Jarryd Hayne NFL: Colin Kaepernick San Francisco 49ers quarterback’s praise for NRL star

FIRST footage of Jarryd Hayne training with the 49ers has emerged and the Aussie was paid a stunning compliment by superstar quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

2 min read

April 11, 2015 - 10:17AM

Jarryd Hayne is pictured for the first time in his new training base with the San Francisco 49ers NFL

JARRYD Hayne has been paid a stunning compliment by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, with the NFL superstar amazed by the NRL convert’s amazing athleticism.

As the first footage of Hayne working out with the 49ers emerged, Kaepernick - who also worked out with Hayne at a private facility during pre-season - called the NRL ace a “phenomenal athlete” and said he had all the tools to make it in American football.

WATCH HAYNE TRAINING WITH THE 49ERS IN THE VIDEO ABOVE

“Phenomenal athlete. Just a natural,” Kaepernick said when asked about Hayne.

“Since the day I met him, since every workout he’s been at, he’s going to give you everything he has. And it doesn’t seem like there’s going to be much of a learning curve for him.”

Hayne is trying to crack the 49ers 53-man NFL roster as a running back, although it is thought his best short-term hope will be inclusion as a special teams kick/punt return option.

Kaepernick said Hayne’s talents suggested he would make the cut one way or another.

“This is going to be a football player,” he said.

“He does a lot of things very well and it’s going to be our job to be able to utilise him and put him in position to allow him to make plays and use that athleticism.”

Jarryd Hayne powers through a speed drill at 49ers training as Colin Kaepernick watches on.

Kaepernick’s lofty endorsement is the latest sign that the 49ers’ experiment may just work out. The team surprised many in the US by signing Hayne to a three-year rookie contract, rather than a futures deal with no strings attached.

Jarryd Hayne completes a drill at 49ers training.

Hayne will potentially play his first game in August, a pre-season clash against the Houston Texans scheduled for between the 13th and 17th at NRG Stadium. 49ers coach Jim Tomsula will get the chance to try out fringe players in the game.

Hayne’s pre-season began this week at the $1.7 billion Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The 49ers’ pre-season training program will stretch over nine weeks.

Kaepernick also addressed the loss of San Fran’s legendary running back Frank Gore during the off-season.

“It’s going to be different without Frank,” he said.

“Frank was a huge asset to us, but we have a lot of great running backs here. We have [RB] Kendall [Hunter] coming back who a lot of people forget about. [RB] Carlos [Hyde] had a great rookie year for us, and we’ll probably be using him a lot more this year.

“We’ve brought [RB] Reggie [Bush] in who’s another great weapon on offense. And those are just to name a few of the guys that we have back there. He’ll be missed, but we also have people that are more than capable of filling that void.”