Warriors coach Andrew Webster on how Lachlan Croker head wound set NRL apart

It was the moment which clearly showed the difference between the NFL and the literal blood, sweat, and tears of the NRL. Now, Warriors coach Andrew Webster is excited to get in on the action.

This is the blood-soaked image that shocked America — and proved rugby league is the “toughest game in the world.”

Warriors coach Andrew Webster watched Manly hooker Lachlan Croker courageously play on after copping a nasty head wound during last year’s Las Vegas game against Souths.

It was a brutal forehead cut after which Croker, dripping in blood, simply taped up and returned to the Vegas war.

Webster said the sheer sight of such an injury on a football player would have been confronting for American fans, who rarely witness such bloody brutality.

It was a moment which clearly set apart the NRL and NFL with US sports fans almost seduced by Croker’s show of bravery.

Webster, who Warriors will play Canberra at Allegiant Stadium on March 2, is well aware what stuns American fans given he was player-coach of the Connecticut Wildcats in 2005.

Manly hooker Lachlan Croker cops a cut in Vegas. Picture: Fox League

“Throwing the ball around with great skill, I think they would appreciate it a lot, but I can remember watching the game last year and I think it was Lachie Croker, from Manly, had blood on his face after five or 10 minutes,” Webster said.

“I’m not suggesting we want anyone getting cut or start bleeding but I think the Americans would have gone: ‘Wow, how hard and tough is this game?’

“We’ve grown up around it and a lot of the boys just get on with it, don’t they? If it’s not a concussion, it’s just a cut, let’s go. We don’t want that happening to anyone but I think our game offers something they don’t see.

“I believe it’s the toughest game in the world. Having lived in America for a while when I was younger, I think the spectacle they are probably after is people with no shoulder pads running hard at each other and big contact.

“That’s one element of the spectacle. It would be nice to play a great style of footy where you get that collision and combat while also seeing some skill.”

After watching Croker strap up the cut and continue playing, one American sports fan posted: “Another player is bleeding. Is this normal? Lachlan Croker is really banged up. This is like human cockfighting. But they play on! Jesus.”

Post-game, Croker explained how and why NRL players are so tough.

“This is the best bit about footy. Sitting in a jersey, covered in blood and sweat, and having a beer with your mates,’’ Croker reflected.

“It’s the reason why I will keep playing footy and keep playing the way I play.

“To perform the way we did (Manly won) and to celebrate it in the change room makes it all worth it. Right now, it’s hard to go past thinking it’s the best job in the world.”

The Warriors depart for Nevada this Saturday.