Daily Star Sunday

Capital pain for Gurley

- ■ by ALEX MILLER

THE NFL returns to London today – but not everybody is happy about it.

Arizona and the LA Rams face each other at Twickenham this afternoon with some of the game’s biggest stars on show.

The Cardinals have legends Larry Fitzgerald and new signing Adrian Peterson in the backfield, while LA have quarterbac­k Jared Goff, punter Johnny Hekker and running back Todd Gurley (below).

But Gurley is far from delighted about having to play one of Arizona’s home games over in the UK, even if he appreciate­s the attitude of the London fans. He said: “It’s terrible. They need to stop this, all this stuff.

“It’s cool playing over there – don’t get me wrong. Just more of the long week messes up a bunch of people’s schedules. But it’s all good. It’ll be love. The fans over there are great.”

In the best of today’s other games, it is a rematch of Super Bowl LI as New England host Atlanta, while Seattle face the Giants in New York. Daily Star Sunday OUR first 10 days together in Australia have felt a bit like a family reunion.

There are lads from 11 different clubs but we’ve felt close for a long time because of our elite performanc­e squad sessions.

We’ve had six over the year so that means we’ve been able to hit the ground running at this World Cup.

It’s been a great week and we can’t wait to take on Australia in our first game this Friday.

It’s not all serious, though, and there have been lots of laughs and mickey-taking.

Hull’s Scott ‘Tag’ Taylor is definitely the biggest joker – he’s absolutely non-stop.

But we did have fun at his expense when we went to a Mexican restaurant and Tag was distraught because it was small Tapas-style dishes.

He’s a typical Brit abroad who likes a big plate of steak and chips. There’s just no culture in him. Then there’s ‘Jammer’ – James Graham – who I could sit with for hours because he’s so funny.

He’s definitely the glue that sticks us all together. The English-based lads are always pleased when we’re back together with him.

There are seven lads, including Jammer, who are playing in the NRL but we really feel like a big family even though we don’t see them that often. Competitio­n for places is obviously high and everyone wants to play in our first game. But it’s good because it drives everyone on.

There are four of us hoping to play in the halves but rivalry is the wrong word.

We’re all pushing each other in training and we’ll support whoever gets selected. It’s the team that matters. Which side won the 2013 Rugby League World Cup? England, Australia or New Zealand ENGLAND’S GROUP GAMES v Australia

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 ??  ?? MAN OF STEEL Luke Gale will be writing exclusivel­y for the throughout the World Cup.
Here, speaking on behalf of Kingstone Press, the Official Cider of Rugby League, he tells us what the mood is like in the camp ahead of Friday’s opener against...
MAN OF STEEL Luke Gale will be writing exclusivel­y for the throughout the World Cup. Here, speaking on behalf of Kingstone Press, the Official Cider of Rugby League, he tells us what the mood is like in the camp ahead of Friday’s opener against...
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