NRL (Rugby League) star sets sights on the NFL

[CaptGrumpy]

Yes Hayne is a top Aussie athlete but how many league players are world class strength and speed athletes? Some of these guys in the NFL could be Olympic sprinters and hurdlers if they wanted. One year they figured (mathematically) that they could take the fastest four guys in the NFL and they could medal in the 100 meter relay in the Olympics. While I do agree that the guy is an athlete but I think he is stepping into an arena where the talent is a tier up than what he's use to and on top of that he will be playing them at their game!

Hayne has a background in sprinting. Sure he has trained for NRL, but sprinting has been his basis. There is every chance that he would have been an Olympic sprinter if football didn't come along for him.

 

[CaptGrumpy]

Many comments in this thread amuse me.

NFL players playing rugby? That would be amusing. I'd still bet the farm on the All Blacks. JJ Watt is very quick for short bursts with a 45-second rest in between, but would he have the puff to scrum after running the length of the field? A team of NFL players might even have some early success, but by half time they'd be pretty much done. Players who can't play both offense and defense for 80 minutes need not apply.

The NFL has breaks between plays and a Wall Street journal study showed that in the average 60-minute NFL game there was 11 minutes of action. Divide that between offense and defense, and each player plays for roughly 5.5 minutes of activity. Rugby is not without down time. There are line-outs, scrum resets, time wasted setting up penalty kicks, etc. A study showed that in the 2011 World Cup the average 80-minute match had 25 minutes of actual rugby. Still, that's nearly 5 times the activity of an NFL player. It's a different level of fitness altogether.

An NRL match is 80 min long and the ball is in play for an average of 52 minutes. So the fitness level required is indeed a step up.

 

[HansGruber]

Everything I've heard on the radio has been stating that he's looking for a spot at KR/PR and RB.

I think it was Clayton this morning on 710ESPN talking about the Seahawks looking at him as a RB. Someone was talking about, maybe Brock. I forget who, but someone on that station was saying an inside source at the 'Hawks stated they were looking at Hayne as a RB and that he was taken very seriously by the Seahawks and that there's a legit shot he could make the team as a development guy. I'll see if I can find it in the Brock & Salk podcast. They spent about an hour talking about him this morning.

Also, I don't see why he couldn't be successful as a RB. At least as a complement to Turbin/Michael. If what Aros posted was true about Michael, there's a good chance this guy might be a more legit threat there and we all know Carroll has no problem at all with giving undrafted free agents a shot, especially on offense.

 

[CaptGrumpy]

He runs through arm tackles well and he has a decent stiff arm, but in the NFL you are almost never going to find yourself carrying the ball and confronting a group of waiting defenders who just reach out and try to grab you with their hands. You're going to take big hits and they come from all directions and they come high, low, and even though it's a penalty, at your head. Also, he'd be wearing an unfamiliar helmet that severely limits peripheral vision to anticipate those hits. The way practices are now, with limited contact, it would be very difficult to adequately gauge his ability to play in full pads, at full speed, against full contact.

Agree that the equipment will change his running. No doubt.

When looking at him running in open play remember that he is doing that with no blockers. You cannot block in the NRL.

As you say some of those tackle are arm tackles but not all of the NRL is like that. This is what defence is more often like in the NRL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab8WmB1viYA.

 

[MLOhawks]

This guy won't do crap in the league. There are thousands of athletes just like him that are waiting around for a job and they have at least been playing the game most of their lives.

It's not impossible, but he would have to learn the game and the position and I just don't see it.

 

[JSeahawks]

My guess is that this will be about as successful as trying to turn that basketball player into a tight end last year. (Can't even remember his name, had a brother on the patriots I think)

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Pete has never been above PR moves, which is what this smells like.

Just like with Brian Banks a couple years ago, it's a nice PR story to expand our brand.

 

[rastahawk]

So I'll mark you down as one who believes there are 1700 NFL players better than him. Otherwise he has a place in the NFL, doesn't he?

Seems a bit long odds to me, but I left my patriotism at home when I moved abroad.

I'm not asking the guy to supplant Russell Wilson or take over pass rushing for JJ Watt. Just examining the chance he might be better than Bryan Walters for our return game.

There have been some great kickers in the NFL from all over the world, but even at that the record NFL field goal is only 64 yards. In rugby the longest penalty kick is 82 yards. I've personally seen Francois Steyn from South Africa hit from 72. So it's not true that all the best play for the NFL. Yes, I do know that's a specialization, but the point is that Steyn could easily have landed an NFL contract as a kicker or punter and chose to play rugby instead.

Hayne is a freak athlete. Carroll's M.O is to select player who have unteachable qualities, and teach the rest. Sure this guy would represent a challenge, but an insurmountable one? Remains to be seen.

I never said he wasn't going to make it or he was not good enough. I am actually rooting for him. I said something along the lines of I was interested to see how he would do against this talent. I get it he's an athlete too but my curiosity is how much of an athlete against NFL guys. Its not a question of patriotism or a smugness about how elite American talent is.

Okay come on you can't seriously compare rugby penalty kicks to field goals. In rugby you have all the time in the world to prep, run up and kick. In football you have two steps max, and monsters coming at you while you make a field goal attempt. Under the same circumstances as rugby with no pressure, during kickoffs I've seen NFL kickers kick it over the goal posts. That's 75 - 80 yards easy. NFL kickers kick it that distance routinely. I've seen Hauschka do it! And Hauschka is not even the longest in the NFL. Janikowksi might be. So Francois Steyn is not some kicking giant out there on an island.

 

[GeorgeKush]

Pete has never been above PR moves, which is what this smells like.

Just like with Brian Banks a couple years ago, it's a nice PR story to expand our brand.

would signing lebron james be considered a pr move? because that's what he is. the lebron james of rugby. to be able to sign an unbelievable athlete like hayne would be a dream come true for me. he's a total monster.

 

[RunTheBall]

He might end up on some practice squad and then will never be heard from again.

 

[sc85sis]

Pete has never been above PR moves, which is what this smells like.

Just like with Brian Banks a couple years ago, it's a nice PR story to expand our brand.

Pete did not do that for PR. He had recruited Banks to USC. Besides which, he's well known for doing things to help people. He was going into some of the worst neighborhoods in LA at night with just a single guy and talking to people in the "hood" long before the press caught wind of it.

 

[GeorgeKush]

He might end up on some practice squad and then will never be heard from again.

do you even know anything about the man you're speaking about?

 

[Hawkscanner]

This guy won't do crap in the league. There are thousands of athletes just like him that are waiting around for a job and they have at least been playing the game most of their lives.

It's not impossible, but he would have to learn the game and the position and I just don't see it.

You know what, with all due respect I have to completely disagree. As I said above, I played on a rugby team in college, so I've got a bit of different perspective here. The kind of league that Hayne is a part of -- those guys are top, top athletes. Their conditioning is top notch ... as Captain Grumpy has been saying. You run and you tackle and there isn't anywhere near the stoppage of play that their is in the NFL. Physicality and conditioning-wise, I'd say that he could step in to the NFL today. The one thing that would make it interesting is how he deals with pads. He's not used to running with those, so that's another X-factor.

As crazy as it might sound, I'm going to argue that he truly DOESN'T have to learn the game or all the nuances of a position whatsoever -- IF we're talking about Hayne as a Punt Returner. If you're talking about him as a linebacker, a safety, or even a running back -- fine. I would tend to agree. IF however an NFL team would be looking at him as a Punt Returner, then I'm going to say that the skills he has right now translate very nicely. Basically, all you tell him is, "Look, catch the ball, run to daylight as fast as you can, hold on to the ball for dear life, and avoid oncoming tacklers." It's the old, "Run Forrest, Run" thing. That's what this guy does right now. If he can get used to catching a punted football (rugby balls of course are bigger -- kind of like a small watermelon) -- then I see no reason with his speed (reportedly a 4.4) that he couldn't step in right now and be successful as a return man (as crazy as that might sound).

 

[Grahamhawker]

Personally I wish Hayne well and I hope he makes it. Gotta think it's a long shot at best though. No question rugby is a tough sport and some of his skills would transfer to the football field. IMO the games are too different; learning curve would be too steep. Someone may take a flyer on him as a punt returner, but why not sign a guy with similar skills who can actually play a defensive or offensive position?

 

[RunTheBall]

He might end up on some practice squad and then will never be heard from again.

do you even know anything about the man you're speaking about?

Justin Gatlin really had a great transition to the NFL didn't he? This guy will amount to nothing. How many players have left another sport at age 25+ then been super successful in the NFL? This guy has never even played American Football... the white knighting on this guy is absurd.

 

[scutterhawk]

Who's the guy at 5:42 who ran after him. Man he was fast!

Browner :lol:

 

[olyfan63]

Who's the guy at 5:42 who ran after him. Man he was fast!

Browner :lol:

I was more impressed with the guy at 7:53 who caught him. Made me see Hayne has elite get-up-to-speed jets, but not necessarily elite top speed, by NFL standards. Similar to Christine Michael in that respect.

 

[olyfan63]

I see a running back, possibly a fullback, plus a punt returner. Long term project would be WR. He'd bring flashbacks of Golden Tate with RAC yards.

At Fullback, there are a lot of blocking skills that would be foreign to him.

The other position he could develop at would be linebacker. He looks like another Darren Smith, athletically.

No for strong safety; I just think there's too much to learn in too short a time.

A nice story, but a longshot.

 

[RunTheBall]

He might end up on some practice squad and then will never be heard from again.

do you even know anything about the man you're speaking about?

2 Months have passed, what has he amounted to? It's crazy how often I am right on my predictions (yes I want a cookie). He worked out for the 49ers and Seahawks this week and neither signed him, how shocking.

 

[SomersetHawk]

He might end up on some practice squad and then will never be heard from again.

do you even know anything about the man you're speaking about?

2 Months have passed, what has he amounted to? It's crazy how often I am right on my predictions (yes I want a cookie). He worked out for the 49ers and Seahawks this week and neither signed him, how shocking.

Pipe down there ole master of self-fellatio. Nobody's going to sign a guy who's never played in the nfl at this stage of the season. This is just auditioning to land on a roster for training camp. He's only just got himself a US based agent.

Per Seattle times...

"the likely scenario here is that Hayne will hold some workouts and then maybe sign with an NFL team after the season, when rosters can expand from their current 53 (plus practice squad, etc.) to the 90 that is allowed for training camp".

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/jarr ... 24ht4.html

If you want to call people out/prop yourself up, at least wait until this guy's tried and failed. :roll: