Jarryd Hayne 49ers: how rugby league saved San Francisco’s Aussie recruit

HIS first touch in the big time was a disaster. But the countless hours spent learning, building, maturing in the NRL helped Jarryd Hayne bounce back from “that” drop.

Minnesota Vikings v San Francisco 49ers

JARRYD Hayne, initially, was worried the ball would go over his head.

Thought that was his worst case scenario.

He was wrong.

“I think the wind got hold of it,’’ Hayne would say later of his first touch in the NFL. “I had a read on the punt and then, on the way down, it kicked again.

“I saw where their rushers were and ... it was emergency mode. Trying to make the play, trying to make the catch, it didn’t happen.”

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Instead, Jarryd Lee Hayne fumbled the ball.

Can you believe it?

First touch in the NFL.

Our greatest sporting moment this year.

And Haynsey ... he spills it.

Which, to a man, made everybody gasp.

For ask around as The Daily Telegraph has this past week, and no one can remember seeing the Vegemite Kid drop a catch.

Not one.

Niners players, coaches, members of the US press; all of them insisting that, since the Sydneysider first walked into the gated community that is 49ers HQ, he has snared everything punted his way.

But now, early in the season opener against Minnesota Vikings, with Levi’s Stadium heaving, Australia holding its breath and who knows how many Americans watching on television, Hayne is completely bamboozled by rival punter Jeff Locke.

Not only diving forward late, but then making the type of lunge you’d expect from a 40-year-old virgin.

And who knows, maybe it was nerves? Or maybe it was the fact that Locke, as a left-footed kicker, would have produced something completely different to what Hayne is used to.

Lefties, see, spiral their punts anticlockwise. Not only moving the kick differently in the air, but making them harder to read.

Jarryd Hayne fumbles a punt on his first touch of the game.

Which is what Hayne may have mistaken for wind change.

Although the way Mother Nature shifts things around at this new stadium, Hayne could very well have been right.

Either way, the end result was disastrous.

“And I was disappointed, obviously,’’ Hayne conceded afterwards. “I walked off, shook my head and thought ‘Monday Night Football, could it get any worse?’.”

But it didn’t.

For while Hayne may be a rookie in the NFL, he is anything but as an athlete.

And that, you have to believe, is what saved him.

Rugby league.

All those countless hours the reigning Dally M medallist has spent learning, building, maturing in the NRL. In Origins and Test matches.

It’s why, when asked afterwards if he thought his night may have be over with that fumble, the Aussie shot back ‘no’ with all the intent of a right hook.

“What happened, happened,” Hayne said. “It’s all about the next play.”

And certainly, Hayne got dirty.

Indeed, with Reggie Bush, the 49ers back up running back, suffering a calf injury early, Hayne was moved in as a support for Man of the Match Carlos Hyde.

Indeed, speaking afterwards, head coach Jim Tomsula said he only allowed Hayne to go out for two more returns because “we wanted to make sure Jarryd got ready on offence”.

And in his new role, Hayne rushed four times for 13 yards. Earned another seven, too, from a pass reception.

Which, of course, had some Twitter types spitting.

Like maybe they’ve forgot how, only 32 days ago, Hayne had never played a game of American football. And 40 days back, was tightening a helmet chinstrap for the first time.

Certainly when he reached the sideline after that first drop, his fellow 49ers rallied around him.

“And that was great,” Hayne said. “Special thanks to QP (Quinton Patton), he lifted my spirits up.

“He’s a great dude.

“And Brucey (Ellington) as well. They came to my side straight away.

“They were saying ‘don’t worry about it, next play’. That’s what we’re all about. Not worrying about the past and worrying about the future.”

And for Jarryd Hayne, there remains plenty of that.