Jarryd Hayne survives first cut of San Francisco 49ers squad, NFL dream still alive for Aussie

THE 49ers just culled their roster, and Jarryd Hayne came through unscathed. Now predictions are being made about his hopes of making the final squad.

JARRYD Hayne has faced his first cut at the San Francisco 49ers and survived, making the 75-man list.

The 49ers waived 10 players on Tuesday: K Corey Acosta, LB Steve Beauharnais, CB Mylan Hicks, T Sean Hooey, WR Mario Hull, WR Chuck Jacobs, WR Nigel King, LB Shawn Lemon, FB Trey Millard and DL Lawrence Okoye.

While Hayne’s fellow cross-sport athlete Okoye (a British former Olympic discus thrower) was among the unlucky 10, the Australian was a notable survivor. Now predictions are being made about his final 53-man squad hopes, with the next cut to come on Sunday Australian time.

#49ers trim roster to 75, and I'm not starting my swim to Australia (Jarryd Hayne survives first cuts, and I bet he survives Saturday's)

— Cam Inman (@CamInman) August 31, 2015

Dear Australia -- Jarryd Hayne survived the first round of #49ers cuts. You can break out a six pack now.

— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) August 31, 2015

Hayne has now played three pre-season games, against Houston, Dallas and Denver. Having starred in the opening two games, he was used more sparingly against the Broncos, but has already spent time at running back, punt returner, kick returner and as a slot receiver.

He made his first catch against the Broncos for an 18-yard gain and comments from 49ers coach Jim Tomsula after the game suggested the Australian may already have shown enough to make the final roster.

“I’m pretty confident in Jarryd’s ability to field the ball. I’ve watched a tonne of tape on this guy fielding a rugby ball,” Tomsula said.

“I’ve seen him field here at practice. I’ve seen him field in game situations.

“I feel very good about his abilities to field. I feel very good about his abilities to perform with a ball in his hands on special teams. The coverage parts of it? I’ve seen a lot of improvement there. The guy will fly down the field in those areas.

“So, all of those things I’ve seen what I need to see. I think it’s been a great evaluation on him.”

San Francisco 49ers running back Jarryd Hayne - his NFL dream is still alive.

There was further good news this morning, with New Zealand running back Paul Lasike surviving the first cut at the Arizona Cardinals. Like Hayne, Lasike was not on a 10-man waived list released on Tuesday.

Also still in the running to play in the NFL this season are both Australian punters at the Pittsburgh Steelers, incumbent Brad Wing and challenger Jordan Berry. One will be cut when the final 53-man squad is named on Sunday, with recent reports suggesting Berry’s pre-season form may have him set to claim the job.

Two other Australians remain in the running for NFL duty, with defensive tackle Jesse Williams surviving the cut at the Seattle Seahawks, while guard David Yankey made the cut at the Minnesota Vikings.