![\"Las](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/8e2b8b31eb9b4d36f2db60984269e07a0294252e.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nDavis\u2019 point was about the upside of being on American screens more regularly.<\/p>\n
Who knows if Davis will be keen to scout more players, but he was quick to admit: \u201cI tell you what, they are tough enough\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Raiders have already brought one Australian to Las Vegas \u2013 the giant Laki Tasi, a 21-year-old who grew up playing rugby league and rugby union in Brisbane before coming onto the NFL\u2019s radar.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Las Vegas Raiders recruit Laki Tasi.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s doing good,\u201d Davis said of Tasi, who was signed to the team\u2019s practice squad last year and is yet to play in the NFL. \u201cHe\u2019s got to learn how to play, but what a big, big, big body specimen, man. He\u2019s something else. We love him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saints come marching into town![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/9b78b1177cfb7bbe813914663d23ee4a4d0f5344.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
A poster at the Ole Red bar on the Las Vegas StripCredit: St George Illawarra Dragons<\/p>\n
The Dragons had dinner at the appropriately named Ole Red live music bar in Las Vegas after flying in on the weekend.<\/p>\n
They have made the venue, across from the Strip from the Bellagio, their fan hub for the whole week \u2013 with Dragons flags displayed outside and every staff member wearing a St George Illawarra shirt. Even the lifts inside the venue feature photos of Red V fullback Clint Gutherson.<\/p>\n
Expect their very own \u201cyoung red\u201d, Dylan Egan, to do his share of media commitments in town this week.<\/p>\n
Clubs that have come to Las Vegas in the past two years have welcomed supporters to venues for one-off fan nights, but the Dragons have gone all out by taking over Ole Red for the whole week.<\/p>\n
![\"Margot](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/3b451c8cd25a76b1b2d0937056f3872675541d52.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Margot Robbie at Tropfest on Sunday.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone<\/p>\n
PVL goes Troppo<\/p>\n
A day before he spruiked record revenue for rugby league<\/a>, another passion project of ARL Commission chairman Peter V\u2019landys bore fruit when short film festival Tropfest<\/a> finally returned to Sydney for the first time in seven years.<\/p>\n V\u2019landys\u2019 passion for supporting the local film industry is not well known by league fans. Fewer still will be aware he once played a banker in a miniseries about disgraced businessman Alan Bond.<\/p>\n \u201cI tell people I had a role in Bond,\u201d V\u2019landys said. \u201cI\u2019m on the board of Tropfest, and it was great to see it back on the weekend. They had more than 30,000 people there.<\/p>\n \u201cSarah Murdoch, [actor] Bryan Brown, [advertising guru] Richard Weinstein, John Polson, who founded Tropfest, and myself realised there was a need for pathways for young Australian film-makers, similar to how we have pathways in rugby league. Together, we all brought Tropfest back to help discover our local talent.\u201d<\/p>\n Vegas, Abu Dhabi to host openers<\/p>\n Still on V\u2019landys, the five clubs yet to travel to Vegas \u2013 Wests Tigers, Parramatta, Melbourne, Gold Coast and the Dolphins \u2013 remain the front-runners for next year\u2019s edition, he said, despite a push for NRL games to be played elsewhere abroad in the opening round.<\/p>\n