Which current sportsmen would you choose to give league....

[RP London]

On 18/01/2020 at 17:10, Big Picture said:

If they were a bit younger (both are 32 now) and not financially set from their current/former endeavours, former star NCAA quarterbacks Tim Tebow and Colin Kaepernick.  Both are big, strong, mobile men who are adept at spotting the openings in a defence and getting the ball where it needs to go to exploit those openings (Tebow especially so) so they'd be good as acting halfbacks, possibly from a position such as loose forward.  If they also wrestled when they were in high school, they might have transferable defensive skills already too.

When Doug Flutie (a shorter and lighter equivalent of Tebow and Kaepernick more like Geoff Toovey and Rob Burrow) was young enough, he'd have made a great RL player too.

Lemar Jackson would be interesting to see.. big lad, runs hard, good eye, quick.. 

[RP London]

On 19/01/2020 at 09:32, headtackle said:

Other sports have had TV programmes inviting anyone to compete for a contract with a pro club

There are all sorts of skills  out that there and athletes that we are not currently tapping into

The game would get loads of interest if it ran something like this over a few weeks and would probably unearth some rough diamonds.

Anyone could apply to regional heats. Loads would be filtered out very early on basic fitness tests. Then rounds to test endurance, speed, strength, mind set etc. Move on to a specially arranged  games against a reserve team. Award contracts and SL to cover cost out of marketing budget for season 1.

Sounds daft but the GB Olympics team have done it and unearthed a gold medal winners. Players are out there and they don't just live along the M62.   

  

was done in australia ("The Rookie" i think)... which i know is a different country.. and, although entertaining, didnt really unearth anyone.. there was a British guy on it who had been an RU player and a Bobsledder, ended up signing for Salford IIRC but didnt play. 

GB have done it with a few sports.. Handball and volley ball for 2012 i think (as we could field teams as hosts) not to any sort of success.. skeleton is the big success in this but that is mostly heptathletes (for the women) and lighter weight sprinters for the me, with the heavier sprinters (maybe the odd rugby player) making the Bobsleigh team.. cant remember any of the others that made it through and have gone on to win medals but may be wrong.

 

[Wirral Warrior]

Wayne Rooney at 9

[RP London]

On 18/01/2020 at 15:53, scotchy1 said:

I think the stamina thing is a big thing because it takes away their attributes. It's not just that you have to be powerful, you have to be powerful maybe 20 times in 10mins. That's just not something NFL players have to do now. 

I'm not saying they couldnt retrain to do it, but doing so would take away some of their attributes. Especially in the middle.

Personally I think defensive backs would be the most likely to make the transition

some of them do just that though (explosiveness over and over) running backs if they are not running it in are often blocking (which is not easy), tight ends too.. Linebackers could do it as they are often sprinting to get to the QB or being blocked trying to get through. 

depending on the players as well some of them would have played both offensive and defensive at high school and sometimes college or switch positions during their college years so Offensive players can tackle and defensive players can ball handle if you get the right ones with the right backgrounds. 

Personally there are a few like Aqid Taleeb (Sp?) that i would like to see have a pop and Chris Harris too.

[Sports Prophet]

On 19/01/2020 at 16:31, philipw said:

Ask and ye shall receive  :

https://www.roosters.com.au/news/2020/01/17/swans-hero-nick-davis-switches-codes-to-represent-roosters-at-nrl-nines/

Another fine prophecy

[graveyard johnny]

am sure wayne bennett would love the option of putting andy the Viking Fordham on the wing

[overtheborder]

Adebayo akinfenwa - if he can catch a ball stick him in t' pack.

[headtackle]

8 hours ago, RP London said:

was done in australia ("The Rookie" i think)... which i know is a different country.. and, although entertaining, didnt really unearth anyone.. there was a British guy on it who had been an RU player and a Bobsledder, ended up signing for Salford IIRC but didnt play. 

GB have done it with a few sports.. Handball and volley ball for 2012 i think (as we could field teams as hosts) not to any sort of success.. skeleton is the big success in this but that is mostly heptathletes (for the women) and lighter weight sprinters for the me, with the heavier sprinters (maybe the odd rugby player) making the Bobsleigh team.. cant remember any of the others that made it through and have gone on to win medals but may be wrong.

 

Rowing I think was another Olympic sport that did it and think found a Gold medal winner 

 

[RP London]

9 hours ago, headtackle said:

Rowing I think was another Olympic sport that did it and think found a Gold medal winner 

 

Rowing have headhunted for years through universities especially oxbridge, and through public schools. Anyone with certain physical attributes would be given “trials”. It isn’t an anomaly to have someone who has done another sport well in the boats, maybe this time someone picked up purely by team gb though rather than further down. I am sure athletics have done it as you are looking for people using a skill somewhere else (Gemili was a pro football youth) but again it’s always been the case of doubling up as (Eric Liddell etc)

Personally I wouldn’t count either just because team gb got a scouting team on it rather than clubs and coaches but fair enough. 

[GUBRATS]

Complete nonsense , there isn't any other sport apart from Union that requires the necessary skills , fitness and attitude to play RL , however going the other way , Des Drummond I believe would have made a quality NFL running back 

[Copa]

This guy 

He’d have to be a specialty player for niche passages of play.

Why .... just because.

 

[Copa]

A few of the pro wrestlers in the US are very athletic, large and muscular. They also bring trash talk that puts Willy Mason to shame.

 

[absentee thoughtlord]

On 19/01/2020 at 06:43, NOS4A2 said:

It would be HUGE, especially if he was god enough to get a spot in the World Cup Squad for 2021.

He isn't good enough.

If TWP are even thinking about picking over the Saracens squad, they would be better going for a forward like Will Skelton - a huge dude who played RL as a teenager. Sure, he probably needs some stamina work, but he would certainly appeal to the Lamport crowd.