Meet the US athletes dreaming of making it big in the NRL
The NRL’s has hatched a plan to not only capture the hearts of the American public but also steal some of their best athletes by offering them a chance to earn rugby league contracts in Las Vegas next month.
Already 50 of the best athletes from the US have registered to compete in a talent combine with four $80,000 contracts on offer. Twenty five men and 25 women including a bobsledder, wrestler, volleyballer and a track and field athlete are preparing for their shot at rugby league stardom.
Super coach Wayne Bennett has backed the NRL’s ambitions ‘game-changing’ plans while ARLC chairman Peter V’landys declared he was willing to offer club’s salary cap concessions to
help with the US infiltration.
The NRL will hold an historic audition in Las Vegas next month with the best two male and two women in line to secure a contract as well as an all-expense paid trip to visit and train with clubs in Australia.
The NRL threw open its net to athletes and asked them to register online before their application was reviewed.
Among the athletes who will compete include Dorian Bowie, Patrick McKenzie and Marisa Hall.
Bowie is a 24-year-old Robert Morris University American football running back/wide receiver, Patrick McKenzie is a multi-sport athlete who has played basketball, baseball and as a tight end in American football while Hall is a rugby player and track sprinter.
Wayne Bennett, who was Queensland coach for State of Origin’s first ever game on American soil in 1987 in California, believes US athletes can make it in the NRL.
“I’m a fan of an NRL Combine in America,” Bennett said.
“Look, we are starting from zero. Americans haven’t grown up watching the game or understanding the game, but athletically, they can match anything we have got. That’s not a problem.
“The problem is the education and understanding the rules.
“Manfred Moore came out here from America in the 1970s and it was a great idea, but he just didn’t know the game well enough.
“If you get some game recognition over there, you will get some American kids following the NRL.
“In 10 years time, this can be a great success. There’s a definite market there we can tap into.”
The event will take place at the aptly named Game Changers Stadium and the UFC’s high performance centre the day before the historic double header.
The players will be put through a range of physical and skill tests. Basic tackling and catching will be part of the skill events while a 1.2km shuttle run, bench press and 20 metre sprint will make-up the fitness component.
V’landys described the event as a “game-changer”.
“It’s exciting to try this, because if it’s successful it has unlimited potential,” we will look at providing salary-cap relief for American players. There’s a number of ways but we have to consult the clubs and the RLPA and we will work from there.
At the moment, the NFL themselves are allowing two additional international players on their rosters, so that is certainly the type of template we could follow in the NRL.
“There’s a stack of American athletes who could make it in the NRL. This combine is the first step to providing a pathway for Americans to try and flourish in our sport.”
The NRL will pay for the top four athletes to travel to Australia at some stage this year to train with teams. Clubs will then be given an option to offer a player a full-time development deal.
NRL boss Andrew Abdo said the game’s “US strategy is not just a one-off game in Las Vegas.”
“This is about increased exposure and awareness and also building our participation base,” Abdo said. “Welcoming more international players into the game will help grow rugby league overseas as fans can cheer their home-grown talent in the very best rugby league competition on earth.”
Leading sports agent and combine expert Chris Orr was also engaged by the NFL to launch its inaugural International Combine on the Gold Coast.
It was Orr who engineered Jordan Mailata’s remarkable move to the NFL in 2018. Two years earlier, Mailata was a 160kg prop in the South Sydney under-20s who was simply too big for rugby league.
Orr met his client in a Coogee hotel and asked Mailata to take his shirt off. After seeing his dimensions, he took photos to email to NFL scouts and suggested Mailata try his hand in American football.
During Mailata’s journey from NRL reject to $98 million NFL superstar, Orr used his eight years of experience garnering American sporting contacts to identify a group of suitable athletes for the historic Vegas Combine.
He is adamant an NRL Combine on American soil would be a smash hit.
“To capitalise on broadcasting and gaming in America, you ideally want Americans playing our sport,” Orr said.
“Most Americans don’t know what rugby league is. But if an America makes it over here, the interest will go through the roof.
“This can be an identical scenario to Jordan Mailata’s journey to the NFL through the International Pathway Program.
“The NRL can have an intake of Americans, we train them and educate them, play them in the local leagues out here and I am confident some American athletes can make it in the NRL.
“The same would go for the NRLW - imagine the number of female American athletes who could be great NRLW players.”
HOW IT WILL WORK
25 men and 25 women will undergo testing at Game Changers Stadium and UFC Performance Centre on Saturday March 2
WHAT WILL THEY HAVE TO DO
Physical tests
3KG Med Ball Throw
Standing Broad Jump
Bench Press (3 reps of the heaviest weight you can)
20m Sprint
1.2KM Shuttle Run
Skill tests
1 on 1 Tackle Grid
Carry Through Pads (Draw and Pass)
Side on Tackle
Tackle Challenge
Catch a Bomb
WHAT NRL OPPORTUNITY WILL THEY BE GIVEN
The top two male and top two female athletes will be announced on field at Allegiant Stadium and win an all expense paid two-week trip to Australia to train with elite teams.
After the two weeks any NRL team can offer them a full-time development deal.
AMERICAN DREAM
US athletes who had a shot at the big league in Australia.
MANFRED MOORE - America’s most famous league export. The former NFL star scored Newtown’s first try of the 1977 season, but only managed five games. The only man in history to score an NFL touchdown and NRL try.
GREG SMITH - Flying winger who was an NFL triallist at Philadelphia. Blooded by Knights coach Warren Ryan in 1999 but had a shocker in debut against Canterbury and was never picked again.
SILAS REDD - Played two seasons with Washington in the NFL before signing with the Ipswich Jets. A running back, Redd lasted seven months in Brisbane before returning home without playing a Queensland Cup game.
JOSH RICE - Former Hawaii Warriors linebacker who, like Redd, joined the Ipswich Jets. Failed to make the grade, but went on to play for the US at the 2017 rugby league World Cup.
