The Las Vegas four are the envy of the NRL competition.
That's the opinion of Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart, whose side conquered New Zealand Warriors 30-8 at Allegiant Stadium in the NRL season opener on Saturday.
It was the second event in a five-year commitment from the NRL seeking to expand the game into the USA.
Penrith's gritty 28-22 victory over Cronulla followed, with a Jillaroos demolition job of England sandwiched in between and a Super League clash between Warrington and Wigan kicking off the massive quadruple header.
“I don't reckon there's a club in the NRL that hasn't got their hand up (to come to Vegas),” Stuart said.
“If you want to miss out on this, you're missing out on something very special. What these boys have experienced, you can't (replicate).
"It's exceeded my thoughts and expectations in terms of how it was going to be.
“We did every speaking and media engagement because I wanted them to – if you can't handle that pressure, you're not going to make it in the NRL, so you have to learn to handle it.
“The win has capped off a wonderful exercise.”
The event brought four of the world's richest sporting cultures together, with Maori culture, English parochialism, and Australian passion all combining in America's entertainment capital of the world.
New Zealand and England were involved for the first time and were clear factors in the obvious growth of the spectacle from the inaugural event last season.
Warrington coach and league icon Sam Burgess indicated he'd love the Super League to maintain its involvement in the event.
“I hope so,” Burgess said when asked about the prospect of Super League returning to Las Vegas.
“I think it's been a very successful year in terms of explosion especially for the English game.
“Barring the result, the players have had a great week and taken to everything with great energy and enthusiasm and the NRL have put on a great show.”
Reinforcing the positive English sentiment, captain George Williams added: “As players, you want to be involved in the biggest occasions, and I think playing today was brilliant.”
Jillaroos prop Kezie Apps spoke glowingly of the opportunity to grow their sport.
“It was amazing – something I've never experienced and something that will definitely be on my highlight list of games as well,” Apps said.
“It was a really amazing experience and we're so grateful they included our women's teams to be part of this experience.”
Two areas to address for the game with at least three years remaining in the Las Vegas project would be the local media coverage of the event, and how to best promote the women's game.
The buzz from locals who attended was palpable – NFL fans marvelled at the brutality of athletes free of protection gear, while the union accustomed enjoyed the rapid-paced alternative.
Several players and coaches also referenced the Freemont Street fanfest as a highlight of the week, as the competing clubs immersed themselves in the fanfare of the game.
But despite travelling media giving the event a high profile, there was a distinct lack of local media coverage all week, which caps the sports ability to reach new audiences.
The sport will also need to consider the best way to showcase the female sport.
With female combat sports far less developed than men's in America, it is a market that can particularly be targeted and a more intense game than the Jillaroos 90-4 shellacking over England would show a fuller breadth of their skillset and athleticism.
New Zealand's involvement in the NRL added another culture and symbolised that rugby league is the sport of the pacific, but the Warriors won't be involved next yea
A great way to maintain the Kiwis' involvement in the event would be to involve them as Australia's opponents given the countries' rich history of tight battles.
With the Super League keen to remain involved in the spectacle, the English presence will remain strong.
Another talking point that will be editorialised in the wash-up is whether a four-game festival, up from last year's two, is the right number.
It's a banquet of an introduction for new fans and while largely unforeseeable, the first three games being blowouts could have worn thin.
With two NRL games locked in and the Super League and women's rugby league followers loving the occasion, there is little option to reduce it, and spreading it over multiple days would detract from the atmosphere that built throughout the evening.
For the travelling NRL teams, the attention has quickly shifted to avoiding a Las Vegas hangover, which plagued some clubs last year.
“"There'll definitely be a comedown, for sure," Ivan Cleary said after Penrith's win.
"The Manchester trip (for World Club challenge) last year, we felt that. The time difference is a lot more, so that's more difficult.
“I think naturally there's going to be (a comedown). It's just our job over the next couple of weeks to try and navigate through that."
