No scandal in Sin City: Top Vegas cop praises exemplary behaviour of NRL stars

Las Vegas’ top police officer has praised the off-field behaviour of the NRL stars after they finished their stint in Sin City scandal free.

Lieutenant Kendall Bell, who has been patrolling the Strip for almost a quarter of a century, has been liaising with players and clubs about the pitfalls of the notorious entertainment precinct.

He even made his personal phone number available to every player and urged them to use it should they find themselves in a compromising situation. He didn’t field a single call.

“There have been no issues whatsoever,” Bell told this masthead on Sunday morning [US time], after the completion of the NRL’s historic double-header the previous evening.

“Everyone was respectable. They did everything we liked them to do. I hope they had a great time as well. I would like to think they enjoyed themselves and did so responsibly.”

The biggest concern for league officials was the prospect of players playing up after finishing their footballing commitments on Saturday night. However, there were no dramas from them or the tens of thousands of touring fans who made the trek from Australia.

“We had no problem with the people who came over as well,” Bell said. “It went great this weekend.”

The prospect of an off-field scandal loomed over an otherwise successful event. A crowd of just over 40,000 was officially announced at Allegiant Stadium and the only unsavoury headline was an alleged racial slur directed at Broncos playmaker Ezra Mam from Roosters forward Spencer Leniu.

Bell spoke to clubs and senior players before they made the trip and warned them about Vegas’ pitfalls, which include sex traps, drug busts and extortion attempts. Happily, he reported no issues and said that most players would have spent Saturday night in bed or “if they went out they didn’t do anything”.

“I’d like to think [they heeded my advice]. Either that or they are all grown men, they know what’s expected of them,” Bell said.

“There’s also what they heard from their teams. They didn’t want to come out here and have a poor showing for themselves, for their team and their country.

“And maybe a little bit [was due] to what we talked about. However and whatever path they chose to take, they did a fine job.”

The NRL plans to take games to Vegas for a further four years and Bell said they were very welcome.

“This would be a great event to have annually,” he said.

“The announced crowd was about 40,000 for the event last night. That shows [an interest] right there, that’s [only] 12,000 to 15,000 less than we get to football games.

“That’s a great showing. It would be great to have them back, that it be an annual event. I was on duty somewhere else at another venue, but I was watching on the TV. I’ve got to say, there were some pretty good hits in that game. I was like ‘Ouch!’

“They were jumping for that ball when it’s coming in and the commitment was pretty crazy.

“We had no problems at all, the game was fantastic, the crowd was fantastic and the players were fantastic.

“I think it got off to a great start, next year will be better.

“In trying to grow the brand, come out here and fill the stadium with 40,000 people, everybody had a great time. I can only imagine next year will be far more successful.”

Adrian Proszenko’s trip to Las Vegas was funded by the NRL.

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