Australian rugby league star closer to NFL deal

　　SYDNEY, March 3 (Xinhua)-- Australian rugby league maestro Jarryd Hayne is one step closer to becoming a player in the U.S.'s National Football League (NFL).

　　The robust speedster renowned for fleet-footed flamboyance announced in Sydney on Tuesday that he has signed on with the San Francisco 49ers.

　　But only as one of 90 rookies trying to gain a permanent contract with the revered team before the new U.S. NFL season starts in September.

　　"I spoke to (49ers general manager) Trent Baalke and we did the handshake over the phone," he said.

　　"It feels surreal to me, it's a small step in the right direction. The hard stuff starts now.

　　"A lot of boys are interested, but they don't have the confidence and faith that I have.

　　"You've got to go all in, I've got no back-up plan. I'm putting all my chips on the table, whatever happens, happens."

　　Hayne's first step has been the smallest in a potential new career. He was earning millions of dollars and had nothing to prove.

　　So he turned many heads when he quit his first sport five months ago at the peak of his powers to test his mettle in the very different American form of the running/crash/tackle form of football.

　　Unlike soccer, the ball is passed from hand to hand, not guided by feet, and brute strength and agile running must get it to touch- down zone.

　　But the similarities between rugby league and American football end there. Ruby league is much more free flowing, while NFL involves intricate strategies more akin to a game of chess.

　　Hayne, 27, had climbed the pinnacles of rugby league -- quite different in rules to the more globally popular game of rugby union --having played for Australia.

　　His proven speed and agility make him a natural to be a running back in NFL if he can make the transition.

　　Only 53 of the 90 San Francisco 49ers rookies will be signed on permanently this year.

　　Hayne will have to overcome both inexperience in the NFL game and men who have made it their life dream to compete in a game they have grown up with.

　　But the challenge comes with a sweetener of 100,000 U.S. dollars for the chance to make it in the big time between now and September.

　　The long term goal of making the 49ers squad is part of a dream for the son of a single mother and who grew up in one of the poorest areas of Sydney.

　　He's determined to achieve it.