Eddie Jones has lifted the lid on a bold new ambition that stretches well beyond his rugby union roots to coach a Japan's first-ever NRL franchise, as the veteran mentor sets his sights on leaving a mark on both codes.
Speaking with CODE Sports in the lead-up to Japan's Test match against the Wallabies in Osaka, the Brave Blossoms head coach touched on a range of topics and points in his career.
The 66-year-old remains as driven as ever, and remarkably, his crowning achievement might end up coming from the code he didn't build his career on.
"I'd love to start a Japan rugby league team, that'd be my dream," Jones said.
He didn't stop there, painting a picture of what a Japanese NRL side could look like.
"It'd be tough, but I reckon you could get enough good players here and maybe get some good foreign players that you could come up with a team that could be competitive.
"And imagine adding Japan to the rugby league landscape.
"I think it's still the third or fourth biggest economy in the world.
"How much fun would that be? It would be insane. It would be incredible."
Japan has a population of 124 million people, currently sitting as the world's fourth-best econcomy, trailing only the United States, China and Germany.
Currently, there are 22 Asian heritage players in the NRL – representing Japan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Timor, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Philippines - and three NRLW players with Asian heritage.
Former NRL player Craig Wing represented Japan in Rugby Union.
For NRL boss Peter V'landys, who has made no secret of his push to grow the game internationally, Jones' comments land as a timely and welcome spark.
"You've always got to have objectives, and visions, and dreams – and that would be a dream, absolutely," V'landys said.
"You'd have a whole country that supports one team.
"We'd certainly want to meet with Eddie to see how it can be done.
"I love left field ideas, we'd definitely look at it.
"Japan was one of the countries we were looking at for our global round, even in 2027 or 2028, Japan was high on our list; Hong Kong, Japan, England, and Abu Dhabi.
"So this could be a test. I'd love to speak to Eddie about bringing rugby league there."
A two-time Wallabies coach and Japan coach, Jones remains a diehard Randwick rugby man at heart, but he's not blind to far how rugby league has come in the Australian sporting hierarchy.
"I always think there's room for both sports," Jones said.
"Rugby's never going to die in Australia. Rugby league's gone like this (pointing up) and rugby's gone here (pointing down). But the chances are in the next 10 years, there's going to be a redressing of the balance, I reckon.
"The natural cycle of life doesn't let you do that. And rugby's got the World Cup coming up, so it's going to go here (pointing up).
"And then if it's a really good World Cup, Wallabies do well, rugby will start to grow again.
"And rugby league, I don't think it's going to stop growing, but I think there'll be a redress in the balance."
