Vegas Again/2025 and WCC

[Adelaide Tiger]

Two absolutely cracking games.  Well done to all concerned.

 

[Gomersall]

5 hours ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

At the stadium now amazing just the price of a round 3 beers soft drink nachos 80 US.

Puts our stadiums to shame makes Wembley Spurs Arsenal look like a toilet:)

Not a patch on Wheldon Road though :))))

 

Are you a Yorkshireman Paul? When given the bills do you proudly say “Ow much?”

[Copa]

In some footage it looked like David Gallop was in a posh corporate box near the edge of the field. I doubt he could have pulled off this Vegas adventure if he was in charge again.

Edited March 3 by Copa

[ATLANTISMAN]

31 minutes ago, Gomersall said:

Are you a Yorkshireman Paul? When given the bills do you proudly say “Ow much?”

Haha Soff London mate

[Whippet13]

Sat next to an American tonight, a Vegas resident attending his first ever live experience of "rugby", he knew there were different variants in Union and League so I talked him through the rules, decisions etc and it was "wow!" every time a big tackle went in. He loved both games and said he'll be back again and will look for the sport if it comes on Fox. Most interesting thing though is that he had put a bet on for both games, despite knowing little about RL, so exactly what the NRL are after here.

[NRLandSL]

Spencer Leniu allegedly called Ezra Mam a “Monkey”.

Seriously not good, could become a serious issue in the next few days. 

Putrid stuff from Leniu if true.

Edited March 3 by NRLandSL

[Whippet13]

2 hours ago, Copa said:

Attendance: 40,746

Apparently the weather was appalling outside in the lead up which may have put off walk ups.

It was a bit breezy, sat in a car park at one point mid afternoon watching the felt roof slowly come off a building piece by piece

[gingerjon]

18 minutes ago, Whippet13 said:

Most interesting thing though is that he had put a bet on for both games, despite knowing little about RL, so exactly what the NRL are after here.

So, and this is the bit no one really seems to be able to answer, what value to the NRL is there from that?

[Whippet13]

11 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

So, and this is the bit no one really seems to be able to answer, what value to the NRL is there from that?

Impossible to answer that today, but if they confirm 2025 details within a couple of months then the signs will be positive there is value in it.

[Copa]

The Raiders are keen to sign a woman who has represented the US in rugby union. She was at the combine.

This link bypasses the paywall.

https://archive.is/zP7K5

“I spoke to her and said I would love to have you and she said yes, I’d be keen,” Furner said.

“Other clubs might be interested in her, but we would love to get her.

“With Liz, I saw a lovely young girl, I had previously watched her highlights and sent them to our coach Darrin Borthwick and after seeing her today, we would love to offer her an opportunity if she wants to come.

“We have a spot available on our female roster and I will follow up with Liz when we get back to Australia.

“If she is keen to come to Australia, I would love to sign her with the support of our coach.

“We will now continue talks with her. As a club, Canberra would love to sign the first American female player.”

Tafuna is a hard-running powerhouse who has Samoan blood and has represented the USA in rugby union.

Edited March 3 by Copa

[BladeHearts]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/mar/03/fast-brutal-brilliant-nrls-las-vegas-gamble-comes-up-trumps

[Leyther_Matt]

3 hours ago, Click said:

Fun games these have been.

I enjoy seeing the Brisbane kits that have an actual collar on them, it is strange to see a player version with a collar nowadays.

I've been on and off twitter and my homepage seems to be full of random people watching the matches and enjoying them. I saw JBL of WWE fame was watching it (although I seem to remember him mentioning RL many years ago, something to do with Crabtree IIRC)

I hope this Vegas adventure has given the NRL what they wanted, as a fan it has delivered watching on TV, and I imagine delivered if you went in person. I was thinking about going this year for it, but I will definitely be considering going to Vegas in 2025 for the next one.

Somebody get the Jake the Snake Roberts video, quick!

[Gomersall]

1 hour ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

Haha Soff London mate

Lovely jubbly.

[bratman]

Anybody aware of any replays?

[Pen-Y-Bont Crusader]

14 minutes ago, bratman said:

Anybody aware of any replays?

17.30 and 20.30 today

[graveyard johnny]

2 amazing games - made SL  look like the football match on Kez

Edited March 3 by graveyard johnny

[JonM]

2 hours ago, gingerjon said:

So, and this is the bit no one really seems to be able to answer, what value to the NRL is there from that?

(Just speculating) - perhaps some ability to upsell live tv to betting website operators. Presumably people like to watch the things they're betting on. There is definitely a market for sports data rights for gambling - low tens of millions of dollars per year for the Premier League, so probably not a huge amount for the NRL.

[Dave T]

Just watching it now, great first game, looks a very good crowd, noisy, good atmosphere, looks a lot of fun. 

Had a little chuckle at the announced

40k crowd, it's as though they let the RFL run the PR around this. All the announcements around 45k and hoping for a big walk up crowd, yet it appears literally nobody walked up based on the numbers. 

But it's a great event, let's see what happens in future year's, exciting events like this are what we need more of. 

[The 4 of Us]

If this LA residents views are typical, RL could have a bright future over there, even if just one offs in Vegas.

 https://x.com/tsingletonsays/status/1764215174549114993?s=61&t=FO94UTyPanbSnBhdjN6hQg

[Exiled Wiganer]

32 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Just watching it now, great first game, looks a very good crowd, noisy, good atmosphere, looks a lot of fun. 

Had a little chuckle at the announced

40k crowd, it's as though they let the RFL run the PR around this. All the announcements around 45k and hoping for a big walk up crowd, yet it appears literally nobody walked up based on the numbers. 

But it's a great event, let's see what happens in future year's, exciting events like this are what we need more of. 

It shows that there is a genuine audience in the UK, and that rugby league could massively benefit from the same resources being ploughed into the international game by these same Aussies. 

[Dave T]

To touch on pitch size etc, it really does show that RL can be flexible and creative and it doesn't ruin anything. 

[Exiled Wiganer]

2 hours ago, BladeHearts said:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/mar/03/fast-brutal-brilliant-nrls-las-vegas-gamble-comes-up-trumps

Honestly, I love anyone talking up our game, but that is fawning cobblers. But then the journalist has had a free holiday in Vegas, so would be mad not to talk it up. 

[Spidey]

3 minutes ago, Dave T said:

To touch on pitch size etc, it really does show that RL can be flexible and creative and it doesn't ruin anything. 

I thought it was interesting they kept all the same markings even though only 95ish meters goal to goal. Which meant each 10 was more like 9.5. But different to how we’d do it by having the dotted 30

[Dave T]

Just now, Spidey said:

I thought it was interesting they kept all the same markings even though only 95ish meters goal to goal. Which meant each 10 was more like 9.5. But different to how we’d do it by having the dotted 30

Aye, they basically decided to do their own thing despite decades of precedent here. They went for the approach of having 8 incorrect lines instead of 2.

But putting that aside, it just doesn't massively affect the sport, they were two great games of RL and nobody really noticed. 

[Adelaide Tiger]

57 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Just watching it now, great first game, looks a very good crowd, noisy, good atmosphere, looks a lot of fun. 

Had a little chuckle at the announced

40k crowd, it's as though they let the RFL run the PR around this. All the announcements around 45k and hoping for a big walk up crowd, yet it appears literally nobody walked up based on the numbers. 

But it's a great event, let's see what happens in future year's, exciting events like this are what we need more of. 

Dave T.  Regarding the ‘walk up’ or lack of anticipated ‘walk up’ it was announced on the pre-game show that Las Vegas had been hit by a large desert storm.  That was why some people attending did not get inside the stadium until after the first game was underway and may have deterred those that had not purchased a ticket from attending.