{"id":442707,"date":"2025-03-06T18:44:13","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T19:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=442707"},"modified":"2025-03-06T23:13:25","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T23:13:25","slug":"gould-american-athletes-wouldnt-handle-nrl-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=442707","title":{"rendered":"Gould: American athletes 'wouldn't handle' NRL training"},"content":{"rendered":"

P\ufeffhil Gould<\/a> has poured cold water over the NRL's plan to bring American athletes into the competition, claiming it would be "too difficult" to make the transition.<\/p>\n

The long-time rugby league figure, who is currently in charge of the Bulldogs, was on deck for the NRL combine as part of the game's \ufeffweekend in Las Vegas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A host of athletes were involved in the testing and exhibition program, with four players – two men and two women – announced as the "winners".<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Hunt's dream return as 'razzle dazzle' stuns Roosters<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Broncos' mad dash home revealed amid Cyclone Alfred<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Radley floored after 'unfortunate' friendly fire collision<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The male winners, Adam Channel and Marcus D'Acre, have rugby union backgrounds in what would potentially make their switch to the 13-man code a little easier.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

However, according to Gould, there might not be as much upside in attracting those who miss out on NFL contracts to make the move to rugby league.<\/p>\n

"There was a lot of physical testing, I went and sat and watched it," he said on Wide World of Sports' Six Tackles With Gus<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

"I don't know where a lot of the players were from. It was a good exercise and there were a lot of guys who were really trying, but the testing for our game is a hell of a lot different … so you probably wouldn't be signing them on testing results.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"Many years ago at the Roosters, we brought out a couple of college athletes who had just missed the draft. They were outstanding athletes – but the nuances of our game were just too difficult. If you could have got them at 15 years of age, different story.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/six-tackles-with-gus-1\/vegas-dylan-brown-cyclone-alfred\/embed<\/a><\/p>\n

"The games are just too different \u2026 even the bloke I spoke to who was a pro [in Vegas] and has a professional career, wouldn't handle a training session that our blokes do.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"They might be able to play park rugby league – but in the NRL, it's too big of an ask."<\/p>\n

Watch the 2025 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\ufeffIt had been speculated that Gould was over in the United States looking for talent, but his comments indicate Canterbury won't be bringing anyone in from the combine.<\/p>\n

Gould did also heap praise on Jarryd Hayne<\/a>, who made a brief but successful move to the NFL at the peak of his powers, making the 53-man roster for San Francisco.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"That's what makes it more incredible what Jarryd Hayne did, to go over there and play an NFL game," he said.<\/p>\n

"I think there's more opportunities for our guys to play their game."<\/p>\n

More recently, Jordan Mailata<\/a> – who played junior rugby league for the Rabbitohs – became the first Aussie to play in a winning Super Bowl team, lifting the trophy with the Eagles. \ufeff<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old has established himself as one of the league's best offensive linemen and is raking in more money than multiple NRL clubs' salary caps combined. \ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

P\ufeffhil Gould has poured cold water over the NRL's plan to bring American athletes into the competition, claiming it would be "too difficult" to make […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":442709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442707"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=442707"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":442712,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442707\/revisions\/442712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/442709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=442707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=442707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=442707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}