All aboard for the Hayne Train's incredible journey with 49ers

For those who didn't follow Hayne in his league days, this is not any old footballer. Photo / AP

Jarryd Hayne has done the impossible. But that might be the easy part.

The Hayne Train is flying, with the former Parramatta, New South Wales and Australian league back selected in the San Francisco 49ers roster announced over the weekend. It's a cracking story, however it turns out.

No one bothered to predict Hayne would fail in the NFL as such. Rather, it was assumed that one heck of a footballer had taken on too much with a switch from Aussie league to American football. The 27-year-old has proved assumptions wrong so far and some of us are now contemplating whether to sign up for the NFL internet pass. It will be hard to resist.

Clips of pre-season games have shown Hayne pulling off impressive moves. This has turned him into an Australasian sensation, one making waves in the US of A although it's hard to judge quite how big those waves genuinely are from this distance.

For those who didn't follow Hayne in his league days, this is not any old footballer we are talking about.

He was exceedingly gifted, a fairly big bloke at around 100kg who could glide at high speed, never appeared rushed, had beautiful balance and hands, would shake off defenders in that how-did-he-do-that Dan Carter type of way, and could defend tough.

There were often questions about what his best position was and he didn't always make that answer easy in various ways.

He was loyal though. The Parramatta Eels are constantly rebuilding, to use the old excuse for dud footy clubs. This made it easy for Hayne to stand out on one hand, and hard on another. He wasn't so much a beacon of hope at the Eels, more like Jimmy Page in a ukulele orchestra.

Hayne knows how to pick them. The Hayne Train has joined a potential Train Wreck, a club where a rash of player departures has been part of what is commonly described as a tumultuous off-season.

The San Francisco 49ers, with glories aplenty in the past, went 8-8 last season and are expected to be worse this time around. They have a new coach in Jim Tomsula, in charge of an NFL team for the first time. If Hayne is a running back let's hope the majority view of the 49ers' offensive line is way wrong. Oh yes. The powerhouse Seattle Seahawks, shooting for a third consecutive Super Bowl appearance, are also in the NFC west division.

In heading to the 49ers, Hayne - initially linked strongly to the Detroit Lions - probably increased his chance of cracking the roster, but with a team whose roster is likely to crack.

The real story about where Hayne fits in the 49ers and NFL will start to emerge next week when they host the Minnesota Vikings, and predictions are mixed.

One fan wrote: "This guy looked incredible against the Chargers' 5th string defence" but others are more welcoming of Hayne's late-career move and applaud his skill and fortitude.

If following your dreams is the script for Hayne, he's picked the right place. Nearly 20 years ago, coach Tomsula's family scooted off to warm beds while he lived in his uncle's car for a year to work an unpaid job with a college team.

As the Sports Illustrated profile recorded: "To combat loneliness, he kept a black lab and a cat as room-mates. Tomsula hung his suits in the back seat, right above the litter box."

Hayne is living nowhere near as rough, but maybe Tomsula recognised a kindred sporting spirit.