Matty Johns reckons Canterbury skipper Stephen Crichton is the NRL superstar best equipped to sell rugby league to Americans – while also suggesting the conditions inside Allegiant Stadium this Saturday could see Kalyn Ponga play one of the greatest games of his life.
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The declaration comes as Johns also backed Knights No. 6 Fletcher Sharpe as his smokey for Las Vegas MVP — and after having last year backed the fellow Cessnock boy on a winning Magic Round bet paying 250/1.
On the eve of this year’s NRL season opener, Fox Sports Australia has asked Johns, Gorden Tallis and Cooper Cronk to name which NRL superstar has most chance of winning over Americans in Las Vegas.
Speaking before Thursday night’s hyped Fremont Street experience, Johns pitched Crichton to be rugby league’s top salesman, while Tallis opted for a Cowboys backrower who looks like he’s “straight off Swamp People”.
Cronk, meanwhile, has thrown his support behind Canterbury backrower Viliame Kikau.
Asked for his own thoughts, Johns started: “Look, I know Kalyn Ponga is the obvious pick for this one.
“But for me, I look across at the Bulldogs and see Stephen Crichton.
“That guy, he just has enormous charisma. He’s a class act, too and I think there really is something special about him.”
And Ponga?
“What will suit him inside Allegiant Stadium is a really dry track,” Johns predicted. “Kalyn will be roaming everywhere and could have one of his best games.
“Another guy is someone like, say, Tommy Dearden. I can see Americans watching him and saying ‘man, that guy is just all heart’.”
‘Pressure is a privilege’ | 01:09
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Then after a pause, the Fox Sports analyst tossed up one more name.
“I’ll tell what,” he said, “there is another bloke, and that’s Fletcher Sharpe.
“Wearing the six, mate, he’s just at them all the time.
“So while he may not be the biggest character of the weekend, I do think he could be the best player.
“He’s sensational.
“I remember last year at Magic Round too, I was doing the form with my son Jack and said, it’s a dry track – or at least it was at the time – South Sydney were struggling, so I said ‘Jack, back the Knights to win and Fletcher for three tries or more’.
“So we do, then go off to lunch. And forgot about the game.
“By the time we checked back in, he’d scored two tries in the first 10 minutes.
“I said ‘right, we’ve gotta cash out’.
“But Jack says ‘no dad, don’t do it’ …”
And guess what?
“In the 65th minute he scored again,” Johns laughed. “Honestly, it was even better than winning the competition.”
Paid well then?
“Ah, 250/1,” Johns grinned. “I’ll leave it at that.”
Meanwhile, fellow Fox Sports analyst Tallis is also picking North Queensland’s Dearden to win Americans over, while also placing him in a Las Vegas quinella with fellow Cowboy Reuben Cotter.
“Because Reuben Cotter just goes around hitting everyone,” Tallis laughed of how he wins the Yanks over. “And better, the guy looks like he’s from Alabama.
“He’s got that wonderful southern haircut. Straight off Swamp People.
“And what he did with the Kangaroos recently — incredible.
“Just hit the ground running and change the momentum in some of those Test matches like he did, I got a whole new respect for the way he plays the game.”
Asked why his two picks are best suited to selling the game to Americans, Tallis continued: “I know our thing is no helmets, no pads.
“But what can also really sell rugby league over here is the fact it’s for everybody.
“It’s why I think Reuben Cotter can have an impact, and also somebody like Tommy Dearden
“Because Americans already know they’re coming to watch a tough game, saying ‘oh, man, you crazy Aussies’.
“But when they see Dearden?
“A little guy with red hair – or strawberry blond as he prefers to say – I really think that makes him somebody who can sell our game here.”
Cronk, meanwhile, says Kikau is his pick to win the Americans over, saying simply: “He has a wild haircut to go with his big hits and try scoring ability.”
Elsewhere, Tallis said the players he was most intrigued to watch were Ponga and Bulldogs young gun Lachie Galvin.
“There was more noise about Galvin last year than any other player,” Tallis continued. “And while some of that was fair, some wasn’t.
“But it’s just what happens when you get into that situation.
“So now ’m really keen to see what sort of style he plays.
“Last year he got thrown in the deep end, so everyone will be watching.”
And Ponga?
“While South Sydney may be Pride of the League, Newcastle are something like our code’s heartbeat,” Tallis said.
“So they need to have a great season.
“And whether Kalyn likes it or not, he’s it.
“Obviously Dylan Brown can take some pressure off, specially if he plays like he did in the Pacific Cup.
“Because until now it’s always been KP’s ball.
“But if Kalyn can get people around him to take some pressure off, take some opportunities, that will obviously help. And Dylan has a great running game, too.
“Halfback, five-eighth, doesn’t matter where he is. Dylan just needs to play and open up the field for Kalyn.”
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