Allegedly trialling with NFL club in NYC. Just signed a contract extension with Souths. All very odd.

Yeah he said after Hayne went to San Francisco that he was keen to play American Football and NYG hold weekly open trials so he has probably just gone to one of them to give it a go, granted it is slightly concerning cos I don't think any of us want America to start poaching our best players as well as unionball. RL is not a feeder system to big-money leagues.

HE has not gone to play he has gone to train and to see if he can improve is game in rugby league or so is club says

Knowing the Burgess family he'll have gone purely as a PR stunt. He's a quality athlete though and if they do want him, all it will be for is another chapter in the book / scene in the Burgess movie / to get his name in the papers.

This . obviously

I could see the NFL coming in for backs but not forwards. The big guy role in the NFL is a blocking role built on bulk and the americans have plenty of people to fill those roles.

All great publicity for the sport of RL, no really...............

TBF tight ends(the position he trialed at) do a fair bit of blocking,some of the guys that play this are bigger than him,must be something in the water lol

Tight end is probably the most technically demanding position on the field. Not only do you have to be able to run passing routes and catch the ball like a wide receiver, but you're also expected to be able to block like a lineman. As a backup TE you're also more than likely going to be asked to play on the mayhem that is kickoff and punt teams to justify your spot on the roster.

To be able to do it well enough to make it as a starter in the NFL, you really need to have some sort of grounding in the sport IMO.

That's half the issue though isn't it? I think some of these players watch NFL and think 'I can do that' because they focus on the non-technical stuff. Hayne's problem was errors - didn't read a blitz compounding his fumbles, some of which have been caused by his inability to decide which kicks to simply not even go for. Those errors can't make up for the odd half-decent play (despite the hype when actually selected in real games he did nothing that special).

I think the other mistake that can be made is assuming that you'll somehow get given time to learn the game. Hayne's been written off by one of the worst sides in the comp and no others wanted him when he was freely available. I've no doubt he'll convince himself that he can come back next year, when the reality is he'll be up against a raft of new college recruits and desperate journeymen pros, all of whom outmatch him for experience by years. He also won't have the element of novelty. He may get a gig on a training roster somewhere, but the saddest thing is I expect him to hang out there until the last team closes its doors on him, rather than come back to RL, where he's a star.

That's half the issue though isn't it? I think some of these players watch NFL and think 'I can do that' because they focus on the non-technical stuff. Hayne's problem was errors - didn't read a blitz compounding his fumbles, some of which have been caused by his inability to decide which kicks to simply not even go for. Those errors can't make up for the odd half-decent play (despite the hype when actually selected in real games he did nothing that special).

I think the other mistake that can be made is assuming that you'll somehow get given time to learn the game. Hayne's been written off by one of the worst sides in the comp and no others wanted him when he was freely available. I've no doubt he'll convince himself that he can come back next year, when the reality is he'll be up against a raft of new college recruits and desperate journeymen pros, all of whom outmatch him for experience by years. He also won't have the element of novelty. He may get a gig on a training roster somewhere, but the saddest thing is I expect him to hang out there until the last team closes its doors on him, rather than come back to RL, where he's a star.

Oh, hark at her.

Rugby League in Australia has been working in/with NFL clubs for many years - Jack Gibson used to go over there and Salford have trained at the Jacksonville Jaguars camp on several occasions more recently. Either it's a positive - gets Rugby League mentioned in the Press if he does go, and if it's a really just a learning exercise for him then he hopefully comes back a better and more enlightened player. If the Flat Cap Brigade were more open minded this is something we as a sport would be encouraging.

Surely, if RL players are now considering the NFL, we should raise the salary cap to the same level as that of the NFL. Otherwise we won't be able to compete will we?

Don't need to raise the salary cap, just the white flag.

IF the NFL were to come along and poach our best players, we simply couldn't compete.
For all that it would be superb IF some positive publicity could help drive RL in the USA, the flip side could be a drain of the games best talent to a different sport.
Maybe we should be looking at this the other way and try to find some of the many, many "failures" from the NFL and get them into RL, which if successful may provoke some interest in our game from over the pond.