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:

1. The 3rd Origin game in 2016 will be in July........hardly A.S.A.P.
2. 68,000 in the Levi or 92,000 in the rose bowl is a pipe dream......we couldn't get 92,000 in Australia for SoO or 68,000 for the best 4 countries in the world at Wembley for a tenner...but yeah, let's try America


3. Feeder clubs? Seriously? NRL Feeder clubs in the USA? The NRL takes players from the Pacific Islands but can't be bothered having feeder clubs there, so why the USA?
4. The Auckland 9's didn't get 80% capacity in year 2 and tickets are now discounted to the floor for 2016, but you'd have 9's move to the states? Also, the first 9's only happened when Auckland city council agreed to underwrite it....before then the NRL were having none of it. Good luck getting Santa Clara or Pasedena(sic) councils forking out millions in the hope a few Aussie tourists roll up


5. There are already pathways for failed College players.....but you'd have them take up League as a profession in a sport with no presence of note and no full time professional players.........didn't you read what I said?



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

People are forgetting these are Americsn sports fans. They won't give a damn about what sport he use to play and want to watch it if he's a success at the 49ers. They don't really see past their own big sports.

Probably over in LA now they're talking about how Steven Gerrard use to play for LiverChester Rovers in the QuarterBack position and scored some great home runs in his time especially late on in the 4th quarter of games.

His background will become a footnote but it will also open doors.

It will do nothing on its own. But as part of a larger longer term plan. Why not use every tool in the box?

Russel Crowe got 15k to watch leeds v south's in florida for a friendly. Names open doors.

Most of those other players were from the AFL and their position was simply as kickers. That is why they were quickly forgotten. Hayne is the only one to have grabbed attention as a kick/punt returner, and as a running back, which is far more significant and eye catching in the NFL. The NFL has produced a slick little video introduction to Jarryd Hayne, interweaving his NRL highlights with hisa preseason NFL highlights. It is a great promotion for rugby league and if the NRL were to try to use it to promote rugby league then they may have some success. But what is also needed is a few USARL teams on the west coast (viz San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle and Los Angeles/San Diego).