#92 – NRL’s Epic Las Vegas Launch: Pride, Passion & Uniting Fans
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Episode Summary:
In this episode, Ian Hawkins reflects on the excitement of the NRL’s Las Vegas showcase and what it means for the sport’s global reach. He shares his pride as a lifelong league fan, drawing parallels to Australia’s underdog spirit and past sporting triumphs. Ian discusses the event’s atmosphere, its impact on the game’s visibility, and the potential future of NRL expansion. He also invites listeners to share their thoughts on whether more sports should take a similar approach to international events.
About the Host:
Ian Hawkins, host of "Sport Is Life," is dedicated to showing how sports can transform lives. With extensive experience as an athlete, a coach, PE teacher, community volunteer, and manager at Fox Sports, Ian brings a wealth of knowledge to the podcast. His journey began in his backyard, mentored by his older brother, and has since evolved into coaching elite athletes and business leaders. Ian's commitment to sports and personal development is evident in his roles as a performance coach and active community member. Through "Sport Is Life," Ian shares inspiring stories and valuable lessons to help listeners apply sports principles to all areas of life.
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Transcript
we're heading home when the sun's
Speaker:up and it's we're walking down the middle
Speaker:of George Street next to cars. No one
Speaker:cared high fiving people in their suits
Speaker:going to work like what a
Speaker:buzz. And that's
Speaker:I'm Ian Hawkins and this is Sporty's
Speaker:life. The purpose of sport, as I
Speaker:see it, is to see your vision become a
Speaker:reality, find your voice, create
Speaker:strong connections and learn to trust
Speaker:your body.
Speaker:As a proud Aussie and a unashamed
Speaker:league, tragic. I've watched
Speaker:that Vegas weekend like I did last
Speaker:year when they started it with so
Speaker:much pride. I actually had a couple of
Speaker:moments both years where just like.
Speaker:Felt amazing to think like our little
Speaker:game from this corner of the world
Speaker:going and doing something so bold and
Speaker:and. Yeah,
Speaker:like creating this awesome experience.
Speaker:I I watched that first year when I was
Speaker:looking at all those fans over there and,
Speaker:and the buzz and I was like, man, I've
Speaker:got to get over and experience that like.
Speaker:The buzz of a crowd, particularly one
Speaker:that's happy, there's nothing like
Speaker:it. I think back to the
Speaker:announcement night when we got the
Speaker:Sydney Olympics, the atmosphere in that
Speaker:crowd that night, I was goosebumps. Even
Speaker:now, just thinking about the atmosphere
Speaker:in in Sydney that night was
Speaker:unbelievable. And then after we got
Speaker:the the winning announcement.
Speaker:It was crazy, I remember.
Speaker:As we're still we're heading home when
Speaker:the sun's up and it's we're walking
Speaker:down the middle of George Street next to
Speaker:cars. No one cared high fiving people in
Speaker:their suits going to work like
Speaker:what a buzz. And that's what that
Speaker:not not comparable, but the atmosphere
Speaker:in Las Vegas was like something
Speaker:it just looked like all those people were
Speaker:connected and just having an absolute
Speaker:blast and I saw the same thing they they
Speaker:did a better. The job of bringing the
Speaker:fans together, of putting the shows on in
Speaker:that same area and it
Speaker:looked amazing. And again, it's like, to
Speaker:me, it was like the idea of taking.
Speaker:League, rugby league to the world, it's a
Speaker:bit far fetched and I think that's
Speaker:maybe to a certain degree waste of time
Speaker:and money. Like you look at the AFL,
Speaker:they've never had like real
Speaker:internationals. I know they play those
Speaker:ridiculous international rules games, but
Speaker:they haven't needed to have an
Speaker:international game to have a huge amount
Speaker:of success. And to me, like I'm
Speaker:doing a pretty good job of what we've got
Speaker:here. You know, they'll keep pushing
Speaker:forward that international game and
Speaker:there's some some good things about that.
Speaker:But really it's like what what an awesome
Speaker:way to launch a season to have such an
Speaker:event that that.
Speaker:Oh, the AFL would kill for that sort of
Speaker:publicity. All the networks over there,
Speaker:everyone talking about it, people talking
Speaker:to me that aren't really Lee fans going
Speaker:like, oh wow, like you're watching the
Speaker:game. Like it just started getting
Speaker:generating interest like nothing else.
Speaker:And again, pride for for a
Speaker:lifelong footy fan, like the
Speaker:pride of our little sport. But
Speaker:it feels a little on a global scale, just
Speaker:doing something so cool and doing it
Speaker:successfully. Yeah, really cool.
Speaker:The the element, I
Speaker:guess the pride is also about like, you
Speaker:know, Australia again punching above its
Speaker:weight. Maybe it's the working class
Speaker:NRL vibe as well, Again punching above
Speaker:our weight and taking on things that.
Speaker:From that, without sort of working class
Speaker:attitude, like we're not going to take
Speaker:shit from anyone. And yeah, I kind of
Speaker:like that. Maybe it's the Aussie underdog
Speaker:spirit. Maybe
Speaker:it's.
Speaker:Yeah, maybe, mate, I don't know. Tell me
Speaker:like message me. Am I, am I, am I
Speaker:the only one that's feeling like this?
Speaker:Like I just thought it was cool and and
Speaker:there's part of me hoping that Para will
Speaker:be there.
Speaker:In 12 months time and that that I'll
Speaker:get to go because I reckon it would be an
Speaker:extraordinary experience. I've never had
Speaker:any. Desire to
Speaker:go to Vegas? I'm actually,
Speaker:I've been to the US, but I have no real
Speaker:desire to go back there. But for
Speaker:something like this, I reckon I'd, I'd
Speaker:love it. But then again, if they went and
Speaker:played it somewhere else and they had
Speaker:that same sort of vibe going, I reckon
Speaker:that would be pretty cool too.
Speaker:Yeah. So please message me,
Speaker:email me, you've got the details in the
Speaker:show notes or find me on socials
Speaker:and send me a message. Let me know what
Speaker:you think. Like is this, is this
Speaker:something that's worth pursuing you do
Speaker:you follow other sports and think that
Speaker:they should have a think about?Doing
Speaker:something similar.
Speaker:Yeah, I don't know if I've got anything
Speaker:more to say about that, but I just
Speaker:thought it was a when they first
Speaker:announced it, wasn't sure it was a great
Speaker:idea. And yet when when they made
Speaker:it happen and it was all over there, of
Speaker:course I I couldn't wait to sit down and
Speaker:watch it and see how it went. Fantastic.
Speaker:And yeah, I think they probably dropped
Speaker:the ball this year by having too many
Speaker:games and, and, and spreading the
Speaker:two NRL games out too much and then, you
Speaker:know, they talked about there wasn't
Speaker:enough. I've left the game. Still a great
Speaker:TV. Spectacle is league, always is.
Speaker:But yeah, it can only get bigger and
Speaker:better. I think for the next three years
Speaker:that they've got it booked in and then
Speaker:who knows where they'll take it next to
Speaker:her on one of the podcasts I listen to
Speaker:saying like, how cool would it be to take
Speaker:it to London?
Speaker:And like, how many Aussies are already
Speaker:there? How many people would make
Speaker:a holiday of it, maybe do a Europe trip
Speaker:tacked on? I don't know. We're not all
Speaker:made of money and that's maybe not
Speaker:possible for everyone, but I think
Speaker:that. Well, I think back to
Speaker:that 2003 Engl
Speaker:and versus
Speaker:Australia game when I was watching, I
Speaker:think it was Upton Park, West Ham's old
Speaker:home ground, like full of full of
Speaker:like 1520 thousand Aussies all
Speaker:singing and and the fact that we pumped
Speaker:them three one help too. But I think he'd
Speaker:put something like that on in in London.
Speaker:That would be really cool too. All right,
Speaker:I think I'm waffling now, but I just
Speaker:wanted to to share my thoughts.
Speaker:Experience and yeah, my my joy about
Speaker:something like that cool like that
Speaker:happening and and happening for for
Speaker:my sport in a row.
Speaker:You've taken the time to listen to this
Speaker:whole episode. Now it's time to take
Speaker:action. Commit to one thing you've
Speaker:learned today and make it happen. And to
Speaker:avoid any obstructions, join the Sporty's
Speaker:Life movement by clicking on the link in
Speaker:the show notes.
