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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Sport
Nick Tedeschi

‘Fast, brutal, brilliant’: NRL’s Las Vegas gamble comes up trumps

NRL Las Vegas Vegas Reece Walsh Rugby Latrell Mitchell Rugby League Jason Saab Joey Manu Peter Vlandys
Broncos star Reece Walsh scores a spectacular try during the match against the Sydney Roosters as NRL invades the USA at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Broncos star Reece Walsh scores a spectacular try during the match against the Sydney Roosters as NRL invades the USA at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Photograph: David Becker/AP

Rugby League has a long and sordid history of promising the world and delivering an atlas, the big dreams only matched by the bigger failures to execute. Not any longer. Over 40,000 fans attended the first premiership matches in the United States in what was a dazzling result for the NRL.

The dream of Peter V’Landys to take rugby league to America launched a new reality for the NRL with two outstanding games living up to the unprecedented hype that surrounded the event. The steak matched the sizzle.

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