{"id":754291,"date":"2026-06-23T04:19:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T04:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/754291\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T04:19:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T04:19:21","slug":"why-the-los-angeles-rams-cant-wait-for-historic-nfl-clash-at-mcg-against-san-francisco-49ers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/754291\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Los Angeles Rams can\u2019t wait for historic NFL clash at MCG against San Francisco 49ers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Los Angeles Rams star Tyler Davis says he has great respect for the toughness of AFL players \u2013 and is now keen for the Los Angeles Rams to leave their own imprint on the MCG in the inaugural NFL match on Australian soil for championship points.<\/p>\n

Davis, a defensive linesman who has the job of attacking the opposition quarterback, and his wide receiver teammate Xavier Smith were given their first look at the fabled venue at Saturday night\u2019s AFL clash between Collingwood and Port Adelaide, and were taken aback by the intensity and physicality of the game.<\/p>\n

\"XavierXavier Smith at a flag football clinic in Kew this week.Wayne Taylor<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I was actually, because, you know, with our game, we have \u2026 some type of protection, but for them guys, to lay it on the line without that protection, it kind of builds that respect level for me, watching them,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love it man, I loved it \u2026 fast pace, a lot of up and down, not many breaks, and then, you know, without pads, they do hit a little hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

The AFL and NRL\u2019s stranglehold on Australian winter sport remains as strong as ever, but a crowd of about 100,000 will attend the historic clash between the Rams and San Francisco on September 11.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Ready<\/a><\/p>\n

It will complement the growing presence of Australians in the NFL and US college football, including Sunshine Coast-born teenager Tom Huber who made history this year by becoming the first Australian-born athlete to sign with an NCAA Division I football program as a quarterback.<\/p>\n

Davis said the MCG clash was a major fillip for the sport here and would add to growing momentum.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it will do wonders, you know, being Australia, having just a whole different market. I think it takes the game to a whole another level,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have seen people with like, Miami Dolphins gear, Oakland Raiders gear. It\u2019s already big over here, so it\u2019s crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NFL enjoys growing Australian viewership of games on ESPN and free-to-air broadcaster Seven and there is greater awareness in the US of the NFL Academy on the Gold Coast. Flag football is also emerging as a sport of choice, and has been given a major boost with inclusion in the Olympics.<\/p>\n

Davis and Smith conducted a flag football session at Kew Primary School this week, which has a successful program \u2013 one of 740 here, according to the league.<\/p>\n

\"TylerTyler Davis gets involved with Kew schoolkids at a clinic this week.Wayne Taylor<\/p>\n

Smith said he was looking forward to playing at the MCG, although the ground\u2019s oval dimensions means fans will sit back from the NFL\u2019s smaller, rectangular field. It did not stop NRL fans flocking to the MCG last week for the State of Origin clash.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it will really matter that much. I just can\u2019t wait to see the stands, the people in the stands, the environment they bring to the game. So, you know, the intensity that they had at the AFL, I can\u2019t wait to see the intensity they bring when we come with the NFL,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

The NFL match, to be broadcast on Netflix, will have a 10.35am kickoff on the Friday morning of the AFL\u2019s semi-final weekend. Davis said the early start was not an issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt won\u2019t change the preparation at all. We have a good staff in place, we have got the right type of people to get us acclimatised and get us prepared for the game the right way,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

For the Rams, the season opener is the first step towards what they hope is a season of redemption after falling to eventual Super Bowl champions Seattle in the NFC championship game.<\/p>\n

The Rams had the No.1 scoring offence behind a brilliant season from coach Sean McVay and quarterback \u2013 and league most valuable player \u2013 Matthew Stafford. They head into the new campaign with a strong, young defence, and weapons Stafford can use in Puka Nacua, Davante Adams and Kyren Williams.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Joe<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, reloading, you know, adding fuel to the fire, but we are ready to go,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n

Smith said the Rams had added \u201ckey pieces that\u2019s going to take our game to the next level\u201d.<\/p>\n

That was in reference to having traded for star Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie and two-time NFL defensive player of the year Myles Garrett. They also signed McDuffie\u2019s former Chiefs teammate Jaylen Watson through free agency.<\/p>\n

The 49ers, one of the NFL\u2019s leading franchises, have vowed to paint Melbourne red through their large fan base \u2013 about 10,000 49ers fans from the US are expected to make the trip \u2013 when they arrive complete with a cast of about 200 players, staff and cheerleaders.<\/p>\n

But Davis said the Rams, who are hosting the game, will have plenty of support of their own against their fierce NFC west division rival.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s definitely going to be high intensity. I think the Rams and Niners game already brings that intensity, but doing it in Australia with the fans that already come with that intensity, just adds a little bit more fuel to the fire,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport are sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"JonJon Pierik<\/a> is a sports journalist at The Age. He covers AFL and has won awards for his cricket and basketball writing.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":754292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-754291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=754291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/754292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=754291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=754291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=754291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}