SANTA CLARA, California – Some of Jarryd Hayne’s San Francisco 49er teammates weigh 140kg and stand 225cm tall, but they’re a little scared to come to Australia.
They’ve asked the NRL convert if kangaroos are Australia’s deadliest animals.
They also want to know about the continent’s snakes, spiders and lizards.
“They were saying how they wouldn’t go to Australia because there’s so many dangerous animals,” Hayne, who showed teammates YouTube videos of big red kangaroos fighting, laughed.
Hayne was surrounded by a scrum of Australian and US reporters in the 49ers locker room on Wednesday.
It is the first time Hayne has spoken to the media since arriving at the NFL team’s Santa Clara base, just south of San Francisco, on April 7.
The former Parramatta, NSW and Australia star says he is loving every minute of his NFL experiment.
The days begin at 6am and often he is falling asleep in bed at midnight with a 49er playbook.
The team currently has about 90 players, but that will be cut down to 53 on the eve of the 2015-16 season at the end of August.
Hayne declined to say what he thought his chances were to make the roster or the eight-man practice squad, adding that his focus was to get better each day.
“We are only three weeks in and I’m just taking it day-by-day,” he said.
There was speculation about what position Hayne would play, but he says he’s been training with the running back and special teams squads.
