LA Rams head coach Sean McVay has bizarrely claimed his team will not return to Australia “ever again” following their MCG defeat to the San Francisco 49ers.
The first ever NFL game Down Under was staged last week in front of more than 100,000 fans as the Niners — who came into the game as underdogs — stormed to an emphatic 27-7 victory.
Watch the NFL coach’s stunning remark about Australia via the video player above
For many, it vindicated San Francisco’s decision to fly over a week before the game, while the Rams — who were officially the home team but appeared to have significantly less support in the stadium — took the controversial approach to jet in 24 hours prior to kick-off.
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And LA’s humiliation was furthered on the field when they performed a co-ordinated “sleep” celebration after scoring the first touchdown of the game, only to go on and lose.
Prior to the match, Rams vice-president Stephanie Cheng exclusively told news.com.au of the several visits their players had made to Australia over the past four years, as well as their plans to return again in the future.
Yet coach McVay, 40, has dismissed that possibility and insisted the team are attempting to forget about the trip to Australia altogether, likening it to the Men in Black franchise when characters recent memories are wiped.
Speaking in his press conference on Friday, McVay said: “It’s almost like you try to do the Men in Black thing where you say, ‘Hey, I don’t remember what happened. That was so long ago’.
“We’re not playing in Australia ever again, I hope. Not because it wasn’t a great atmosphere… that’ll get taken out of context.”
By contrast, Nines head coach Kyle Shanahan heaped praise on his time in Australia, saying: “I’d like to come back when I’m not working, enjoy a little bit more.
“People seemed awesome, seems like a fun place. It’s just tough to have fun when you’re working all week, but maybe next time.”
It is understood the NFL has a four-year contract with Victoria to stage “at least two games in Melbourne, with an option for a third”.
However, it is unconfirmed which teams will be involved in future games.
Brett Gosper, the NFL’s head of Europe and Asia-Pacific told the Australian Financial Review earlier this month: “We’ll come at least twice in the next three years. We don’t just do one game in a market.
“We need to work these markets, that’s the evidence from other markets around the world, the idea is to keep showing up each year.
“There’s always breaks in [contract] clauses if things go horribly wrong but the intention is to keep coming back.”