Las Vegas – No one has mastered the art of doing a bigger show than Las Vegas.
And for the second year in a row that opens a season in Sin City, National Rugby League was left to Task, offering a week-long show, climaxing with an entertaining quadruple header at Alleria Stadium on Saturday.
For four NRL clubs who came to Vegas for their second year in the league of five-year commitment, the Canberra Raiders defeated the New Zealand warriors 30-8, with the Penrith Panthers defeating 28-22 and 28-22 in the evening finale.
But when it comes to the big picture, this week was more than a bone-striking blow and a final score. Many of the 45,209 people attended were made up of Australian, Kiwi and British people, about the NRL's efforts to globalize sports and expose them to American audiences.
Just as “Hookie” was in Allegant Field on Saturday, this week's highlight could have been the flashy fanfest that took place on Thursday night at Fremont Street in downtown Vegas.
Last year's first foray of the NRL was successful with a good show being delivered, as this week, uninfected, seeing most of us in the US witness a fast, physical game that is unfamiliar.
This year's go-round has grown smarter from two to four games, making it bigger and better.
This week began with an embarrassing alcohol-induced scrap between Raiders teammates Hudson Young and Morgan Smithy in the team hotel elevator. Both players were temporarily launched from the hotel. The pain and apologies continued. But the boys are boys.
Saturday's game day began with an English Super League match in which the Wigan Warriors routed the Warrington Wolves 48-24. It was a great move to compete for the British. Because it's not singable by a fanbase or party that is more intense than the British. They were asked for a week at the Vegas strip and all casinos.
The second match featured NRL warriors and raiders, followed by Australia's Giraleux, the world's best women's rugby league team, which wiped out the England women's team 90-4, with England scoring the only points in the final play of the match.
Adding women's games to the program was just as great as bringing British people. Because if possible, women's games are characterized by even more violent clashes than men's games.
Earlier in the second half, Gilaleu's Sarah Togatoki violently hit England's Vicki Whitfield in a straight collision, and had to tie Whitfield to a stretcher and send him to the hospital. The hit would have made former Raiders headhunter Jack Tatum Blush.
The Raiders star won was Xavier Savage. Savage ended it by getting engaged a week and getting two tries (equivalent to an NFL touchdown).
It was a marathon day at Allegiant Stadium. This concluded the animation week with a storyline that was appealing to all teams. In Penrith, there was the most dominant team in NRL history, the NFL patriots and chiefs' version.
“I don't think there's a club in the NRL that doesn't raise their hands to come here,” Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said after the team's victory. “If you want to miss this, you're missing something very special.”
Raiders Star Prop Forward Joseph Tapine described the week as an “unrealistic, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“Being in that atmosphere was unrealistic to play in America, the world's largest sporting country,” Tappin said. “And promoting our game is huge.”
The fans' throats ache with singing and chanting as the storyline was exhausted, and the long day of the night was over.
– Will these annual visits lead to more global rugby league audiences, such as intriguing the interest of American sports fans, which are set up as highly as sports?
– Or will this simply be a cool week of glamour, situational and fun times for visitors to trek to Vegas for the show?
“The truth is, apart from the people in this area, no one really knows that this is happening,” Sean Luggerson, a coach for the US National Rugby League team who was visiting Vegas to experience NRL Week, told the Post. “We hope to build it over the next five years and get bigger. Maybe more people will know about it. But it's a big country and there's a lot of sports here. Clearly.”
If NRL continues its shows that have been streamed over the past two years, that last Vegas week should last.
Viva Last Vegas. Long Live NRL.
