Hayne a star, but needs to earn his stripes

To most Australians, Jarryd Hayne is a hero – and rightfully so.

The man has given up fame, fortune and fanfare in his native land to go to a foreign country and attempt a sport he has only seen on TV.

He was not guaranteed to make any money, or to win a spot on the squad. In fact, he put his entire life on hold for a maybe.

He gave up the luxury and comfort of what he had to have a go at something else that he had dreamed of doing.

If there were more Jarryd Haynes in Australia, the country would be a better place.

When the Hayne Plane landed in San Francisco and signed a contract with the 49ers, he was aware of all the maybes, ifs and buts in his contract.

However, it seems Australia was not.

Instantly, and to the ire of the real American football fans down under, everyone became an instant NFL know-it-all.

Most Monday mornings in Australia became a game of 20 questions as to why Hayne was not playing more, why he wasn't playing running back, and why he wasn't playing at all.

The Australian public demanded to know why Hayne had not been given his rightful spot at running back, and was not being handed the ball on each down by the quarterback.

San Fran head coach Jim Tomsula, now the most hated man in Australia, was accused of not liking Hayne and purposely not playing him.

However, believe it or not, the recently sacked Tomsula's 27 years of American football coaching experience likely trump that of any Aussie punter's.

Believe it or not, he is slightly more qualified to make the call on who plays and who doesn't on his NFL team.

However, it seemed almost crazy to Australians that a rookie who had never played the sport before was not seeing the field ahead of those who had played the game their whole lives.

I, like everyone else in the country, want Jarryd Hayne to succeed. But I am being realistic in order to not get emotional when he doesn't play, when he gets dropped and, if he unfortunately fails.

So calm down Australia. Let's all root for Jarryd, but let's leave the selection decisions to those are qualified to do so.