The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) chairman\u2019s arrival in Sin City was delayed after the flight he and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo were on was turned back due to air conditioning issues.<\/p>\n
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Knights CEO Peter Parr and a host of Newcastle fans were also on the flight, which was in the air for over an hour before being diverted back to Sydney.<\/p>\n
The plane eventually got back in the air and landed on Wednesday morning (AEDT), where V\u2019landys spoke with Fox Sports News ahead of the league\u2019s third season opener in Vegas. <\/p>\n
The ARLC chairman was quick to take a dig at the AFL when asked about the aeroplane mishap, joking next time he is going to \u201cmake sure that the plane\u2019s not serviced by the AFL engineers\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s happened I think… they\u2019ve spiked the air conditioner,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The AFL weren\u2019t the only ones to come in the firing line, with V\u2019landys also taking a shot at rugby union as he opened up on the NRL\u2019s plans to expand the game further.<\/p>\n
While reiterating that the NRL is in America \u201cfor the long haul\u201d, the ARLC chairman once again confirmed there are several other countries the league is keen to play regular season games in as part of a \u2018Global Round\u2019, including Abu Dhabi, Japan and China. <\/p>\n
In specific reference to the latter two countries, V\u2019landys said he sees an opportunity to win over fans who are used to the slower pace of rugby union.<\/p>\n
Get all the latest news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports NRL Sportmail. Sign up now!!! <\/a><\/p>\n Lodge: US arrest ‘still follows me’ | 02:12<\/p>\n \u201cMarkets like Japan and Hong Kong are used to that other game that only goes for 30 minutes, I think it\u2019s called rugby union,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo when they see the real game, rugby league, I think we can actually migrate them over. The key performance indicator for entertainment is how long the ball is in play. <\/p>\n \u201cIn rugby league it\u2019s 60 minutes, in rugby union it\u2019s 30 minutes. So no one would know what hit them in Japan and in Hong Kong when we take the game over.\u201d<\/p>\n V\u2019landys added that the NRL has \u201calways looked\u201d at Miami as another market, while they also want to go back to England considering the success of the Kangaroos tour.<\/p>\n \u201cAnything we can do to help the game in England that\u2019s very important to us,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n But for now, the full focus is on this weekend\u2019s games in Vegas. The NRL shortened this year\u2019s schedule to three games after running into issues in 2025 with the length of the day. <\/p>\n Allegiant Stadium, which will once again play host to this year\u2019s event, does not allow pass-outs, meaning fans who arrived for the first game were then made to wait a total of nine hours if they wanted to watch all four matches. <\/p>\n MORE VEGAS NEWS<\/p>\n \u2018UGLY EXIT\u2019 AND FIERY BEERS: Mahoney opens up after startling arrival at new club<\/a><\/p>\n