“Maybe my body isn’t made for the sport.”
It was the honest admission from Nelson Asofa-Solomona that exposed a growing reality in the NRL; one which current front rower Addin Fonua-Blake also voiced his concerns over.
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That maybe, as the game gets faster, bigger bodies are slowly being lost to it.
Even the new interchange rules, which have extended benches and allowed coaches to be more creative with the make-up of their team, may not be enough.
Instead, all the talk is about how coaches can use specialist back-up halves or fullbacks as opposed to using bigger forwards as impact players in short spurts off the bench.
In the modern game, where the six-again rule has resulted in fewer stoppages and a faster pace of play, props like Fonua-Blake worry for the future of bigger-bodied players.
“The way they are making the game at the moment, it’s very hard for blokes like us to stay in the game,” he told foxsports.com.au in January.
“They’re taking the collisions out, so in a few more years, there probably won’t be a need for bigger bodies like us in their game.”
To some extent, the impact is already being felt in grassroots rugby league and as the NRL heads to Sin City for a third year, it doesn’t have to look far for proof of it.
Las Vegas Raiders rookie Laki Tasi grew up playing both rugby league and union, before Ben Niumata — owner of Grubbies Burgers & Hawaiian BBQ in Brisbane — suggested he try make it in the NFL.
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Queensland rugby product Laki Tasi was signed by the Las Vegas Raiders.
Queensland rugby product Laki Tasi was signed by the Las Vegas Raiders.Source: Supplied
“I found him just playing club rugby in Queensland,” Zen Ginnen, Tasi’s agent and the founder of Ginnen Sports Management Group, told foxsports.com.au earlier this week.
Niumata put Tasi in touch with Ginnen, who encouraged the now Raiders offensive tackle to try out for the NFL Academy in the Gold Coast with the hope of eventually earning selection for the league’s International Pathway Program.
It was the same program that had been the starting point of Philadelphia Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata’s rise to Super Bowl stardom, and while there was never any expectation that Tasi would follow in Mailata’s footsteps and become one of the best players at his position, he at least had the size and raw tools to be an intriguing NFL prospect.
Intriguing enough that Tasi had multiple teams express interest in him after the IPP’s Pro Day at the University of South Florida, with the Australian eventually signing a contract to join the Raiders under Super Bowl-winning coach Pete Carroll.
Carroll even singled out Tasi as his “favourite” player to watch in training camp.
“He knows nothing about football when he walked in the door, and he’s made tremendous progress, and he’s enormous,” Carroll told reporters last year.
“He’s the biggest guy you ever saw... I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but he’s starting from ground zero, and he’s made a lot of progress so far.”
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Having worked with the likes of Asofa-Solomona and Fifita, Ginnen knows all too well how the new-look NRL is starting to leave bigger bodies behind.
“The size is definitely (having) an impact,” he said.
“They’ve told me many times that the sport’s becoming not really a big man’s sport, it’s becoming a lot quicker and it’s hard for the bigger guys such as Nelson to try and get lower... how low can he go without getting in trouble, that’s probably one factor.
“Where big boys are now suited to play this foreign sport, such as football, and it’s suited for them. People like Jordan Mailata, just size-wise, it’s a perfect sport for them.”
Jarrod Gray, like Mailata, came through the South Sydney system as a junior and is following a similar pathway to Super Bowl champion, having grown up around the Bankstown area and initially chased a rugby league career before realising he was too big for the sport.
Gray progressed as high as Queensland Cup level, playing for Toowoomba-based Western Clydesdales, before packing his stuff up and moving back home to work with renowned fitness and speed trainer Michael Fualalo when an opportunity came up to try out for the IPP.
“That (the speed of the game) was a big factor for me,” Gray told foxsports.com.au.
“Queensland Cup, that’s a high level of rugby league. I’m a big body, there’s not many people out there that are my size that are playing rugby league.
“For me, the game was too fast and the game’s only going to get faster. I believe if you’re not the next Payne Haas or Pat Carrigan, if you’re not as fit as them, it’s going to be hard.
“So, that was a big factor for me. With my size, I knew I wasn’t built for the game. That’s when I made the move.”
Not just interstate but to another country, joining one of Ginnen’s clients — Kaylan Faumui — at X3 Performance and Physical Therapy in Florida as part of the IPP.
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Jarrod Gray in South Sydney kit.
Jarrod Gray in South Sydney kit.Source: Supplied
Faumui also played rugby league as a junior, representing the Roosters in Harold Matthews and Manly in SG Ball, before making the switch to American football.
“I think it just got to the point (where) maybe he just sort of fell out of love with it... I think it’s (American football) just something that’s probably new and refreshing,” Ginnen said.
“Sometimes some of these kids get burnt out coming through pathways, whether it’s NRL or rugby or AFL, and sometimes they just sort of need a change.”
Ginnen compared Faumui to four-time Pro Bowl Detroit Lions offensive tackle Penei Sewell. While pointing out that obviously he doesn’t have anywhere near the same level of experience, Ginnen said he sees the “same size” and “same sort of movement” in Faumui.
Again, as was the case with Mailata and Gray, the expectation is by no means that Faumui will reach anything close to the heights of Sewell, but the fact is that more bigger-bodied rugby league players like him are seeing American football as a genuine alternative.
Kaylan Faumui and Jarrod Gray were accepted into the class of 2026 NFL International players pathway, just like Jordan Mailata did a few years ago. Picture: Jonathan Ng
Kaylan Faumui and Jarrod Gray were accepted into the class of 2026 NFL International players pathway, just like Jordan Mailata did a few years ago. Picture: Jonathan NgSource: News Corp Australia
“I’ve seen a lot of boys that know rugby league isn’t for them,” Gray said.
“Ever since I’ve been here, a lot of the boys that I’ve played with before they ask me, ‘How is it over there? How does it work?’. They want to get involved in it... I know there are so many boys out there, not only in Australia but in New Zealand.
“There are big Islander boys that are playing rugby because they’re big, no one can tackle them... but I believe American football is more suited for big boys like us. Over here they have the skill and everything but there’s one thing you can’t teach — you can’t teach size.
“For me, I found out rugby league was too fast. It wasn’t for me. Now I’ve found the sport that I just fit right into.”
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Jarrod Gray in his rugby league playing days.
Jarrod Gray in his rugby league playing days.Source: Supplied
Jarrod Gray made it to Queensland Cup.
Jarrod Gray made it to Queensland Cup.Source: Supplied
Ginnen, meanwhile, manages another aspiring NFL player in Zarius Matavao, who came through the Melbourne Storm pathways system before making the switch and earning a scholarship with the NFL Academy team.
“It’s not that they’re just looking for big boys, they’re looking for big boys that are mobile and athletic and there’s no shortage in this world for big Polynesian boys in that sense,” Ginnen said.
“There’s a few in rugby and in rugby league, but it’s just becoming harder. The sport itself is just becoming a lot more fast-paced.
“You see a lot of big boys come in for five minutes on, five minutes off or it could be longer, it’s just the pace of it’s gone extremely fast over the last few years.”
Matavao has received Division 1 offers from Syracuse, the University of South Florida and Kansas State University, while Gray is hoping to eventually earn his way onto an NFL roster.
“I want to give my thanks to God for all he has done in my life and for blessing me with this unique opportunity to try and make the NFL,” he said.
“I am truly grateful for it all and owe all the glory back to him.”
Just as important is the chance to represent both his family and his country (Australia and New Zealand), like Mailata did proudly waving the Australian flag at Super Bowl LIX with the Samoan flag also draped around his neck.
Jarrod Gray with Jordan Mailata.
Jarrod Gray with Jordan Mailata.Source: Supplied
Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata. (AP Photo/Doug Benc)
Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata. (AP Photo/Doug Benc)Source: AP
“It was inspiring. It gave me someone to look up to,” Gray said of Mailata’s success.
“We kind of had similar story, everyone has their own story, but just the same (in that) I was too big for the sport (and) he was getting told he was too big.
“It was just (someone) to look up to and I was like, ‘Maybe rugby league isn’t for me. Let me try follow this route’ and I ended up where I am today all because of him.
“He really broke open those doors.”