Taking rugby league to the States? It’s already there, baby

The NRL are currently engaged in an extensive charm offensive in the United States, marketing next year’s fixtures in Las Vegas armed with a Steeden emblazoned in stars and stripes.

The San Francisco 49ers’ Australian punter Mitch Wishnowsky needed less than 10 seconds to put his country’s athletic talents on the map stateside when, with a play straight out of the Johnathan Thurston playbook, he made an audacious 30-yard gain from a fake punt against the Seattle Seahawks.

Although the play was ultimately called back for an illegal block, the question remained: was this an audacious move taken from the highly intricate NFL coach’s playbook, or simply a punter having a crack?

“(I) winged it,” the Perth native admitted in the locker room.

“I just sort of looked and saw that the whole rush team had crushed down on the protection and it was open, so I just ran.”

After receiving the snap, Wishnowksy, who spent his teenage years playing Australian rules, spotted a huge gap on the right-hand side of the field, sold the candy perfectly, sidestepped and sprinted past the Seahawks’ defence.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan has led the 49ers, favourites to win the Super Bowl in February, to a 10-3 record in the NFC West after defeating the Seahawks 28-16 but was left scrambling for words at Wishnowsky’s impromptu play.

“I just knew that it would work good right there,” Shanahan joked post-game. “So I just called my first fake punt.”

The 49ers’ offensive tackle Trent Williams was impressed by the Australian’s athleticism that has set social media alight with highlights of the play.

“I loved it,” Wiliams said.

“We didn’t even get a heads-up on it on the sideline. We’re over there getting ready to make corrections and all I see is the Australian striking down the sideline, I’m like wow. Unfortunately, it was some bullcrap penalties but love to see the Australian out there opening that stride up.”

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