With the widely-publicised defection of Jarryd Hayne from the NRL to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL, players and fans alike have been asking themselves if this is the beginning of a new trend.
If Hayne successfully makes the transition to the NFL, one has to consider the possibility that there will be other talented Australian rugby league players who will attempt to make the switch to the American game, with its visibility and popularity steadily rising in Australia.
Unquestionably, with the identification of Hayne as a viable prospect, the NRL competition has now been earmarked by several NFL teams as a potential talent pool. In particular, it has been suggested that the Australian game lends itself to developing players with a skill-set that is most akin to that of a running back or, alternatively, a specialist kick returner.
Indeed, these are the very roles that Hayne is vying for on the practice squad of the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL off-season.
The running back and kick returner roles require players with exceptional acceleration, agility and strength among other things. Above all, however, is the ability to change direction quickly and smoothly. From this perspective, as both an NFL and NRL watcher, there are a number of current players in the NRL who currently fit the aforementioned criteria.
However, for the purposes of this article, the following NRL players have been selected as the three top candidates based on recent form.
1. Anthony Milford
The current Brisbane Broncos player has been selected for a number of reasons. Firstly, he is only 20 years of age and has plenty of time to make the transition to the American game. In addition, he exhibits excellent agility and can change direction on a dollar without losing much speed.
His highlight reel contains numerous examples of instances where he has broken the line using footwork which resembles that of a running back. Indeed, he was among the top contenders for most linebreaks in 2014 and that can be expected to continue into 2015.
2. Semi Radradra
If Hayne was the most dangerous attacking weapon that the Parramatta Eels possessed last year, Semi was a close second. As at the time of writing, Radradra is the leading try scorer in the NRL with three tries and having played only one game.
Interestingly, he is also the leading point scorer in the NRL Fantasy League at the time of writing, which is likely to change but speaks to his value as a well-rounded player. He has tremendous straight-line speed and is almost unstoppable against a single defender.
3. Dane Gagai
Dane is something of a wildcard and his selection is based on his Round 1 performance as much as it is based on his potential as a player. At 24 years of age and 91 kilograms, he is an athletic freak and has breakaway speed as well as good footwork and the strength to break tackles.
Once again, if he were to make the switch now and commit to learning the game, from an athletic point of view he would have something to offer a team at relatively little risk.
Depending on your point of view, the list of possibilities is endless. Running backs and kick returners come in all shapes and sizes with a variety of skill sets and so do the players in the NRL.
With the NFL now alert to the tremendous athletic talent that exists among the players in the NRL, the doors are open for more players to make the switch and perhaps some of the younger players will choose to make the switch before they have even made a name for themselves as a top-flight rugby league player.
Only time will tell whether the Jarryd Hayne migration is the beginning of a new era whereby the best NRL talent has the option to leave early to pursue higher pay and more publicity in one of the greatest shows on earth.
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All the team list information for Round 9.
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