FORMER England rugby union captain Mike Tindall has claimed that NRL players have expressed an interest in joining breakaway rugby union R360 competition because they are struggling with the length and brutality of the Rugby League season.
Tindall is the public face of the proposed competition that wants to organise matches with star players in exotic locations around the world.
The original intention was to launch it in 2026, but it has now been deferred until 2028.
Tindall spoke about the concept while in Sydney for the recent Ashes cricket Test, denying that the organisers have been approaching NRL players and claiming that it was the other way round.
“We didn’t target anyone,” Tindall told The Australian newspaper.
“NRL players and their agents approached us. We didn’t go after them. We’re a rugby union competition. NRL players are fine athletes, but only those who could play in the back three could make the transition. Sam Burgess went from South Sydney to the England team (for the 2015 Rugby World Cup), and he didn’t find it easy.”
Tindall, a close friend of Queensland State of Origin coach Billy Slater, suggested that Rugby League players were looking at the competition because of the excessive demands placed on them by the length and nature of the NRL season.
He said players who had approached R360 expressed a desire to play less football throughout the season.