Genuine untapped talent pool or gimmick?

[John bird]

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/las-vegas-combine-star-swaps-motown-for-moore-park-to-chase-nrl-dream-20240607-p5jk4n.html

 

long odds of unearthing RL talented athletes because of age and obvious inexperience of the game but I’ve long thought it’s a route the NRL clubs should go down and explore.

[The Blues Ox]

2 hours ago, John bird said:

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/las-vegas-combine-star-swaps-motown-for-moore-park-to-chase-nrl-dream-20240607-p5jk4n.html

 

long odds of unearthing RL talented athletes because of age and obvious inexperience of the game but I’ve long thought it’s a route the NRL clubs should go down and explore.

Its such a tough ask because a lot of the skills required to play RL are very similar to those required to play American Football and our sport can't compete with the money the athletes are paid in that sport so its going to be really difficult to get anybody better than average potential to play the game.

[NRLandSL]

2 hours ago, John bird said:

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/las-vegas-combine-star-swaps-motown-for-moore-park-to-chase-nrl-dream-20240607-p5jk4n.html

 

long odds of unearthing RL talented athletes because of age and obvious inexperience of the game but I’ve long thought it’s a route the NRL clubs should go down and explore.

Certainly a big gamble by the roosters. I think it’s highly unlikely he gets properly signed and ever plays but who knows. 

[sam4731]

I’ve always said that tapping up all the undrafted talent from the NFL draft would generate unbelievable rugby league players. These are young lads who have dedicated their lives from a very young age, training to an unreal athletic ability. With the right input and the promise of a life of a professional athlete (albeit not as lucrative as an NFL career) these players would make excellent RL players.

[Sports Prophet]

48 minutes ago, The Blues Ox said:

Its such a tough ask because a lot of the skills required to play RL are very similar to those required to play American Football and our sport can't compete with the money the athletes are paid in that sport so its going to be really difficult to get anybody better than average potential to play the game.

There will be plenty of players who didn’t get drafted for various reasons like height, weight, 40m speed which may be less relevant in league or more importantly, overlooking the mental strength required to succeed. I would like to think a two year FT academy could result in five NRL standard players a year. Problem I see is the cost of running such an academy.

[NRLandSL]

10 minutes ago, sam4731 said:

I’ve always said that tapping up all the undrafted talent from the NFL draft would generate unbelievable rugby league players. These are young lads who have dedicated their lives from a very young age, training to an unreal athletic ability. With the right input and the promise of a life of a professional athlete (albeit not as lucrative as an NFL career) these players would make excellent RL players.

The problem I have with this signing is that I believe they have signed him solely because he did well on a few pace and agility tests. If he is a quick learner with the right attitude who knows, but I highly doubt he will ever even be good enough to play A-Grade in Australia. Also there’s hardly any information or photos about him on the internet so I doubt he was a great American football player.

[ATLANTISMAN]

We should look at some CFL players (Toronto Wolfpack promised to do that but did nothing) many come from a rugby background and the skill levels are excellent.

www.cfl.ca new season starts this weekend 

 

[Henson Park Old Firm]

Better off going too South Africa 

[NRLandSL]

32 minutes ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

We should look at some CFL players (Toronto Wolfpack promised to do that but did nothing) many come from a rugby background and the skill levels are excellent.

www.cfl.ca new season starts this weekend 

 

Exactly, there’s some good rugby players in both the US and Canada who have been playing rugby (union or league) for a long time. But instead of giving those guys a chance we sign a 25 year old former American football player who’s never seen a rugby ball in his life. It seems no thought has gone into any of this.

Rugby union is a popular American college sport, if the NRL want to tap into the US that’s where they should be looking. Not former American football players.

[Damien]

I don't think it's a gimmick, clubs look to sign talented athletes all the time. This is just an extension of that.

[The Rocket]

2 hours ago, NRLandSL said:

It seems no thought has gone into any of this.

Yeah, I`m sure absolutely no thought has gone into this at all and you know better.

[NRLandSL]

1 hour ago, The Rocket said:

Yeah, I`m sure absolutely no thought has gone into this at all and you know better.

Yeah, cause signing a player who’s likely never heard of the sport to a professional club is so thoughtful. Stuff like this has happened before, it never works out and definitely won’t this time. 

Clubs might as well start scouting the olympics next month for players given being “athletic” now apperantly makes you a professional rugby league player. 

[The Blues Ox]

I remember 2 Scoops.

[Pulga]

100% a gimmick.

I remember an NFL who was banned for some reason tried his hand a few years back and I'm not sure he even cracked the Qld Cup squad. He was training with the Ipswich Jets. I remember seeing some footage and he looked completely out of his depth.

I'm sure there would be a couple that could make the transfer but the ROI isn't close to feasible.

I did a tour of the Brisbane Broncos facility with Michael Hancock. His stats said that only 0.034% of players make the NRL and that's people in Australia playing their whole life. Add a couple of zeros before the three if you want American Football rejects.

[John bird]

On 08/06/2024 at 08:13, The Blues Ox said:

Its such a tough ask because a lot of the skills required to play RL are very similar to those required to play American Football and our sport can't compete with the money the athletes are paid in that sport so its going to be really difficult to get anybody better than average potential to play the game.

There must be hundreds if not thousands of talented college football players who don’t make the cut and with nothing below the NFL these players are lost to the sport of American football and are a good option for the NRL to explore.

plus with nothing being under the NFL I don’t think money would be a problem unless the players land good paying jobs post college graduation.

[John bird]

On 08/06/2024 at 08:52, NRLandSL said:

Certainly a big gamble by the roosters. I think it’s highly unlikely he gets properly signed and ever plays but who knows. 

Is it really a gamble though?

how much would something like this cost the roosters or any other NRL team?

[John bird]

On 08/06/2024 at 08:56, sam4731 said:

I’ve always said that tapping up all the undrafted talent from the NFL draft would generate unbelievable rugby league players. These are young lads who have dedicated their lives from a very young age, training to an unreal athletic ability. With the right input and the promise of a life of a professional athlete (albeit not as lucrative as an NFL career) these players would make excellent RL players.

I agree.

it’s just a shame that there’s no semi-pro RL competition in North America that could give the college football players a season or 2 to get to grips with the game of RL instead of impressing on a few sprint times and agility tests etc before heading down under on a trial contract.

[John bird]

On 08/06/2024 at 09:07, Sports Prophet said:

There will be plenty of players who didn’t get drafted for various reasons like height, weight, 40m speed which may be less relevant in league or more importantly, overlooking the mental strength required to succeed. I would like to think a two year FT academy could result in five NRL standard players a year. Problem I see is the cost of running such an academy.

It’s that short window of opportunity timeframe that’s the real big issue for me of college football players missing out on the draft and then graduating and maybe starting a new job post college.

[John bird]

On 08/06/2024 at 09:40, ATLANTISMAN said:

We should look at some CFL players (Toronto Wolfpack promised to do that but did nothing) many come from a rugby background and the skill levels are excellent.

www.cfl.ca new season starts this weekend 

 

What kind of salaries can CFL players command?

[John bird]

On 08/06/2024 at 10:14, Henson Park Old Firm said:

Better off going too South Africa 

I think the roosters have already tried this with a few u20’s South African Union players in the days of the old Toyota cup Competition.

[John bird]

1 hour ago, Pulga said:

100% a gimmick.

I remember an NFL who was banned for some reason tried his hand a few years back and I'm not sure he even cracked the Qld Cup squad. He was training with the Ipswich Jets. I remember seeing some footage and he looked completely out of his depth.

I'm sure there would be a couple that could make the transfer but the ROI isn't close to feasible.

I did a tour of the Brisbane Broncos facility with Michael Hancock. His stats said that only 0.034% of players make the NRL and that's people in Australia playing their whole life. Add a couple of zeros before the three if you want American Football rejects.

No doubt it’s a tough ask and long shot but every now and then some players make it .

[NRLandSL]

1 hour ago, John bird said:

There must be hundreds if not thousands of talented college football players who don’t make the cut and with nothing below the NFL these players are lost to the sport of American football and are a good option for the NRL to explore.

plus with nothing being under the NFL I don’t think money would be a problem unless the players land good paying jobs post college graduation.

There probably is thousands of talented players who don’t make the NFL each year but how many of would make good rugby players. Very few positions in American football actually have transferable skills to rugby league.
 

Maybe Wide Receivers, Running backs and some defensive backs, but for anyone outside of those 3 positions you might as well be signing soccer players. So probably only 10% or so of American football players would ever even have a slight chance at becoming decent rugby players.

Edited June 9, 2024 by NRLandSL

[NRLandSL]

1 hour ago, John bird said:

Is it really a gamble though?

how much would something like this cost the roosters or any other NRL team?

Yeah I phrased that wrong, Not a gamble by the roosters as such. They won’t be losing anything but just a gamble that this guy turns out good.

[JM2010]

On 08/06/2024 at 10:14, Henson Park Old Firm said:

Better off going too South Africa 

Or France

[OriginalMrC]

I don't know where this idea comes from that American footballers would make good rugby league players. Sure they can probably hit hard in a brainless way but there's no chance they will have the necessary skills to make it at the highest level. Literally a needle in a haystack scenario