Several league stars are seriously contemplating a shift to union in a bid to become world-renowned players, according to ex-Wallabies international Stephen Hoiles.
His comments respond to a segment on Nine’s The Sunday Footy Show in which NRL legend Andrew Johns questioned why players would want to play the rival code.
There was a time when the Immortal was eyeing up a shock switch to play for the Wallabies, a move he is still perplexed he considered.
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“I was tempted for a while,” he said.
“I didn’t know what I was thinking. It’s just another stage in my life – ‘where’s your head at?’ – no way.”
Johns later joked, “Why would you want to play in Cape Town or Paris when you can play in Penrith,” seemingly mocking Rugby Australia boss Hamish McLennan.
While NRL might offer more money domestically, the opportunity to be well paid and be a globally known commodity is an attractive proposition, according to Hoiles.
“It’s only the select few that can put themselves in the position to be global superstars,” Hoiles told Stan Sport’s Between Two Posts.
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“He (Johns) was one of them. That’s who rugby are going after… and part of the attraction for Joseph Suaalii isn’t just the money, and it isn’t just about going and playing in these countries because the Rugby League World Cup is in the UK, they do some travelling – it’s being a huge name on the world stage.
“In Argentina, Joseph Suaalii will be known. In Japan, he’ll be known. In Africa, he’ll be known. That’s the difference. To the elite of the elite, there is that part of them that thinks ‘I can be a world-class hall of fame player’. You can’t argue that against league.
“League, they can go and be the best player in the world and the Australians know them, the Kiwis know them, the islands might know them, and the UK might know them, but rugby has the ability for the elite of the elite to be world-class superstars.”
Australia has produced a healthy cache of successful cross-code athletes.
Wendell Sailor, Mat Rogers, and Lote Tuqiri are among perhaps the most successful to make the switch from league to union.
Hoiles believes those players enjoyed an enormous uptick in popularity as a result.
“You should have seen the buzz all around the world – and it still happens in Hong Kong,” said Hoiles.
“When Wendell Sailor goes to Hong Kong, 10 years after he’s retired from rugby union, everyone knew him. He was the biggest name player in Hong Kong 10s. They become global superstars. That’s the difference.”
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