Hugh Jackman will miss out on attending the NRL’s Las Vegas debut after being forced to rush home following an emergency.
The Hollywood star flew into the city ahead of his beloved Manly Sea Eagles’ clash with South Sydney as part of the double-header season opener on Saturday night (Sunday AEDT).
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He was reportedly set to receive VIP treatment from the NRL to add star power to the Allegiant Stadium event.
But Jackman flew back to New York following a corporate gig on Friday night in Vegas.
“He was gutted to leave,” friend and Australian radio personality Gus Worland said.
“He made the effort to come here but due to unforeseen circumstances he had to go back. He was really disappointed. He was looking forward to wearing his Manly jersey to the game.”
Jackman has been an occasional presence at Sea Eagles games over the years when he has been in Australia.
His late scratching is a bitter blow for the NRL’s Vegas experiment, which was already robbed of Rabbitohs co-owner Russell Crowe’s presence due to a filming clash.
But Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys told Sunrise the week had already “exceeded all expectations”.
More than 40,000 tickets have been sold for the event, which will see the Roosters and Broncos face off after the Manly-Souths opener.
About 14,000 fans are believed to have flown over from Australia, and 3000 from England.
The Las Vegas strip is full of NRL jerseys but those from Australia and England will now make up less than half of the crowd.
“I didn’t realise it was going to be this big,” V’landys told Channel 7 from Vegas on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).
“I knew it was going to be big but this is just on another level.”
Meanwhile, the NRL is confident players will be safe within the tight confines of an NFL stadium as officials prepare to showcase the sport on its grandest ever scale.
The smaller size of an NFL field presents a number of hurdles for the NRL, who have already reduced the playing-field size by close to six metres in length and width.
The main challenges centre around the corners of the $2.9 billion stadium, where a wall stands a little over a metre away from the in-goal.
That wall is padded like high-jump mats with additional lining rested upon it on Friday to provide an extra layer of safety for players.
An athletics-track type surface is positioned around 1.2 metres from the sideline, meaning players could end up there when tackled and put into touch.
Astro-turf was laid over it on Friday around the in-goal, while more will be added to allow goal-kickers to take their usual run up for sideline conversions.
But the NRL is adamant the spaces around the corners are not dissimilar to smaller Australian suburban grounds and fields in England, including Old Trafford.
Officials also believe the extra padding arguably makes Allegiant Stadium safer than those given the double protection in the corners.
The ground was given the tick of approval by the four clubs and players’ association in the lead up to the event with all aware of the importance of the match.
“They’re going to be quite tight, but if we want to play on this field we need to play on these dimensions,” Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson said.
“I’m really proud and privileged to be here. The field looks special, it looks ready to go.”
NRL officials have left some references to last month’s Super Bowl on the turf.
The line marking and numbering has been done off NFL stencils, while the remnants of the champions’ Kansas City Chiefs logo deliberately remain towards the sideline.
“It’s is a real nice tip of the cap to the Super Bowl and to align that with rugby league,” Robinson said.
“The NFL, they’re proud of their sport, being only American. But it starts to get played in Germany and stuff like that.
“So why don’t we dream big enough to expand our game as well?”
– with AAP