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200 million big ones
The Australian government will provide a $200 million cash injection to fund NRL expansion as ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys pledged to offer salary-cap exemptions for clubs who sign American athletes.
V’landys detailed the ARLC’s multifaceted plan to grow the sport over the next decade, including a landmark move for NRL clubs to be given salary-cap relief by luring American football players to rugby league.
And the success of the Dolphins has convinced the ARLC to explore fresh expansion with the backing of the Federal government, which is ready to bankroll an 18th NRL team until season 2035 and beyond.
Another NRL franchise would require an extra 30 full-time players and V’landys believes the sports-obsessed United States, home to 332 million people, is an untapped goldmine for talent.
The NRL will stage a historic double header in Las Vegas next March to launch the 2024 premiership and V’landys wants to use ‘Australia Week’ in Sin City as a rugby league audition for US locals.
More than 50 male and female American athletes will be invited to take part in an ‘NRL Combine’ for testing and skill drills with a view to potentially securing a rugby league contract.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is a huge supporter of NRL expansion into the Pacific region.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is a huge supporter of NRL expansion into the Pacific region.
It will be the first time in rugby league history the NRL will stage an NFL-style Combine for Americans.
In 2016, NRL stars Valentine Holmes and Jason Taumalolo shocked the code by secretly flying to Los Angeles for Combine-style testing with American NFL scouts.
Speaking for the first time about the concept, V’landys said the Vegas double-header could be a gateway to fresh offshore talent, offering salary-cap dispensation for NRL clubs who invest in US talent.
“It’s a wonderful idea,” V’landys said of the NRL’s Vegas Combine plan.
“You only need half-a-dozen Americans to succeed and you would have a whole new following in the US because millions of sports fans in the States would follow their journey.
“There’s thousands of athletes that miss out on making the NFL and with the skill level of those players, they could easily adapt to rugby league very quickly.
“They are brilliant athletes.
“To encourage the clubs, we need to allow salary-cap relief, so if you bring an American player out, it won‘t be counted in the salary cap.”
America’s most famous league export is Manfred Moore, who debuted for Newtown in 1977, just 98 days after playing for Oakland Raiders in the Super Bowl.
While he only played five games, Moore scored Newtown’s first four-pointer of the 1977 season and is the only man in history to score both a touchdown in the NFL and a try in rugby league.
Former Philadelphia Eagles squad member Greg Smith was handed his NRL debut by Newcastle coach Warren Ryan in 1999, but had a shocker on the wing against Canterbury and was never picked again.
In 2017, former Washington Redskins star Silas Redd signed with the Ipswich Jets, but failed to make the Queensland Cup side and returned to the US eight months later.
“It’s an initiative we want to trial,” V’landys said of the American recruitment drive.
“We’ll do a four-day combine in Vegas and rugby league scouts from the clubs will be there with an opportunity to sign them.
“I will hear some negatives from people saying it won’t work, but we’ve seen a lot more Polynesian players come through and succeed in the NRL.
“To me it if it works, it‘s a huge bonanza for rugby league and if it fails, there’s nothing really lost.”
With the Vegas venture finalised, V‘landys will turn his attention to “turbocharging” plans for fresh NRL expansion as early as 2026.
It is understood the Australian government will tip in $20 million a year for the next decade to fund an 18th NRL team representing Papua New Guinea and the Pacific region.
There are fears the Federal government would walk away from an 18th NRL franchise if Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was dethroned, but V’landys rubbished that sentiment.
“This (a Pasifika club) is a joint venture with the Australian government, no doubt about that,” he said.
“It couldn’t be done without their support.
“The government will invest in an NRL team in the Pacific because they believe in soft diplomacy.
“I am confident the government would continue to support an NRL team. It doesn’t matter who is in power. Our relationship with our Pacific neighbours is crucial to national security.
“The government will be committed to this for a decade and beyond.
“There will be hundreds of Pacific and PNG stars of the future that will be produced out of expansion.
“PNG alone has more than 10 million people and rugby league is the No.1 sport there.
“They have the talent base to support an NRL team.”
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