway speed that some of these guys to make it all the way. Doesn't mean he isn't worth a spot though, because he can make it past the 25 on most returns. He has a very unique running style that is very upright but it works.

[yellowxdiscipline]

I played rugby for a while and love the sport, so im naturally rooting for Hayne.

[AussieBengal]

(09-24-2015, 06:02 PM)yellowxdiscipline Wrote: I played rugby for a while and love the sport, so im naturally rooting for Hayne.

I played a lot of Rugby League, being an Australian growing up in Sydney it was only natural to do so. The interesting thing is the "Rugby" that Hayne played is not the same sport that most Americans are familar with and is actually a different sport that developed from rugby, much like American football did. Though Rugby League still ressembles Rugby Union to a much larger extent than American football does.

If you love Rugby and American football I suggest you check out Rugby League because it really does fall in between the sports of Rugby and American football.

[*Awful Llama*]

I'm presently listening to the Bengals Thursday night show and one of the announcers brought up an interseting factoid: for the first two weeks of the season, the fifth best selling jersey - according to the NFL - belongs to Mr. Hayne. On the strength of many an online purchase from Australia, apparently. So, your countrymen have certainly taken notice of him as you suggested.

[AussieBengal]

(09-24-2015, 08:11 PM)Awful Llama Wrote: I'm presently listening to the Bengals Thursday night show and one of the announcers brought up an interseting factoid: for the first two weeks of the season, the fifth best selling jersey - according to the NFL - belongs to Mr. Hayne.  On the strength of many an online purchase from Australia, apparently.  So, your countrymen have certainly taken notice of him as you suggested.

Most definately, there are articles about him every day in the newspapers. They have also started to report more on the NFL in general. Really the only time the NFL was heavily reported before was during the superbowl. In relationship to his jersey the 49ers knew they had a good market as they released his jersey for sale before he even made the 53 man roster.

Hayne going to the NFL is huge news in Australia. It would be like peyton Manning leaving the NFL and coming to Australia and making a Rugby League team and playing in his 1st game. There is no one bigger in Rugby League than Jarryd Hayne.

[Benton]

I'd think the helmet and how to use it would be the hardest thing to adjust to. Good luck to him.