ROGER CRAIG won three Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers. The four-time Pro Bowl running back and Niners Hall Of Famer delivers his assessment on Jarryd Hayne.

PALO ALTO, CA - It’s time. The 49ers have been patient with their use of Jarryd Hayne through the first three games, but they’ve reached a point where they really need the spark he provides.

Jarryd’s spark can turn into a fire real quick. Did you see the way his teammates came up to him after his 37-yard return? That really pumped the team up and they scored on that same drive.

The 49ers are getting hammered by the local media right now. Their two heavy losses to the Steelers and Cardinals are all over the newspapers, radio and TV here in the Bay Area. They need someone to go out there and make a difference. Jarryd is the guy to do that.

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JARRYD HAYNE’S REPORT CARD FROM ARIZONA

“BLAST HIS ASS”

The Niners were getting their butts kicked, but for those few minutes in which Hayne was injected into the game, he gave them energy. That’s what he does: he gives the team a bright light. Everything lights up when he makes defenders miss, shows them that fend (as you guys in Australia call it) and turns on the jets.

And I love how he lowered his shoulder and tried to knock that last defender down. I was watching the game and thinking, ‘Yeah! That’s how you do it.’ If he does that a couple more times, defenders won’t know whether he’s going to run around them or run over them.

He went in with the mentality of “I’m really going to blast his ass”. The 49ers only gave him one real opportunity and, to his credit, he took it.

He’s big and strong and he’s learning the ways to best utilise that speed and toughness.

HELPING HYDE & ECLIPSING DAVIS

The other guys on the Niners offense are getting beat up. Jarryd is fresh. They have to start inserting him into the offense more and I think they’ll do that against Green Bay this weekend.

He has the capability of making that big play and that’s not something they’re getting from their offense at the moment. They’ll have to keep it simple for Jarryd and run plays that aren’t complicated. But if I was coach, I would be inserting him into the game more from this point on.

I would move him in front of Mike Davis. Davis is steady, but he is not giving the Niners the big plays that Hayne is capable of. And Reggie Bush has a history of being injured a lot, so you have to plan like he’s not going to be around every week.

You don’t want a scenario where Carlos Hyde is getting banged up. They need to relieve him. Jarryd could provide that relief and the add a few big plays that the offense badly needs. He could be the game changer in that regard.

Legendary Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald talks with Jarryd Hayne. Source: AP

A NEW ROLE

I also think there’s a chance to get Jarryd some more minutes returning kick-offs. That’s an area of the game that doesn’t require a lot of study and allows him to use the skills and instincts that made him such a great rugby league player.

The Niners could use him as their home run hitter. Break one. Take it to the house.

Returning kicks is the perfect opportunity to get him into the game more, particularly when DeAndrew White isn’t making a huge impression.

I would have thought that 37-yard punt return would have opened the coaching staff’s eyes to the possibility of using Jarryd as a kick returner against the Cardinals.

“FLINCHING BEFORE YOU PULL THE TRIGGER”

It certainly didn’t help that Colin Kaepernick threw all those interceptions. His timing was off and there was a lot of pressure coming through from Arizona’s defense. You don’t want to throw Hayne in the game under that kind of pressure. You don’t want him, or others, to get hurt when things are getting loose.

The thing with Kap is that he can get hot. He can turn himself, and a game, around. I’ve been watching him since he was at the University of Nevada, where he threw for over 10,000 yards and ran for more than 4,000 yards.

He needs better protection. He is under so much pressure from opposition defenses right now that he’s flinching before passes.

Think of it this way: imagine you are firing a gun and you flinch just before you pull the trigger because you’re afraid of the kickback. What happens? You miss your target.

That’s what’s happening with Kap. When you look at guys like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger, they can sit in the pocket and wait because they know they’re getting solid protection from their offensive line.

Kap doesn’t have that luxury at the moment and it’s making him miss receivers and generally make some bad decisions. One little flinch and it’s over - you’ve missed your window of opportunity.

HAYNE’S PROSPECTS AGAINST THE PACKERS

It’s important for Hayne to keep watching and studying. I had always thought that he would start to see an increase in game time from game four or five but I’ve got a funny feeling you’ll be seeing a lot more of him from this week against the Packers.

The Packers have got a good defence. They’ll come at the Niners pretty hard. Someone like Jarryd could provide the offense with some more variety. Try a play action fake. Keep them guessing. He needs to play a couple of series so the opposition defense can’t predict when he’ll get the ball.

This is a big game for the Niners. It’s still early in the season and I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt at this stage. In two more weeks, I’ll have a firm view on whether they can still make the play-offs or not. I’d love to think they can. With the SuperBowl coming to town this year you’d love to think the Niners could go deep into the season.

But there’s one thing that has concerned me over the last few weeks. You have to play like you’re starving and, unfortunately, I can’t say I’ve seen too many starving guys out there against the Steelers and Cardinals.

You have to play hard every game, every play. You can’t just float or you’ll be lit up.