’Masterful’ Cleary leads Panthers in cliffhanger as Vegas treated to NRL epic

“I’ve heard of the rugby league and I’ve seen a few things online but to see it in person it’s a totally different experience.

“It looks very intense, I could never do it. We just watched the women play and they are very strong.

“It feels like you don’t want to look away for a second, there’s always something going on.”

When asked about the no helmet and no pads, Samantha said: “That freaks me out, I’m not going to lie. To watch them go down like that with nothing on them is next level, I don’t know how they’re doing it.”

Ryan and Jason are two friends from Minnesota who were on a weekend trip to Vegas and decided to buy tickets 15 minutes before the first game.

“We go to Vegas a lot. We ran into Sharks fans on The Strip last night and they were friendly. We decided why not?!” Ryan told foxsports.com.au.

“We love it. We thought we were going to stay 30 minutes, but we’ve been here six hours now and counting.

“It’s been awesome. The game is fun and fast. The women were amazing.

“It’s impressive (having no helmets and pads). People love the NFL in America, this is the speed and athleticism of NFL without pads. Unbelievable.”

There were some familiar faces at the quadruple-header too including Aussie WWE star Grayson Waller and Eddie McGuire’s son Joe, who recently won the College Football National Championships with Ohio State.

Waller is a diehard Roosters fan and was rocking his team’s colours. He’s been living in the US since 2021 so has been missing his beloved NRL.

“It’s really exciting to watch some proper football again. The NFL is great, it’s a great spectacle but there’s too many pads and it’s too slow so I’m happy to be watching my home football,” Waller told foxsports.com.au.

“We have WrestleMania this year in Allegiant Stadium so it’s cool to be here a month early and see what it’s going to be like.”

McGuire is from an AFL-rich bloodline but has always kept an eye on the NRL and as a college football punter it was the in-play kicks that really caught his attention.

“As I was growing up the Storm were doing really well, winning premierships every other year. I lived in Sydney when I was younger too so it’s hard not to watch rugby league in Sydney,” he told foxsports.com.au.

“This is one of the biggest and most-known arenas in America so seeing an Australian sport here is unreal. And it’s been great to see how the Americans have really embraced it.

“The physicality is very similar (to the NFL). They beat the life out of each other in NRL and NFL – but the NRL doesn’t have pads so you really hear that bone-on-bone contact a lot.

“I love watching the punting so the kicking in the middle of the game – that’s sort of what I do. Some of these guys send it up into space, it’s unbelievable.”

McGuire brought his teammate, John – a long snapper for Ohio State – to the games. He thought rugby league was “cool” and declared it “much better than soccer.” But did scratch his head over some of the rules – particularly play the balls.

“The rules are confusing… the little kick thing they do when they get tackled looks fun. Planting the ball down on the end line, that’s weird. There’s a lot of running and the 10-yard separation is interesting,” he said.

“They get after it though – I like it.”

Chris from Arizona fell in love with the game while striking up a friendship with some Warriors fans in the crowd.

“This is my first ever rugby game – it’s amazing. I like the authenticity of it, I like the camaraderie among the guys… I just wish New Zealand would kick some a** a bit more,” he said.

“I love the no pads. It’s real man-to-man combat. I really like the combative spirit of it all.

“I wish they picked up the ball a little faster but I like the speed of it all. The six downs, tackles or whatever you call it, I like that it’s very much ‘we’re going to get there right now. Go, go go’.”

When asked if he’d come again next year, Chris said: “Yes ma’am, 110%. I’m all in.”

California locals Jordan and Shawn came to the game with their two Australian friends, who are Panthers fans. And it seems the two Aussies have done well educating them.

“I have heard of rugby league because San Diego has a rugby team – but not a rugby league team which is very different,” Jordan said.

“I love the Australian women – they dominated. I was happy that England got a score at the end.

“I know the Panthers have won four times in a row. I also know we don’t have Fisher-Harris and we don’t have Luai – they were transferred away. But I still think we can win five in a row.”

Shawn was impressed with how dominant the Australian women were, saying: “We just watched the Jillaroos kick some serious a**.”

He also commented on rugby league’s scoring system.

“I like how the tries are more meaningful than extra points in American football,” he said.

“If you score a bunch that’s great but if you don’t make your tries the game stays a lot closer. I think it’s really fascinating.”

And as for the physicality of rugby league?

“As a dad of two boys I like the fact that the physicality is constrained to less vicious tackling but still physical – but not dangerously physical. It’s not nearly as vicious (as NFL) but it’s more gladiator,” he said.