Day 1 in Aus: Las Vegas Combine winners impress in women’s National Championships hitouts

Las Vegas combine winners MarCaya Bailous and Megan Pakulis will tour NRLW clubs next week after putting on a show for coaches at the National Championships.

Forget North America, Australia is the land of opportunity.

When it comes to rugby league, anyway.

NRL Las Vegas combine winners MarCaya Bailous, a 21-year-old winger, and Megan Pakulis, a 27-year-old lock, arrived in Queensland for the women’s National Championships this week to experience a taste of the game on Australian soil.

After years of training and playing in North America, this is their chance to be seen and schmooze with NRLW coaches with hopes of landing a deal.

“That’s the end goal to all of this, to secure an NRL contract and come out to Australia and play and learn more about the country and the people, and especially rugby league,” Bailous, who hails from Cleveland, Ohio, says.

NRL Combine winners MarCaya Bailous and Megan Pakulis. Pic: Jackal

The pair have been in camp with the First Nation Gems for the tournament which finishes on the Gold Coast on Sunday.

They’ll then embark on a tour around the east coast of Australia, visiting NRLW clubs in Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Canberra and Newcastle.

Both are expected to land deals.

Bailous stunned at the combine earlier this month with a 20 metre sprint time of 3.08sec, the fastest of the female athletes, as well as a 1.2 kilometre bronco run in 5.59 mins.

MarCaya Bailous scored a try against Victoria. Credit: NRL Images.

On Thursday she scored her first try for the Gems with a speedy effort down the touchline in a 26-6 win over Victoria.

Pakulis, from Ontario, Canada, impressed with her strength on a 75 kilogram bench press.

She scored Canada’s first international try at the 2017 World Cup against Kiwi Ferns, and was named in the team of the tournament in the 2022 World Cup.

Since, she has been trying to find her way into the NRLW by sending video to coaches in Australia.

“Leading into this it’s opened my eyes a bit more and given me the chance to be a little bit more direct, being so far away from Australia and trying to play the best I can in Canada and trying to find opportunities to showcase from there has been hard,” Pakulis says.

Las Vegas combine participant Megan Pakulis playing in the Women's National Championships on the Gold Coast. Credit: NRL Images.

“This feels like a really good stepping stone and hopefully if it’s not this year it’s next year.

“Just by showing we’re capable.

“Doing it from home is a lot of sending film over and trying to communicate with coaches, so this was a great opportunity to show them who we are as players, they get to know us and then any communication is face-to-face.

“This has been great but it’s nice to see the talent over here, it’s much different over here than in North America.”

They’ll finish their rugby league tour by attending Broncos v Cowboys at Suncorp Stadium next Friday night before returning home on March 31.

“I love how organised it is over here, everyone plays footy. For me, I love the love they have for rugby league, and also how they appreciate each other. It’s such a nice sense of community,” Bailous says.

The NRLW season kicks off on July 25.

Originally published as Day 1 in Aus: Las Vegas Combine winners impress in women’s National Championships hitouts