The LRL Las Vegas Diary: Fremont Street, on the Warrington team bus and celebrity spotting

In the second part of his Las Vegas diary, Ross Heppenstall reports from Sin City for Love Rugby League.

He details an exclusive coach ride with the Warrington Wolves team en-route to a huge fan fest on the iconic Fremont Street.

There is so much going on in Las Vegas that you simply cannot do everything.

The NRL have done an amazing job in organising the week for all the teams and providing a huge raft of opportunities for the media – and fans – to mix with the players.

All eight teams have had a training session at the UFC Performance Institute in Vegas in the build-up to Saturday’s quadruple header.

There have also been daily media sessions for all the sides and signing sessions for supporters.

On Thursday, here at the Resorts World fan hub, there were signing sessions for Warrington Wolves, Penrith Panthers and England women.

Hundreds of Wire fans turned out to see their heroes, with head coach Sam Burgess having arrived the previous night after finally securing his visa.

A handful of journalists and I also spoke to Wigan boss Matt Peet in the early afternoon during an informal media briefing.

Peet was on decent form, discussing a range of issues from Wigan’s rivalry with Warrington, the enormity of the occasion this weekend, and Super League’s burgeoning relationship with the NRL.

Kris Radlinski was also on hand to chew the fat before everyone – and I mean everyone – headed to Fremont Street in the evening for the NRL Fan Event.

The Fremont Street Experience is in Downtown Las Vegas and is basically a huge mall packed with casinos and bars.

One by one, all eight teams arrived on the red carpet before going on stage where players and coaches were interviewed in front of the raucous crowd.

A couple of colleagues and I were in reception at Resorts World as Wigan and Warrington squads prepared to board their coach to Fremont Street just before 5pm.

Shaun Wane had arrived to join the Wigan party which included club legend and ambassador Martin Offiah.

We got talking to Karl Fitzpatrick and said we were about to book an Uber into town.

“Jump on our bus and come with us,” said Karl, and we gratefully accepted his kind offer. I got chatting to Wire forward James Harrison on our way into town on the Warrington coach.

James is a top guy and I have followed his career closely since his early days at Batley Bulldogs. We have done a few articles down the years and he is now an England international.

He’s certainly come a long way since doing work experience with me at the Telegraph & Argus in Bradford as part of his sports journalism degree almost a decade ago!

Burgess’ squad had trained with Penrith earlier in the day and upon arrival at Fremont Street it was clear how popular this fan event was.

Apparently thousands of fans turned out last year but this time the numbers were even bigger, bolstered by a massive turnout of Wigan and Warrington supporters.

But again there were followers of many English clubs – including Hull FC, Hull Kingston Rovers and Huddersfield Giants – here to join the party.

More English rugby league journalists had arrived too and Fremont Street was another who’s who of rugby league.

It was another impressive cast list of former players, such as former Wigan star Pat Richards, Brisbane legend Petero Civoniceva, ex-Kiwis captain Simon Mannering and many, many more.

Karl Harrison – legendary former Great Britain international and father of Warrington star James – was also on Fremont Street with a large group of family.

Karl’s wife Suzanne, brother Paul and his family, and the former Batley and Bradford player Glen Tomlinson and his son were in the group.

Music played and alcohol slipped down willing throats as Wiganers, Warrington fans, Aussies and Kiwis all mixed happily. Bonhomie was everywhere.

We then got an Uber back to Resorts World and bumped into members of the Warrington squad and spotted some Wigan players in the casino.

And then, after a delightful pulled pork sandwich in one of the many restaurants here at Resorts World, it was time to call it a day, refuel and get ready to do it all again tomorrow.

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