Throwing the Pigskin Down Under

Australian NGL Attracts North American Football Players and Coaches

SportsTristan D’Amours — Published May 10, 2016

“I double checked. I had people ask me if I considered playing rugby so I had to make sure it wasn’t Aussie rules football or rugby,” said Armstrong. “The last thing I needed was to go down there and play rugby because I’ve never played it before.”

Just a few months later, Armstrong became a part of the North Coast Heat. The team will play in the inaugural season of the National Gridiron League, Australia’s first attempt at professional American football. The season is set to begin this fall.

Armstrong googled the league and found the NGL recruitment page on its website. He filled the recruitment form and included highlights from his time with the Concordia Stingers.

His form ended up on the desk of Kirk Mastromatteo, the director of football operations at the NGL. His role with the league is quite unique. Mastromatteo acts “in the North American terms as the general manager of all the ball clubs.”

“Shaquille was a young man that was identified early on in the system,” said Mastromatteo. Through our evaluations we said ‘hey this guy can play at our level,’ so we got involved with him at that time and from there he got allocated to the North Coast [Heat] team.”

Mastromatteo deals with hundreds of players on a daily basis. He evaluates players’ profiles, and if he likes what he sees, he offers them a contract with the league. The players are then allotted to one of the eight teams located in the states of New South Wales and Queensland.

After being allocated to North Coast, Armstrong started researching the area and was happy with it. From the pictures he saw, it reminded him “of a Miami.” He thought that being told he would play with the Heat was a little strange, but understood the league’s perspective.

“[…] they do their own sort of draft as to what kind of player they want as they come into the league,” said Armstrong. “I guess they also want to keep the teams as equal position-wise and player personnel-wise.”

American football being American football, the best leagues are on the North American continent and the players know this full well. Despite wanting to be a starter and major contributor to the North Coast squad next season, Armstrong doesn’t hide the fact that he would like to return to North America to play but he doesn’t cross out a longer term stay in Australia.

“As of right now I look at [the NGL] as a stepping stone to coming back and playing in North America,” said Armstrong. “As long as it’s something I’m enjoying, the salary is competitive enough [between the NGL and the North American leagues], and I’m on a team that I’m happy with.”

Granted, some see the NGL as a good way to showcase themselves for a possible return on North American soil. However, league executives like Mastromatteo are simply trying to beat the iron while it’s hot for a sport that was still floating at the amateur level as early as last year.

“We’re coming here in the Australian market at the right time,” said Mastromatteo. “American football is very popular right now with Jarryd Hayne leaving the NRL and crossing over into the NFL.”

Hayne, then an all-star rugby player in the National Rugby League, shocked everyone when he decided to make a 180 degree turn and play American football. He travelled to the other side of the globe and signed a contract on March 3, 2015 with the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL.

“You see a lot of younger people getting interested so we’re hoping to capitalize on that interest at this time and move forward with it,” said Mastromatteo.

Despite holding a national combine, an event held to give an opportunity to players from Australia, New Zealand, or internationals holding an Australian visa to make it in the league, the sport doesn’t have a whole lot of natural football players. The NGL, which is set to begin this fall, will have a heavy foreign influence. Out of the 40-man roster, 35 can come from outside of Australia.

Five of the 40 however have to be what Mastromatteo calls “national players.” The NGL takes the gamble that all those international players will help develop the native players and therefore, help out the sport’s popularity.

The influx of coaching is also a big asset to the NGL’s plan, as 60 American coaches from the professional, college and high school level will be flying to Australia this fall. In the long term, Mastromatteo wants the knowledge of theses coaches to transcend the gridiron.

American coaches like Alex Suber, who as early as last year was a player in the Canadian Football League, has accepted his first job as part of the Logan Wolverines coaching staff. Suber will not only be asked to develop the game in Australia, but will develop as a coach at the same time.

“I’ve known [Suber] for a long time, knew his brother and I had an opportunity to get him involved, so we went ahead and hired him on and he’s going to be a hell of a young coach,” said Suber. “He’s going to bring a lot of experience as a player, knowing the position. And he is an international guy so he adds a lot of value.”

Suber, who signed a one-day contract to retire with the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers in January, is grateful for the opportunity that was offered to him from Mastromatteo and the NGL. By moving down under, he will have an opportunity that would probably not have presented itself in North America.

“It’s kinda hard to get in as a position coach when you’re at your first year without having experience coaching college,” said Suber. “[Mastromatteo] told me he would give me an opportunity to speak to one of the coaches, we had about three phone interviews, we had some good talk and it worked out.”

Suber doesn’t take the league as a stepping stone for a move elsewhere for now. He is committed to learning the trade and offering his experience of playing professionally for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Toronto Argonauts and Middle Tennessee State in the American college ranks.

“I had a lot of good guys coaching me and some older guys taking me under their wing when I came in,” said Suber. “I’m not a stranger to coaching guys up and seeing things in other players that I can help out with so I feel like I’ve been preparing myself for this throughout my career.”

Despite having a desk full of ambitions, which includes competing with leagues like the CFL down the line, developing football down under is penned on their to-do list with coaching clinics and camps to expect.

“These things will come down the line,” said Mastromatteo. “Year one is to bring the product down the field but as we move forward, we’re not just here to play our game, we want to develop the sport, develop the game here in Australia.”