Rugby League Players' Association General President Clint Newton has called for the National Rugby League to "take the lead in promoting rugby league" in the U.S. to ensure the game "properly takes advantage of the interest generated by Jarryd Hayne's NFL conversion," according to Adrian Proszenko of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. San Francisco 49ers player Hayne's journey "has captured the imagination of Americans, giving the NRL valuable exposure to a wider audience." Newton urged the NRL to "badge and provide guidance to the USA Rugby League administration to take advantage of the momentum generated by Hayne's exploits." Newton: "We need to revisit how we engage and capture that audience. When you have a population of more than 300 million, if you only capture half a per cent of that audience it blows anything out of the water we can create here in Australia. ... I think the game could invest in trying to capture that audience by investing in putting a CEO in over there and getting their competition running right, by putting in good governance and a strategic plan for them moving forward. They could put the NRL logo on their jerseys and competition so the governing body and teams can leverage off that brand, which is very strong, the strongest rugby league brand in the world. ... We can show a country like America just how good our product is" (SMH, 10/6).
