North Queensland Cowboys star Jeremiah Nanai is backing the NRL's Las Vegas endeavour to be a success amongst the American local fans.
When speaking exclusively to Zero Tackle, Nanai expressed how he thinks the native sporting die-hards in Las Vegas will get behind the 13-man code when his side plays there on March 1.
"I reckon they'll get a lot out of it. You know, it's not like the NFL; they have to wear pads and stuff like that. But yeah, it's full-on collision without pads, and I think they will be pretty excited", Nanai told Zero Tackle.
"And what happened a few years ago with the other boys that were there, you know, the big collisions and stuff like that.
"So I think they'll be very excited to see that, it'll just be a new game to them to watch, and I hope we'll get a lot more fans watching NRL."
Nanai suffered a brutal shoulder injury playing for Samoa in the Pacific Championships, requiring a shoulder reconstruction in the off-season.
He revealed all is going well with his recovery, and he is expected to miss a month or two to start the year, but is itching to get back out onto the paddock and playing soon.
"Yeah, it's coming good. Shoulder's been very well at the moment. Still a couple of months left to get through rehab, but yeah, body is feeling good.
"I've had a long break now. So keen to get back into it, so I'm pretty excited to get out there with the boys and rip in."
Nanai will miss the team's Las Vegas season opener, but is extremely excited for his teammates to experience the unique opportunity, with some of the players having never left the country before.
"They're pretty stoked to be going at the moment," he told Zero Tackle.
"There are a few boys that haven't been out of Australia, you know, it's pretty exciting to see those boys go experience that.
"I can't wait for the boys to get out there and rip in. They've had a good preseason, worked very hard, but it's time to put in the work now into Round 1 in Las Vegas."
His injury comes as a significant blow for the NRL, being one of the most talented Polynesian players in the competition, missing out on an important milestone game for the code's plans for expansion.
When speaking to Nanai, he cheekily made his last-minute plea to the club to get him on a flight to Sin City.
"I wish I was (heading over), like, come on man, surely there's a spare flight, (I'll) do a bit of promo, anything," he jokingly added.
"I just have to stay back, get my rehab done and yeah, make sure everything's going well."
When asked what the Cowboys need to do to reach the next level in their premiership credentials, Nanai revealed it was consistency during the season and always competing on the one-percenters that will give them the best chance to contend in September.
"I think we put in the hard work now, and to get to that next level, we've got to be consistent throughout the year, got to get everything right, make sure we're doing our preparation right, recovery, everything."
"We've got a long way throughout the season and make sure we're playing some consistent footy out there.
"Our men are just competing to win. If we can do that, I think we can go a long way."
With an injury cloud surrounding Nanai, the Cowboys will have to immediately look into their depth to cover his absence until he is fit to return.
Although there is great news for the club, Heilum Luki is expected to be a part of coach Todd Payten's 19-man side to cover for Nanai, after a successful return from an ACL injury in last week's trial match against the Bulldogs.
