Jarryd Hayne

[Lods]

I'm far from the biggest league fan going around. But i've probably watched more league games than you have NFL games, so i'll give it a crack.

In league, you generally have a wall of players in a line stretching across the field. You might have 1 guy hanging out the back, full back? You pretty much go 1-on-1 in terms of matchups across the width of the ground and try a few things to MAKE a gap or get people tripping over themselves to find space. (overlaps, cut backs etc). Ultimately, the best players are the ones who can break the lines. Whether they run over a player or sidestep them. Feel free to correct me if i'm wrong with any of the above.

Thanks for the explanation Kruds 

Just on the top part .....it's probably a little more complicated than a line going one-on-one.
I've done some conditioning work with some senior District League teams and they actually spend a lot of time at training on tactics to create those overlaps etc.
They'll practice plays to stack one side and then switch play and a whole range of other set plays.
That's at a level a couple of steps below NRL so I'd imagine at the top level it's even more thorough.

It's obviously still nowhere near the playbook of an NFL side but I suspect a player like Hayne would be skilled in multiple line breaking situations.

Ok, take it back a step. What happens when you are running, but a play 'doesnt work'? The gap you were hoping to be there is not, instead it is filled by a 260 pound linebackers sprinting right at you. You have about 1/4 second to work out what to do before you are flattened. Do you stop, try and dodge him, run the other way run backwards?? You can do all of those things. Sometimes it might work. Most of the time it doesn't. What the best running backs can do is basically see how the play is turning out and run to a gap that isn't there yet. It's counterintuitive, especially for a league player. The thing is, if you see a gap, the defense also sees the gap, and they usually get to it about the same time as you do (unless its a huge gap as mentioned earlier). You need to not only run to a place where you can get through, but run to a place that the defenders don't think you can get through. Sometimes the smallest gaps are the best as you can sneak past players charging at you through the more obvious gaps. Sometimes you can 'make gaps' by knowing what a given defender will do in a given situation and trick him into thinking he has you covered. Easier said than done though

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I don't think that's terribly unlike a League situation.