Australia’s love affair with the NFL deepened when Jarryd Hayne’s American adventure began and his short stint in San Francisco also introduced rugby league to a new legion of fans.

Some of those fresh NRL lovers living Stateside were glued to the TV in the early hours of the morning on the other side of the world to watch the Blues pulverise a hapless Maroons outfit in the opening match of this year’s State of Origin series.

“Always amazed by physicality and brute force of no-pads/helmets in Australian rugby league (while #49ers going down left and right at offseason practices).

“Learning about Rugby League and meeting so many great Aussie media colleagues were best things to come out of the 49ers’ Jarryd Hayne project.”.

Inman made special mention of Queensland fullback Valentine Holmes, who tried to make it in the NFL with the New York Jets before returning to rugby league, and was also a fan of the cameras in each team’s changeroom to give viewers intimate access in one of the biggest games of the year.

“I spy former #NYJets practice squad RB Valentine Holmes in this #Origin action,” Inman wrote.

“Human error comes in every form, problem is you can’t have the best ref for every game.

You can’t have the best players for every game.