revealing interview with head coach Shane Flanagan <\/a>\u2013 where the pair discussed the ongoing criticism of playmaking son, Kyle \u2013 has drawn plenty of interest back home in recent days.<\/p>\nSame deal, the impending club debut of new Dragons No.7 Daniel Atkinson.<\/p>\n
A fella who, soon enough, will make his own brief departure from the autograph table to talk with Fox Sports Australia about his impending debut.<\/p>\n
But for the media vultures here Stateside, it\u2019s Val they want.<\/p>\n
That good lookin\u2019 Rooster who once had a crack with no less than the New York Jets.<\/p>\n
Which for Holmes, is refreshingly different to how he was greeted here seven years ago.<\/p>\n
Back when the then NFL wannabe had confused Jets team-mates, initially, mistaking him for a Wallaby.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause everyone knows the All Blacks,\u201d Holmes will say later, recalling his brief crack at making big time US football.<\/p>\n
Knights Kalyn Ponga, Cowboys Tom Dearden, Hull KR Elliot Minchella, Leeds Rhinos Ash Handley, Dragons Damien Cook and Bulldogs Stephen Crichton, at the NRL Vegas launch held at Zouk nightclub.Source: Supplied Source Known<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why they all thought I was playing rugby. They\u2019d say \u2018oh, you\u2019ve played against the All Blacks?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like \u2018ah, it\u2019s not really that\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which also goes a long way to explaining why this week, Holmes is happy to be something like the Minister for Rugby League \u2013 even insisting he has \u201cembraced\u201d the role.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve done a few interviews now with the US press,\u201d he says once the CBS chat is through. \u201cAnd it is cool to have on the resume.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve just tried to explain how our game, it\u2019s the NFL in Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the pinnacle of sport in Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think it\u2019s cool they can use that as a starting point.<\/p>\n
Valentine Holmes training in Las Vegas.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause this event really is a stepping stone towards what can be for rugby league.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to invest, and we\u2019ve signed a five-year deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo now you\u2019ve got to go hard, the players and officials, in promoting it. Because that will bring more eyes from the US, Europe, Dubai …\u201d<\/p>\n
New No.7 Atkinson is equally pumped to be Stateside.<\/p>\n
Craziest moment for this fella signed to be the Dragons chief playmaker?<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing inside \u2018Ol Red,\u201d he said of the popular country bar on Las Vegas Boulevard, which the Dragons have converted into an official fan HQ.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw a picture of myself up behind the bar.<\/p>\n
League fans soak up trip of a lifetime | 04:48<\/p>\n
\u201cYou walk in the door there and Gutho is plastered on the elevator.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I\u2019m pictured with a couple of boys up behind the bar.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a proud moment because sometimes you can get so locked on what we\u2019re doing, how we are training, you forget what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat people are flying in from all over to watch us play.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo personally, that\u2019s when it all hit me. It was the same again when my family flew in yesterday, just seeing how much this all means to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
At which point, Atkinson looked around a room packed with not only thousands of Dragons fans, but others like NRL chief Andrew Abdo, Dragons greats Matty Cooper and Graeme Wynn, even Australian cricket favourite Mike Whitney.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you can see how much they\u2019re all buying in,\u201d Atkinson grinned of the madness.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe actually met some people who had flown in from LA. They love the contact of our game and were even calling it rugby league and everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, I didn\u2019t know this many Dragons fans would be here, either. But have a look now, they\u2019re lined all the way up and out the door.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which they were.<\/p>\n
Damian Cook and Josh Kerr of the Dragons share a laugh during a St George Illawarra Dragons NRL training session in Las Vegas.Source: AFP<\/p>\n
And as for Saturday night\u2019s game?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just keen to play some footy,\u201d he said. \u201cI came here for an opportunity and, while nothing was guaranteed, I\u2019ve now been given it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a great team with strike all over the park, hard workers, so I just need to play to my strengths.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked about his role with halves partner Kyle Flanagan, Atkinson continued: \u201cI can definitely be chief organiser.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when Kyle is hot, I just need to let him run the show.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to have good moments, Kyle is going to have gun moments. So I have to be his 2IC really.<\/p>\n
\u201cHelp him organise what he needs. And that\u2019s the good thing about us, we complement each other well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Dragons star Holmes also stressed that, when it comes to growing the game Stateside, he has no problem with using rugby union, initially, as a way in for American fans.<\/p>\n
Understanding this fella initially mistaken for a Wallaby has seen, first hand, how that can work.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause eventually,\u201d he continues, referencing those confused New York Jets, \u201cthey started asking me for some highlights, even put it up on the big screen.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think they were pretty happy with what they saw.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s just after 11 o\u2019clock on Thursday morning here at the NRL Las Vegas fan fest, and St…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306899,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[12587,167724,167739,23058,2300,85,2652,167726,167737,167735,167733,167727,167725,101685,4225,167723,167740,167729,2647,62737,167732,83097,101714,13891,167738,167728,167730,167742,113124,13893,102499,111,109642,139,139680,64,13902,69,2659,45603,2667,167741,93377,167736,167731,213,68287,13883,167734,101680,81840],"class_list":{"0":"post-306898","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-american-fans","10":"tag-american-media-types","11":"tag-andrew-abdo","12":"tag-asia","13":"tag-australia","14":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","15":"tag-australian-cricket-favourite","16":"tag-autograph-table","17":"tag-bar-league-fans-soak","18":"tag-chief-playmaker","19":"tag-cowboys-tom","20":"tag-damian-cook","21":"tag-damien-cook","22":"tag-dubai","23":"tag-elliot-minchella","24":"tag-family-flew","25":"tag-fan-fest","26":"tag-fox-league","27":"tag-fox-sports-news","28":"tag-impending-club-debut","29":"tag-jim-callinan","30":"tag-kyle-flanagan","31":"tag-las-vegas","32":"tag-matty-cooper","33":"tag-matty-johns","34":"tag-media-vultures","35":"tag-mike-whitney","36":"tag-national-football-league","37":"tag-nevada","38":"tag-new-york-jets","39":"tag-new-zealand","40":"tag-new-zealand-all-blacks","41":"tag-newzealand","42":"tag-nick-walshaw","43":"tag-north-america","44":"tag-northern-america","45":"tag-nz","46":"tag-oceania","47":"tag-rugby-league","48":"tag-rugby-union","49":"tag-season-launch","50":"tag-shane-flanagan","51":"tag-shane-flanagannrl","52":"tag-signing-session","53":"tag-sports","54":"tag-tom-dearden","55":"tag-united-states-of-america","56":"tag-us-press","57":"tag-valentine-holmes","58":"tag-western-asia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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