From Silverwater to Sin City: Bulldogs hit the ground running at home of NFL giants
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.
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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.