For many aspiring rugby league players, one game in the NRL is an impossible feat. Only the best of the best get the opportunity to lace up the boots in first grade, and Laitia Moceidreke was one of them.
However, after struggling to make an NRL roster this past season, he has turned his attention to an even bigger stage: the NFL.
Moceidreke's debut in Round 23 of the 2021 NRL season was any footballer's dream. The then-21-year-old lined up on the wing for the North Queensland Cowboys, scoring a try on debut.
Although his side lost, it was a solid start that the young outside back could build on. Unfortunately, Moceidreke didn't receive another first-grade opportunity.
He eventually made the move to the Newcastle Knights, starting the 2024 season in NSW Cup.
He revealed to foxsports.com.au that he told his partner "I'll give [my rugby league career] one more crack," before moving on to other opportunities. The Wiley Park local was dropped later in the season, resulting in a move to local grade footy.
Moceidreke's rugby league career was looking bleak, admitting that he was โkind of feeling downโ at the time.
He was considering a career-switch, to become either a teacher's aid or a School Learning Support Officer. That was, until, the prospect of an NFL career popped up on his radar.
After getting the chance to take part in a one-day tryout at the NFL's new academy based at the Gold Coast's A.B. Paterson College, Moceidreke's dreams of being a professional athlete were kept alive.
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs junior has now been selected as one of three Australians in the NFL's 10-week IPP development camp in Florida this season.
Moceidreke is not the first Bankstown local to set his sights on an NFL career. Jordan Mailata, Philadelphia Eagles left tackle, grew up a few suburbs down from Moceidreke, who says Mailata โdefinitely opened the doors for guys like myselfโ.
The 24-year-old will leave for the NFL's 10-week IPP development camp in Florida later this month. This comes after having initially impressed scouts at the one-day tryout on the Gold Coast, which earned him a callback for two additional weeks of training and a mini Pro Day.
Although an NRL career was his dream, Moceidreke is now all in on making it into the NFL.
His next steps will involve him in a mix of field and classroom sessions at IMG Academy. These will help prepare the Moceidreke for a workout before this year's draft in front of NFL scouts.
37 international players have signed with NFL teams since the program's inception with 18 IPP athletes currently on NFL rosters, while five have made active rosters.
Jordan Mailata is one of those five, and Moceidreke has highlighted his journey as one he'd like to follow. He noted that Mailata was the first from the Bankstown district to crack into the NFL, stating โI want to be the next guy from our area to be making it.โ
Will Bryce, head of APAC, the Gold Coast academy that services the entire Asia-Pacific region, sang Moceidreke's praises as he looks to make the switch.
โHe can go up and get the ball, which I think is going to stand out," Bryce told foxsports.com.au. "Hopefully he can display that in front of NFL Scouts... the catch radius range that he has.
โAll those things are going to put him in a great position. And then he's aggressive tooโฆ like heavy hands, when he strikes a pad or he strikes a sled at practice, you feel it, you hear it, there's some real pop."
The former Cowboy admitted that he didn't know much about the NFL before his initial trial in Queensland, and there was a lot more to it than he expected.
โOnce I started to learn the game and then coming up here I was like, โHoly s***'โฆ like you think you know, and then Will (Bryce) and James (Cook) add more on it and then you think you know that and then they add more on it and it just keeps adding and adding and adding and it feels like it never stops.โ
While Moceidreke knows "it's not going to come soon," he is in it for the long haul. As he makes his way to Florida, he will look to become the next NRL player to make the switch to the American league.
