I couldn't agree more - it's meaningless, unless our only value as a sport is as a curiosity that occasionally throws up people who turn out to be good at 'better' sports.

I'm pleased for the lad, but it's much ado about nothing in terms of value to RL.

I don't think it's meaningless at all. The more people exposed to our sport the more fans we will find.

It seems we are stuck here between two extremes where this will either get us a fully pro league in the US or it will do nothing at all.

Used correctly this can be a catalyst. There is no reason to expect it can't. We should use this as our foot in the door. It will get people to listen. We should get use it. We should capitalise on it.

Send the WCC there. Use Haynes name. Use that recognition and if at the end of it we get an amateur side there. Fantastic. Cali if it were a country would be amongst the biggest economies in the world and there are millions of people there. A foothold there is a brilliant thing.

and, looking at it the other way round, surely the awareness of RL created by Hayne, creates an opportunity for our clubs to attract some of the majority of American footballers who don't make NFL level, to trial for RL. There must be some huge athletes who we could train up to play prop if nothing else. As we have seen reported in connection with Hayne, they don't earn huge amounts if not selected for the final roster of an NFL club.

Means nothing. Yanks aren't going to start following league because of Haynes 5 mins of fame.

What makes you so certain that Hayne's fame will only last 5 minutes?

I expect him to shine on Special Teams this season, and get heaps more publicity in the NFL.

What makes you so certain that Hayne's fame will only last 5 minutes?

I expect him to shine on Special Teams this season, and get heaps more publicity in the NFL.

There are 2 trains of thought here.

1. The likes of JEAN will give us the highs and lows of how the US Market is just there for the taking and a half dozen Aussies/Polynesians being signed up as Defensive ends or punt returners will have the Donald Trump's and Warren Buffett's triping over themselves to invest in a sport that currently has most of it's American teams playing in stadiums with no seating or terracing (do they call them bleachers in the US?) and that is played at the top club level in 2 states, 2 counties and 2 cities on the Global stage.
He'll be joined by posters claiming that if we could just pick up 1% of the college NFL failures, we'd be dead set for world domination and the USA RL side would be challenging for World Cup honours inside 20 years. If only we could get Americans to watch one game...they'd be hooked!

Then there's:

2. Those that realise that no publicity is bad and Hayne making the grade is brilliant for him as he really did take a punt on it (no pun intended) and it's nice that the NRL and RL gets a mention. That's the extent of it though and rather than "get rich quick" scenarios, the game needs to sort itself out where it is at the moment, with a few clubs on life support and players like Hayne being lost to rival sports. It needs to address the top 3 or 4 clubs in SL are the same, how we need to expand the playing/talent pool to get the next 4 up to the same standard, how to get fans back into stadiums, how to ensure that we don't forget to take the lower divisions when we move on and to put policies in place to increase the number of kids playing and staying in the sport.

The bottom line here is the only sport that has gained any real publicity here is NFL, with viewing figures for 49'ers games probably higher last year in Australia.

As a big fan of the 2 greatest sports in the world this could actually work well for both sides. What we need to realise is that RL is VERY easy for a NFL fan to grasp. I took an American friend to and England game once and basically described it as when a team receives the ball it's 1st and goal and they have 6 downs. That's all he really needed to know to enjoy it.

From a RL perspective we need to capitalise on the curiosity about RL caused by Hayne ASAP. The 3rd origin game at either Levi Stadium or Rose Bowl would be a start. Teams committing to establishing feeder clubs on the west coast and maybe holding the 9s tournament there would be even better. They could then tap into the local resource of college/high school players who haven't made the grade.

For the NFL they desperately want to expand into Australia having been so successful in London so this is the perfect time to take a game to Sydney, especially if they can get the 49ers involved. This would probably have to kick off at 7pm local time in Sudney on the Satursay but it's feasible.

What can't be understated is what a pheonomenal achievement it is by Hayne to make the roster, in my mind the greatest sporting switch in history. There are levels of complexity to NFL that take years to grasp never mind master whilst simultaneously having to adapt his style and physique to match what's required. It's amazing he's managed it so quickly and I doubt we'll ever see someone manage something like this again.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you train of thought #1



Few things to think about here


Barking Mad....absolutely barking!

Nobody's saying publicity is bad as such. What I and others are saying - consistently - is show me the money. Vague notions of "capitalizing" on Hayne are just that.

The fact is that if and when Hayne becomes a big star bin the NFL, it will be as an NFL player. His RL background will quickly become a footnote. Just as Sam Burgess in the RU WC will be seen as an RU player if he does well, as it was previously for Jason Robinson.

A some others have said, I'm not sure why this is great for Rugby League(?).

It's great for Hayne himself & it's great for the NFL. His story of rugby player and rookie to making the roster is a great one. But doesn't do anything for our sport.

The game in the US is doing fairly well and has got it's act together the past couple of years.

Hayne is not the first player to make the NFL from a completely different sport. I expect he'll generate about as much interest in his former game as they did.

Terry Price from Welsh RU and then Bradford Northern played grid iron.
So what's new?

He was a kicker - huge difference, surely even you can see that?

Didn't Ellery Hanley want to give it a go? I've got a feeling he may have tried after he finished his RL career in Oz