Sydney Roosters skipper Anthony Minichiello and his Waratahs counterpart Dave Dennis would love to see the much-talked about hybrid game between the Kangaroos and the Wallabies become a reality after the two sides shared a rare cross-code training session on Tuesday.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson and and Waratahs mentor Michael Cheika put the sides through the paces for an intense hour-long session at Moore Park which included a number of defensive and tackling exercises straddling the skills required in both rugby league and rugby union.
With both sides enjoying a bye weekend, Robinson and Cheika, who are friends from their time coaching in France, took the opportunity to mix up their training schedules.
Dennis said after beginning to understand some of the demands of the rival code, that a hybrid game between each game’s best players would be a great thing for fans and players alike.
“It would be good for the general public and the players, it just depends on how you run it, whether you play a half of league and a half of union and see who comes out the other side or you try and blend the rules,” he said.
“Obviously there are enough rules in rugby as it is to confuse people so I don’t know whether the hybrid blend game would work, just two teams playing against each other it would be interesting and it would be fun for us.
“We got a taste of what they do and it is quite tough and if they had to execute some of our style on the field they might struggle too, so it would be a good test.
“Anyone who likes competing would enjoy the opportunity, hopefully down the line something might come up.”
Like Dennis, 18-time Australian representative Minichiello said it would be hard to say who would come out on top of a Kangaroos-Wallabies match but that would be a definite crowd puller.
“It has been a debate that has circled around for some time now and I think it would be pretty cool to watch and the fans out there would like to see it happen so I am all for it,” he said.
“It is hard to say who would win but I think it would be great entertainment that is for sure and the fans would enjoy it.”
