SPORTS SHORTS
Australia’s National Rugby League opening its season at Allegiant in effort to grow the game stateside
NFL: Ex-Jet nabs D-II top coach gig
Former Jets receiver Jerricho Cotchery has been named head football coach at Division II Limestone in Gaffney, S.C. Cotchery had been the school’s assistant head coach and receivers coach the past two seasons. Cotchery, drafted by the Jets in 2004, played 12 seasons in the NFL. NHL: Bruins end 3-game slide
Morgan Geekie had his first NHL hat trick, Mason Lohrei scored the winning goal on the power play with less than five minutes to play and the Bruins snapped a three-game a losing streak with a 5-4 win over the Golden Knights.
In Toronto, Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 53rd goal and the Maple Leafs topped Arizona 4-2 to send the Coyotes to their 14th straight loss.
In Tampa, Fla., Rasmus Dahlin scored a power-play goal in overtime and the Sabres rallied to beat the Lightning 3-2.
In Sunrise, Fla., Sam Reinhart scored twice and the Panthers defeated the Canadiens 4-3 in a shootout.
NBA: Nuggets defeat Heat
Michael Porter Jr. scored 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Nuggets withstood a late rally by the Heat to win 103-97 in a rematch of last season’s NBA Finals in Denver.
Paolo Banchero, back in the lineup after missing two games because of the flu, had 29 points and nine rebounds as the Magic beat the Jazz 115-107 in Orlando. The Magic won for the 10th time in 13 games.
NCAA: Rutgers routs Michigan
Clifford Omoruyi scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, Jeremiah Williams scored 19 points and Rutgers left no doubt taking command early to cruise to a 82-52 win over Michigan in Piscataway, N.J.
In Wilmington, N.C., Darlinstone Dubar scored 28 points and grabbed eight rebounds as Hofstra beat UNC Wilmington 69-58.
GOLF: Ramey, Kim grab early lead
Chad Ramey shot a bogey-free round of 7-under 64 the Cognizant Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., tying S.H. Kim for the 18-hole lead. A group of five players — Cameron Young, Ryan Moore, Chesson Hadley, Austin Eckroat and Andrew Novak — finished one stroke back with 6-under rounds of 65. MLB: Skenes makes strong start
2023 first-round pick Paul Skenes had a strong spring debut as the Pirates pitcher retired the Orioles in his lone inning on 10 pitches and his fastball reached 102 mph. Skenes was drafted No. 1 overall after leading LSU to an NCAA title.
LAS VEGAS — The goal is shared by all involved: Show and grow.
Australia’s National Rugby League is opening its 2024 season with a Saturday doubleheader at Allegiant Stadium involving four of its marquee teams with a singular focus in mind: to show Americans what its sport is all about and to attract U.S. sports fans to their product and grow the game.
It’s no different than what the NFL has done staging regular-season games in England, Germany and Mexico.
The hope of NRL is that its Manly Sea Eagles and South Sydney Rabbitohs (the teams playing in the first match) and the Brisbane Broncos and Sydney Roosters (the nightcap match) lures new international fans that the likes of the Chiefs, 49ers, Cowboys and Patriots have done for the NFL abroad.
“I feel a big responsibility because this is our first impression for the Americans to see our game and to see what it’s like,’’ James Tedesco, the captain of the Roosters as well as the Aussie national team, told The Post. “First things first for us and for me is to win the game, but I want to show a good quality of football.’’
Asked what that will look like to draw in the uninitiated American sports fans, Tedesco said, “I think they’ll enjoy the constant action. There’s not many stoppages like there are in the NFL. It’s just impact. There’s a brutality to it, and a lot of sharp cutting and speed and agility that you see in the NFL. The run of play is so fast, so the constant action will speak to the Americans and they’ll enjoy that.’’
Damien Cook, who plays as a “hooker’’ on the Rabbitohs, was asked what success will look like from this week in Vegas.
“For us, obviously winning,’’ Cook told The
Post. “But overall, just showcasing the game and getting a lot of eyes on the game. A lot of us buy into the NFL at home and enjoy it, and we want the same for America to fall in love with our game.’’
Latrell Mitchell, the star fullback of the Rabbitohs, called this week “about growing the game’’ and added, “We want to make sure we leave our mark on Saturday night in both games for the American people and show them what our game is all about. This is all about promoting the game all together as four teams and showing everybody how beautiful it is.’’
Scott Penn, the owner and chairman of Manly, said it was paramount that the league not play exhibition matches in America, but matches that count.
“I knew that we had to play for points,’’ Penn told The Post. “The fans have to know that this is absolutely for points, so the players are taking it incredibly seriously and the coaching staffs don’t want to miss out for an opportunity for a win. It had to be a proper competition game for it to really get everyone’s attention.’’ Penn, who’s at the forefront of trying to bring rugby to America, said the goal this week is about “getting the awareness out there that this is a sport that is played with incredible intensity, that it’s a great TV spectacle.’’ “It’s great live, but it’s amazing to watch on TV. So, for us this is about broadcast and awareness as much as it is about future participation. It’s making sure we get our name out there, get awareness out there and really start taking advantage of that going forward. “The great thing is we’ve already made this a five-year commitment from a game perspective [to play matches in Las Vegas], so this is a long-term investment, this is not a one-anddone. We’re focused on how we really place ourselves in the minds of the
American sporting public and really get people excited about it and the rest will start to follow.’’
Penn, who lives in New York City and follows the NFL, knows exactly the nectar from NRL that will attract the American sports fans like bees to honey.
“It’s the elite athlete nature of the game,’’ he said. “These guys are the best of the best at what they do. That’s what draws everyone to the NFL. You’ve got the best of the best competing every week. Americans want to see the best. They’re also going to see the gladiatorial nature of guys running hard at each other with no pads. It’s very physical.
“I think everyone’s going to be impressed by the physicality of it. They’re going to be impressed by the speed of the players. And more importantly, they’re going to be impressed by the endurance, because these guys run hard for 40 minutes each half with minimal breaks. I think everyone’s going to be shocked by how fast it is and how much these guys have to endure over an 80-minute game.’’
“I think sports fans will think this is similar to NFL, to gridiron, but it is actually far more intense,’’ Patrick Delany, the CEO of Foxtel, which broadcasts rugby in Australia, told The Post.
“For the uninitiated, the first thing that will strike them is the physicality,’’ Matty Johns, a former NRL player and current broadcaster for Fox, told The Post. “The other thing that will really strike people will be the pace of the game, and the fatigue that eventually you’ll start to see set in in the second half. It sounds strange, but the more fatigue there is the faster the game moves.’’
Tickets for the NRL matches can be purchased through Ticketmaster, with the prices starting as low as $19. Seats in the lower tier start from $39 and go up to $189 for club seats.
The matches are 9:30 and 11:30 p.m. Eastern time and can be seen on the app Watch NRL. They also will be broadcast in the U.S. on FS1.