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NRFL Combine in United States Ready to Roll on April 5-6th

But more importantly, why on earth would USAR not take players from the NRFL? Surely to do with money, USAR attempting to set up their own league perhaps?

Because the NRFL is not under USAR's control. USAR has this slow growth, MLS-style vision of a development league in the US that is fueled by the agreement for such that they signed with the PRL. The PRL plans to use that league to develop players, as well. If there is a competing interest in their agreement, especially one fueled with more cash than they can throw around, then their agreement may not come to fruition. An anti-trust action such as banning players not in their competition from eligibility from certain NT squads might ensure they get the best players. But, this is America and two things are for certain in American sports business: 1) anti-trust actions will get you spanked in the bank account and 2) athletes go where the money is.

Also, Nigel Melville seems pretty switched on and like a very intelligent able president of USAR?

You must be talking about a different Nigel Melville than the one I am familiar with.
 
Leicester Tigers v NRFL Rough Riders venue to be announced fairly soon. Keep a watch on the websites.
 
Go Riders!

GreenLogo1730.jpg

No, wait...

Go Riders!

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Screw it, go Tigers!
 
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What's a summary of it, for those of us who won't be registering to read it?

It's a Rhino Rugby article that lauds the efforts of UWS (which Rhino does not disclose as the business partner that UWS is) and denounces the groundwork of RugbyLaw. It also asks a ton of questions without giving sufficient answers.

In other words, it is fluff media that does not reveal anything that is not already known and discussed ad nauseum.
 
The NRFL Combine to be held in the LA Coliseum on 12-15 January, 2015 is nearing capacity for athletes. Many more rugby players have signed up for this year than last year. This should be an interesting combine. sure wish I had the personal time to attend!
 
McGahee was a good football player a few years ago. Adam Schefter mentioning this in a tweet can only help the sports profile a little.
@Grant A Cole
Is there anything to be read into the NRFL twitter account following Ahman Green and Tim Tebow, each former NFL players too?
 
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McGahee was a good football player a few years ago. Adam Schefter mentioning this in a tweet can only help the sports profile a little.
@Grant A Cole
Is there anything to be read into the NRFL twitter account following Ahman Green and Tim Tebow, each former NFL players too?

Schefter's mention begat articles on BleacherReport and SI.com, two media entities that are much read amongst American sports fans. After the clarion call for rugby coverage in ESPN Magazine a few months back and the photo-spread that ESPN Mag did of USAvNZ, this is a good foot in the door. ESPN & SI wrote-off USA Rugby in the 90s when it failed to go professional with the rest of the world and they determined there was no money in the recreational club format (they were right).

Ahman Green is making waves in the USA club rugby world as he is one of the owners of the Green Bay Strikers (http://greenbayballstrikers.com/). Green brings a professionalism to the Strikers that may change the club game in years to come. The Strikers are built in a similar model to Griffins rugby in Allen, TX. I may not speak to any contact between the NRFL and those clubs, though (NDA).

Tebow? Probably not anything to read there. Tebow thought Melville twitter plea to him was a bit insulting. While Tebow would have probably been a great rugger if he tried (solid #12 IMO), his personality is not well-suited for our game.

January's combine should feature multiple former USAR All-American ruggers and more than a few capped ruggers, as well as the former professional and NCAA types.

The April Combine's top 30 was stiff competition. All of top 30 posted better than average S&C scores:
<4.96 seconds - 40 yard sprint
<12.62 seconds - 60 yard shuttle
>16 repetitions of 225lbs on bench press
>29.4" vertical leap
35 repetitions of the "7 second drill" (modified yo-yo. athlete runs 40 yards in 7 seconds or less, then 5 seconds rest. That is one rep. If an athlete takes longer than 7 seconds to run 40, no rep and last run is number of reps counted. 35 reps is the max reps for 7 minutes of start-stop activity)
 
Man, I'd love to see Tebow in rugby.
Really liked watching him play (as limited as he was). Shame he never made it in the NFL.
 
Man, I'd love to see Tebow in rugby.
Really liked watching him play (as limited as he was). Shame he never made it in the NFL.

Tebow would be in the NFL if he wasn't full of himself. He proved he wasn't an NFL level QB but could have stuck on with a team as a Fullback or Tight End but he wouldn't change positions as he views himself an NFL QB. Now he has a good gig doing whatever it is he does and not risking brain damage at the same time so it ain't all bad. He could make a good rugby player, probably better suited as a Loose Forward IMO. But if he's unwilling to change positions in the sport he knows to stay in the biggest sporting league in the world, I can't see him joining a niche sport with limited exposure.

I think it's too late for him and other life long football players to develop the skills to really be elite. That's not to say they can't be good and help improve the quality of American Rugby. I'm sure some diamonds will appear out of the lumps of coal. The biggest thing to me is if "big" names show interest in the sport it could help introduce rugby to more people, legitimize it in the public eye and help get youth interested in it at a younger age which is what countries like America and Canada really need. Kids growing up playing the sport and developing proper skills for most of their lives is how you improve as a nation, not relying on 20 something converts. Sadly a lot of our countries youth still don't know what rugby is until high school or college and most people don't know a thing about it at all.
 
I think it's too late for him and other life long football players to develop the skills to really be elite.

I'm still gonna bet, based on my experience helping athletes make this transition, that this statement is wrong and will always be wrong. Dean Robinson thinks it is wrong. Andy Robinson thought it was a stupid sentiment (Dan Lyle being his proof).

I'm working every day to prove this sentiment wrong. I am always amazed at how fast the non-ruggers pick up the more technical aspects of running in traffic, hitting the gap, footwork at the contact point, and the A,B,&C tackle much faster than long time ruggers who never learned these concerns early on. These former college standouts are stronger, faster, bigger, and know how to move their bodies better than many others attempting the sport. the league won't be made up entirely of these guys, but where they slot in at, they will be tough to deal with.
 
I'm still gonna bet, based on my experience helping athletes make this transition, that this statement is wrong and will always be wrong. Dean Robinson thinks it is wrong. Andy Robinson thought it was a stupid sentiment (Dan Lyle being his proof).

I'm working every day to prove this sentiment wrong. I am always amazed at how fast the non-ruggers pick up the more technical aspects of running in traffic, hitting the gap, footwork at the contact point, and the A,B,&C tackle much faster than long time ruggers who never learned these concerns early on. These former college standouts are stronger, faster, bigger, and know how to move their bodies better than many others attempting the sport. the league won't be made up entirely of these guys, but where they slot in at, they will be tough to deal with.

Jeff Hassler was a standout Canadian College Football player. He played a bit of rugger in high school but only really picked it up seriously after he got injured and saw his football aspirations take a hit.

He is now one of the top wingers in the Pro12 and his direct running and hard lines are all a product of his days as a running back.
 
From an NRFL announcement today: "In addition to running backs Willis McGahee and Ahman Green, here are more former NFL players that will be working out at the 2015 NRFL Combine four weeks from today: wide receiver Thomas Mayo, safety Leonard Peters, offensive tackle Tala Esera, linebacker Jyles Tucker, defensive tackle Ollie Ogbu, wide receiver Jheranie Boyd, cornerback Mike Edwards, tight end Tarren Lloyd, defensive end Spencer Nealy, tight end Dedrick Epps, cornerback Greg Brown, linebacker Aaron Brown, kicker Trey Barrow, linebacker Jonathon Sharpe, running back Alexander Robinson, defensive end Isaac Remington, running back Angelo Pease, wide receiver Michael Ray Garvin, and defensive end Jacob Lattimer."
 
From an NRFL announcement today: "
In addition to running backs Willis McGahee and Ahman Green, here are more former NFL players that will be working out at the 2015 NRFL Combine four weeks from today: wide receiver Thomas Mayo, safety Leonard Peters, offensive tackle Tala Esera, linebacker Jyles Tucker, defensive tackle Ollie Ogbu, wide receiver Jheranie Boyd, cornerback Mike Edwards, tight end Tarren Lloyd, defensive end Spencer Nealy, tight end Dedrick Epps, cornerback Greg Brown, linebacker Aaron Brown, kicker Trey Barrow, linebacker Jonathon Sharpe, running back Alexander Robinson, defensive end Isaac Remington, running back Angelo Pease, wide receiver Michael Ray Garvin, and defensive end Jacob Lattimer."

From that list McGahee was a 1st round draft pick in 2003, All American in College and a Pro Bowler which is a pretty impressive standard of athlete. I think the skills of a running back are ones that could be transferable, but the guy is 33 now. We'll see how it turns out, but he's the highest calibre athlete on that list for sure. Most of the other guys are undrafted guys who were signed to training squads for a while, and a few guys like Green who was a 3rd round pick. On that list also, Leonard Peters has a lot of rugby experience and could be useful. Interesting to see a kicker/punter on the list, as it's not a position that (besides the obvious kicking for goal and from hand) has much going for it in rugby, in terms of passing, tackling, running etc. Unless the guy has rugby experience.
Just as an example to show the level of athleticism some of these guys posess, this is the footage of Michael Ray Garvin who played with the Cardinals and Lions for a small while.

I don't know that raw athleticism is enough to make it in rugby. It will take a certain natural understanding and instinct for guys of this age to make it in rugby, but I'm really interested to see if many of these guys can make it, and I hope they do. It would be an interesting precedent for sure.
 
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Jeff Hassler was a standout Canadian College Football player. He played a bit of rugger in high school but only really picked it up seriously after he got injured and saw his football aspirations take a hit.

He is now one of the top wingers in the Pro12 and his direct running and hard lines are all a product of his days as a running back.

Jeff Hassler is hardly one of the top wings in the pro12, i've never even heard of him before you mentioned him. As far as taking cross-over athletes and making them into elite rugby players i can't see it working very well. i can see you turning them into lower level pro rugby players but not even close to the standard of a tier1 international player. Though imo this will be a non issue as most americans watching won't understand the players short comings when the league is in it's infancy and aswell most of the rest of the players will be in the same situation, so it might actually make for a very entertaining and exciting league. i for one am actually really excited, though to have your fist game against leicester tigers is insane, they make fools out of well established pro teams, unless they bring only a development squad it will be a blood bath that may not be good for the league.
 
Jeff Hassler is hardly one of the top wings in the pro12, i've never even heard of him before you mentioned him.

Well you'd be wrong there bud. Hassler made the 2013-14 Pro 12 dream team in his first season and was a big part of Ospreys starting roster before he got hurt playing for Canada. Hell he had 5 tries in 9 games(4 in 7 Pro 12 games) before his knee injury this year, helping Ospreys to 8 wins. If you don't know Hassler then you obviously don't follow the Pro 12 despite your apparent repping of Ireland. Either that or you don't pay much attention to the teams outside your island.
 
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