‘Fearless’ Jarryd Hayne winning coach over with his lateral quickness, natural

The 45-year-old coach, who is now in charge of NSW’s State of Origin team, revealed that Hayne could see himself make the 49ers list.

“He has great lateral quickness and that’s another characteristic of a great open-field runner”.

But with those compliments, McGaughey also wanted to maintain a level perspective.

“You got to be realistic here”, McGaughey told reporters today.

Daley has joined the “Hayne Train” express and like everyone else in Australia, got excited about the former rugby star’s first actual American football game in the club’s preseason opener.

“He s got a long way to go, he s doing good things and hopefully he ll continue down that path”.

Interest in Hayne spiked after his exhibition-game debut in Houston, which meant Walshaw had 10 minutes to pack a bag before heading off for his five-night trip to cover Hayne in Santa Clara.

WITH it becoming more and more apparent that Jarryd Hayne’s best chance of making the 49ers roster is as a return specialist, there is one man in particular worth listening to.

“It’s fun when you see a guy that can make that first guy miss, and he’s not scared because he’s very, very comfortable fielding the ball”, McGaughey said. “When you have that fearlessness, it definitely gives you an edge”.

Jarryd Hayne admits playing as a returner is most natural for him.

“That’s still a work in progress for him”, McGaughey said.

“(But) Most of the tackles you have (in NRL) are just one-on-one, open-field tackles as opposed to a group of guys dropping back in an area and all of a sudden they’re coming from all kinds of different angles, and you got to know what you’re looking at”. The key is to get vertical. “So right now he’s just trying to learn that part of it as far as covering kickoffs”.

Hayne’s efforts against the Texans were met with plenty of admiration back home, with Hayne trending on Twitter in both Australia and the US.

Hayne’s ability to stiff-arm defenders – or “palm” them, as translated in rugby-league vocabulary – was impressive against Houston. “I didn t need a play to have that confidence”, Hayne said.

While the final score will bear much less historical significance than past matchups between the these two organizations, there will be a several things to be taken away from the game. “It’s a huge thing that I’ve done with taking that chance, so they find a lot of joy in it”.