Such is the scope of rugby league’s gathering of the tribes in Las Vegas this week that when Matty Barron coached Ontario Ospreys to victory in the women’s division of the NRL Nines, the man who introduced him to rugby league in north-east England 25 years ago just happened to be in the crowd.
The Ospreys downed fellow Canadians BC Storm 16-10 in the final at the euphemistically-named Desert Breeze Park (the main camera for the stream blew off the scaffold and was irreparable) - a match-up that owes much to Canada’s appearances as the last two World Cups.
Transplanted Durham boy Matty Barron was their coach; like the boss of men’s winners Sacramento Immortals he is a product of rugby league expansion after himself having been recruited by the Shane Richardson-founded Gateshead Thunder at the turn of the century.
And Mick Hogan, who identified Baron all those years ago while working for Thunder, was standing on the sideline on Friday before heading out to Allegiant Stadium for a tour as part of his consultancy work with World Rugby.
“The whole premise of the side is, one: to have a representation for women in eastern Canada but also have a provincial side that they feeds into the Canada Ravens,” said Baron.
“One of the players, Sara Canini, she went away to the World Cup in England, came back and said ‘we’ve got to get something going because we’ll never fill that gap between [Canada and] England, Australia and New Zealand unless we start a domestic program.
“And I was asked to coach them.
“Mick was my original development officer. He found me in high school.”
The co-incidence is not unusual this week in Vegas, where a fan from Perpignan can pose for a photo with a retired English international before sharing a beer with a former USA Tomahawk and a NRL club board member.
The two-day women’s competition suffered an early setback when Riverton Seagulls withdrew. BC Storm and Chicago North Shore topped the table without any pool round defeats; the Chicago side beaten by Ospreys in the semis.
In the women’s under 18s competition, West Side Pitfalls topped the three-team table.
