Kruise Leeming soaks up Las Vegas experience ahead of historic quadruple-header at home of NFL giants

The 29-year-old was in Sin City alongside Warrington Wolves star Matty Ashton, with the pair soaking up experiences alongside promotion for the quadruple-header in March.

Both Leeming and England international Ashton enjoyed the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Las Vegas, with advertising at the race, while they also visited the UFC performance institute, spending time with bantamweight world champion Merab Dvalishvili and Hall of Famer Forrest Griffin.

“It was my first time visiting Vegas – I was in America on holiday anyway and then got the phone call while I was over there to go and do some truly life-changing experiences and promote the game a little bit,” Leeming told Super League’s official website.

“So, I added Vegas to my trip and travelled over there – I went to the NFL game, the F1 and the UFC performance institute.

“It was great, and you could sort of say it was like a once in a lifetime trip – I feel very lucky and grateful for the opportunity.”

During their stay, the Super League pair also visited Allegiant Stadium - home to NFL giants Las Vegas Raiders - with the 65,000-capacity stadium to host the historic event on March 1, with two NRL matches and an international battle between England Women and reigning world champions Australia Jillaroos.

“It was a surreal atmosphere,” added Leeming, having attended the clash between Raiders and Denver Broncos. “It was brilliant and I was watching it from a different lens, whereas before when watching games, I’m either watching rugby league on Sky Sports or just as big sporting events, but I’ve never had the chance of envisaging myself playing at that venue [Allegiant Stadium].

“So, although I was watching the NFL game as a spectator and a fan, I also had one eye on us [Wigan] being there in March.”

Officials are hoping for a near-capacity crowd for the mouth-watering event, with 40,000 having enjoyed the first NRL double-header in the United States last year.

Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves will kick-off the action in March, live on Sky Sports, with around 10,000 British fans expected to make the journey.

Leeming continued: “It’s one of those opportunities where the whole of rugby league and Super League in general is winning.

“It’s one of them where even if I wasn’t part of this fixture or if Wigan weren’t a part of it, you’d still sit back as a fan and realise that Super League and all the teams - even though week in and week out you’re all against each other - would be so proud to see our game being represented out there.

“With the NRL there as well and an international women’s game too, the whole of rugby league is winning on that day.”

“It’s very good for the game and shows those steps forward we’re making.”