We are in LA and drive to Vegas the next day. It really isn't that far. Car rental used to be really cheap back in the day but I don't think so anymore.
LA itself is really average imo
NRL NRL in the United States
- Thread starter WahsaurusRex
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I caught a bus from LA to Vegas a few years back and it was actually a pleasant experience. Got to see the contrast between the two states (urban jungle —> Desert) and wasn’t too long a drive at all. I would stay away from greyhound, we went with another company (name I can’t remember) and they were much safer and reliable.
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Wow pretty nuts, I think we paid $100-ish return to/from LA earlier this month, it's up around $450-500 now which is a massive jump.
Remember baggage is ridiculous addition with a lot of these airlines too so best pack light!
Remember baggage is ridiculous addition with a lot of these airlines too so best pack light!
LA - LV return is expensive, but not craaaazy expensive. Google flights gives a few options
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Caught the Greyhound LA to Vegas & return - but it was back in the 90's. Really enjoyed seeing all the little villages along the way & it was only a couple of hours if I remember correctly.
Only intended to visit LA but came across a deal with return bus trip + 2 nights at the "Riviera". It was the year they filmed Con Air & we stood outside the fence watching the filming until 3am. It was 2 degrees & freezing. Great memories so go if you can & enjoy. Just thinking it's about time I went back to the good ole US of A,
Also took a bus day trip to Tijuana ( don't know if thats possible now). That was awesome - all the Tequila you could hold. 3 Kiwis on the bus who lasted the day but 5 Aussies couldn't take it. Still got the photo of a close encounter with a donkey weaing a sun hat & my leather jacket. Unreal Yeah definatly time I returned
Only intended to visit LA but came across a deal with return bus trip + 2 nights at the "Riviera". It was the year they filmed Con Air & we stood outside the fence watching the filming until 3am. It was 2 degrees & freezing. Great memories so go if you can & enjoy. Just thinking it's about time I went back to the good ole US of A,
Also took a bus day trip to Tijuana ( don't know if thats possible now). That was awesome - all the Tequila you could hold. 3 Kiwis on the bus who lasted the day but 5 Aussies couldn't take it. Still got the photo of a close encounter with a donkey weaing a sun hat & my leather jacket. Unreal Yeah definatly time I returned
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- Thread starter
- #135
Inside the Jillaroos plan to go viral in Vegas
The Jillaroos have seen the YouTube videos.The clips of shocked Americans reacting to the big hits, physicality and spectacular tries that regularly occur on the rugby league field. They're clips viewed by hundreds of thousands of people, many receiving their first taste of rugby league and blown away in the process.
The Jillaroos players watch the videos and all share the same thought. If this is how US fans react to men's games, just wait until they see the women play.
So as they prepare to fly to Las Vegas for a historic Test against England in the NRL's season-opening extravaganza, the Australian players have a simple goal.
They want to blow the minds of American fans and end up on YouTube clips of their own.
"In the NFL they wear a lot of protection so for them to find out we don't wear any of that and we have full contact is going to be a whole other level," Jillaroos prop Sarah Togatuki told NRL.com. "They'll just be mind-blown that these females can play like that.
"We're going to go there and put women's rugby league on the map. What better way to do it than in the United States.
"It would be a dream for us to be in the YouTube videos. You never know who's watching, all it takes is for one big name to take our game to a new level and expose it to more than just America but around the world."
Opportunities for women to play contact sports in the US remain limited and there are even fewer chances for fans to watch elite female athletes in a sport as physical as rugby league.
It's an opening NRL officials are desperate to take an advantage of, with America providing a latent market for the sport to achieve rapid growth at both the grassroots and the elite level.
The potential commercial returns are mammoth, which would in turn accelerate the professionalism of women's rugby league in Australia and around the world.
Jillaroos centre Tiana Penitani first travelled to Las Vegas for the US round of the World Sevens Series in 2017 and has seen the appetite for women's contact sports grow exponentially in the eight years since.
Now, she feels, is the time for rugby league to capitalise on the interest from both athletes and fans in America.
"Americans take sport to a whole new level and it's really embedded in their culture, whether you're participating or a spectator," Penitani said. "To be able to go out there and play in front of that kind of crowd again is going to be exciting.
"There's such an untapped market over there and at the moment the only option to play contact sports is to play rugby sevens. We'll be able to show them another brand of rugby and it being rugby league and they'll see how big it is in Australia.
"Being able to draw on that connection is only going to grow our game and it would be exciting if we could turn rugby league into a genuine global game.
"There's so much opportunity for us. Rugby league is the best game in the world so we want to be able to share that with every part of the world and get people on board."
The Jillaroos Test against England isn't a solo event, with the NRL hosting a combine for the second-straight year in Las Vegas.
Two women will be selected after two days of testing and provided with the chance to earn an NRLW contract.
A nines tournament will also be held during the week of the game, featuring the Roosters-backed LA Roosters while the USA women's team will take on Greece in an international clash.
The ultimate goal is for the American national side to grow to a level that sees the team among the sport's global powers and regularly challenging for the World Cup.
It may be a few years away, but those involved can see the path to making it happen.
"I would love to be able to play the USA rugby league team in a Test match," Penitani said. "It would draw such a big American crowd and would help us get even more exposure and take our game to another level."
I gotta be honest in saying I am not overly excited by having the women's game smashed between our game and the Panthers vs. Sharks.
Butttt, Womens RL is clearly the biggest growth point with the Vegas trips.
Ice Hockey and MMA are the only real contact sport options women have in America, but they are nothing like football- Real opportunity for rugby League to be seen by the U.S as the 'Netball' to the NFL's 'Basketball', if that makes sense.
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It was interesting that they included two of the least supported teams a Vegas this year.
If you take out the English fans this year - it could be a smaller crowd than last year? Yes, some English fans did go last year .
LA is shithole. Venice Beach is the only place to stay now.
Half of it is a pile of ash, isn’t it?
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Pile of weed I would say
nah thats up the coast from santa monica to malibu
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