You can almost smell the coconut oil and envisage the daggy dancing as rugby league’s elite set their sights on the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Finally, decades after a boozy end of season trip by the Dragons laid the foundations for the code in the South American powerhouse, the big men will be back to add some real star power to the games.
Just imagine the impact it’s going to have. The local kids having a kick-about with Benny Barba in the side alley.
Cameron Smith getting the full deforestation down at the local beauty parlour. Dave Taylor posing for photos in his Titans budgie smugglers with the ladies down at Copacabana.
Wonderful stuff. Except…I’ve heard a few whispers. Whispers that despite the Brazilian fans rolling out the red carpet for our boys that they might not actually, technically, be invited.
How can this be?
Sure the program reads ‘Rugby 7s’, but that’s just like rugby league 7s, yeah? Which…have more recently become rugby league 9s.
Which in many ways is pretty much the same thing as 10 a side rugby union. Which when you think about it, is only one man off a game of socc…football.
See, now we’re just splitting hairs.
I’m not suggesting for one moment that players from the NRL should just waltz in to a lime green jersey. No sir, although one must admit the Sharks Isaac De Gois makes a compelling case as a player who knows more Portuguese than just the Nandos burger menu.
You have to earn such things, and any rugby league players looking for a challenge should face the same strict Olympic scale testing all hopefuls will now undergo.
Can you go for twenty minutes without tweeting or posting a photo of your lunch on Facebook?
Will you be prepared to spend a week of your time watching the swimming?
And are you prepared to put yourself on standby for the Greco-Roman wrestling?
In addition to this exists the hurdle of NRL players winning over the support of their club coach, and getting a leave pass to travel to the other side of the world to play multiple matches in a day in between courting the Cuban Women’s volleyball team.
Such things are a mere formality though when there’s gold to be had, and I’m sure the Craig Bellamys and Ricky Stuarts of this world will be happy to give a big smile and wave from the tarmac as their best players are whisked away a month before the finals.
Yes, the ‘rugby league ring in’ plan is completely foolproof.
Or, it was until some big mouth journos went and blabbed about it in the papers this week.
Now a number of other countries have gone and pinched our idea like they did our swimming coaches, with special interest players being courted left right and centre for the games.
Apparently the US have already confirmed NFL megastar Calvin Johnson as a starter, and the South African’s have opened talks with Blade Runner Oscar Pistorius as a smokie for a wing spot.
Don’t even start me on the Russians.
It’s a sporting intelligence disaster, and it looks like we might have to after all rely on a bunch of blokes who actually make a living playing on the IRB Rugby 7s circuit to burgle us a medal.
It’s not ideal I know, but hey, crazy things can happen in Rio.
Just ask the members of that touring St George side.
Follow Chris on Twitter: @Vic_Arious
Steve Mascord
Guest
My job is to WRITE them. It's up to others if they want to publish 'em!
League fan
Guest
Kovana whether an australian team stacked with NRL stars would win gold is debateable and we will probably never know. One thing we do know though that Australian rugby is a basketcase. That was highlighted in the Bledisloe cup were the Wallabies were clueless. How they are ranked no.2 in the world is beyond me. Now our 7s teams is even worse. We pretty much are there just to make up the numbers. Now I am sure you would agree if the NRL players especially the stars were able to play in the 7s team in the olympics you would have to be extremely foolish not to pick them. The skills those NRL players have are skills the Wallabies and Australians 7s team could only ever dream of..
kovana
Guest
So wigan winning an English 7s tournament 16 years ago... somehow means that league players can easily beat the World at 7s in 2012?
jus de couchon
Guest
I would love to see an Aus League team playings 7s in the next 7s RWC in Russia. They might win it . It would be very Interesting .
nzmate
Guest
"dominant player from 2002 to 2006"? Here is the list of the title winners - 2001-02 (New Zealand), 2002-03 (New Zealand), 2003-04 (New Zealand), 2004-05 (New Zealand), 2005-06 (Fiji). Henry Paul also did not feature as an irb player of the year during this time. He might have gone well, but i guess it just goes to show star players don't necessarily equate to team dominance.
Dane Eldridge
Expert
A Cam Smith deforestation would greatly improve his aerodynamics and chop a large chunk off his sprint times. CC: You're a genius! This will be the start of his transformation to the world's first niche winger. Creative, tough as teak and a blazing finisher, which will allow Tim Sheens to open up the hooker spot for the Kangaroos for Robbie Farah by playing Brazilian Cam out on the wing.
Daniel
Guest
One or two Bradford Bulls (RL) players were part of the Tongan RU Sevens team at the Commonwealth Games a few years ago. Different event, with (possibly) different qualification rules, but it is a precedent of sorts.
Leo
Guest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kINJn0Z5Kyk
Leo
Guest
a rugby union guy won the 100 meter race two years ago but adrien needs to watch some sevens rugby and see how skillful the pacific islanders players and some of the sevens guys as well. will love to see barba and co playing but australia won't be the favorites.
Leo
Guest
i think they are adding the sheeps in the auckland area as well. i was told there are just 9000 players in auckland alone.
p.Tah
Guest
Perhaps the ARU should run trial games for interested players irrespective of their background. They are currently doing it in the women's game. A lot of girls are coming over from touch footy. http://www.rugby.com.au/sevens/WomensSevensTrials.aspx
p.Tah
Guest
Wigan were professional athletes, the Union players were fresh from being amateurs with day jobs in the 1990s. I think the story may be different at the elite level today. However at schoolboy level Kebra Park (RL school) have won the last two Australian RU 7s schoolboy comps.
Adrien
Guest
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=wigan+7s&oq=wigan+7s&gs_l=youtube.3...7645.12043.0.12313.8.8.0.0.0.0.376.1356.3j1j2j1.7.0...0.0...1ac.WjCyh0oz5xE
Adrien
Guest
Remember, Wigan won an england 7s tournament EASILY in the late 90s... here's the video : (choose the game you want to watch)
the realist
Guest
Rugby league fans need to get a bit realistic. I would love to watch the top league players against the top union players as much as anyone, but please don't assume they would walk it in. There are some amazing athletes in rugby too, and the fitness levels required of 7s players are far higher than either rugby code.
jmacredie
Roar Rookie
The only way to find out is if they want to go to the Olympics, switch codes a year or two before hand and hope they get selected. Otherwise this is a completely hypothetical argument that can never be proven either way. Although in my own personal opinion they are good league players, it doesn't mean that they could ever be better in 7's than the freakish and skillfull Rugby players going around. Super rugby is just as intense as NRL. Test Rugby is more intense, no doubt about that.
jmacredie
Roar Rookie
I think they would get smoked by nz 7's team, they'd also get smoked by SA, Eng, Samoa, Fiji, an Australian team made up of the sport it comes from. Other countries will also give that team a run for their money come 2016 as there is now huge amounts of money going into getting their teams up to speed. I don't actually think any team has got a garenteed Gold silver or bronze. Can't wait for 7's in Rio it is going to be HUGE!!!!!
JimC
Guest
The league players would succeed. Remember Henry Paul. He was a dominant player in IRB 7s from 2002 to 2006 alongside Ben Gollings. HP hardly had any rugby union experience and was rather like a slow Benji, but that didn't matter when he repeatedly carved it up in HK. In his first appearance in HK he took England to their first HK victory beating a Serevi-led Fiji in the final. To me Barba, Inglis, Slater would all be worth picking.
Titus
Guest
Yep, this is the same thing with players of the Lithgow Shamrocks, they have no desire to play in the NRL because they have everything they need right there in Lithgow..........gods own country!
Steve
Guest
Haha, freak athletes. Usain Bolt, Michael Jordan, David Rudisha, Michael Phelps, Don Bradman, Roger Federer, they are freak athletes. Nobody has disputed the quality of nrl players or suggested they wouldn't be 7's stars. People have just said that them being a part of the Australian 7's team would not make Australia automatic gold medallists. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.