It’s a long way from the Bulldogs’ base at Belmore; even further from the open field at Silverwater where the club used to train 15 years ago.
The $US75 million ($105 million) headquarters of the Las Vegas Raiders features a fully enclosed, full-size practice field and even a miniature model of Allegiant Stadium, where the NFL team plays their home matches.
Bulldogs forward Viliame Kikau trains at the Las Vegas Raiders’ complex.Credit: Canterbury Bulldogs
It was there was Canterbury began their preparations for the round-one encounter with St George Illawarra this weekend, with the Dogs put through their paces on the artificial turf where Raiders stars such as Maxx Crosby and Davante Adams tune up for game day.
The NRL teams who have played in Las Vegas over the past two years have visited the eye-catching three-story complex, but the Bulldogs are the first to train there.
The opportunity only arose because the more modest setting where the four NRL clubs will hold training this week was unavailable for the day.
The club managed to keep the visit a secret from its players until the bus turned up at Raiders HQ, a 25-minute drive south of Las Vegas at Henderson, on Sunday (Monday morning, AEDT).
The Bulldogs at the Las Vegas Raiders training HQCredit: Canterbury Bulldogs
“That was a crazy, once-in-a-lifetime experience for us,” said Bulldogs recruit Sean O’Sullivan. “[We’re] very grateful that the club put that on for us. It was a nice surprise. We had genuinely no idea … just being here, the magnitude of it, this facility, words can’t even describe it.”
Cameron Ciraldo’s team is ahead of the pace in Las Vegas, arriving two days before the Dragons and a day ahead of the other two sides in the US – Newcastle and North Queensland.
The other three will hit the training field from Monday but aren’t expected to use the Raiders facility.
“I think the club was unreal in the fact that they got us over a little earlier, just for us to experience Vegas,” O’Sullivan said.
“It’s a lot of boys’ first time travelling overseas, let alone in Vegas. As a group, just to go out and experience new things … the club has been first class in what they’ve done for us.”
Also on hand for Canterbury’s session were Bulldogs general manager of football Phil Gould and chairman Adam Driussi, the co-founder of data science and artificial intelligence company Quantium.
The NRL has prioritised building ties with the NFL franchise since first embarking on the Las Vegas venture and strengthened relations last year when the Raiders signed Brisbane 21-year-old Laki Tasi as a free agent and conducted a youth development clinic in the Queensland capital.
Tasi, who weighs in at 169kg and standing at 198cm, played junior rugby league and in Brisbane’s GPS rugby union school competition before joining the NFL’s international player pathway program as an offensive lineman.
The NFL team opened their training hub including an indoor field in 2020.Credit: AP
His older brothers have both played in the NRL. Lama Tasi was a forward for the Sydney Roosters and Brisbane Broncos, while Tautalatasi Tasi made two appearances for South Sydney in 2016 before moving to Super Rugby with the Melbourne Rebels and NSW Waratahs and playing abroad, most recently in the US.
In a further link to rugby league and to the Bulldogs, the Tasis’ cousin is former Canterbury captain Raymond Faitala-Mariner.
While they were in Brisbane last year, Raiders officials were treated to seats at the first game of the State of Origin series at Suncorp Stadium. “It was incredible,” said the team’s director of football development, Myles Hayes.
Raiders president Sandra Douglass Morgan will also speak at an NRL-organised business of sport conference here on Friday.
John Vellis, the NRL’s general manager of US expansion, said rugby league had been welcomed with open arms by the NFL team.
“For us to come to Vegas, you really need to have friends like the Raiders,” he said.
Most Viewed in Sport
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
