Australian rugby league convert Jarryd Hayne said he is unfazed by the prospect of facing his first full-blooded collision with the San Francisco 49ers as he chases his dream of forging a career in the NFL.
The 27-year-old former Australia, New South Wales and Parramatta Eels star signed with the 49ers in March during off-season workouts and is now battling to make the cut ahead of the start of the regular season next month.
Hayne’s speed and footwork have seen him earmarked as either a running back or a kick returner on special teams. However, he has revealed that he has been working on altering his distinctive upright running style that made him such a success in rugby league, aiming to get lower to make him harder to hit.
“I’m running a little bit differently than I would in rugby league,” Hayne told reporters at the 49ers training camp in Santa Clara, California. “That’s a big thing for me, with the transition I’ve got to get lower and change my running style.”
Hayne’s new running technique was to be put to the test yesterday, when the 49ers were set to ramp up their training with the start of full-contact sessions. However, Hayne was not concerned by the prospect of going head-to-head with the sort of hulking helmeted behemoths who populate the NFL.
“I don’t think about it like that,” he said when asked about how he was preparing for the first bone-jarring hit. “I’m more worried about the protections and running through the right holes.”
“It’s going to take time and I’m sure there are going to be times when I get smashed and run a little bit too upright, but that’s part of the learning curve and I don’t have fear of that,” Hayne said.
“I’d rather get hit hard and learn like that. You learn from your mistakes and I’m sure I’m going to make them. For me it’s not about making mistakes, it’s about learning from them,” he added.
Hayne said he is getting ready to be struck by opposing players’ helmets, part and parcel of collisions in football.
“With the helmet, a lot of players obviously lead with their head and use their head as a kind of force to get over running backs,” Hayne said. “That’s something that’s a bit different in this game.”
Meanwhile, Hayne appeared to acknowledge that his natural skillset might be better suited to kick returning rather than as a conventional running back.
“At running back, you’ve got a lot more things to do. In a return, you’ve got to read a couple of blockers and react, which is maybe what I’m a lot more natural at,” he said.
The 49ers are to trim their 90-man squad to 75 early next month before whittling it down to a 53-strong roster on Sept. 5, ahead of their Sept. 14 season opener against the Minnesota Vikings.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two