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Lacrosse down under: NLL All-Star series impresses Australian fans
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NLL All-Stars promote the LeasePlan Cup during media availability in Melbourne (Photo: NLL.com)
Over 7,000 Australians watched two teams of National Lacrosse League All-Stars and a handful of local players face each other in the first ever professional lacrosse games in their country this past week. The NLL hosted the first ever LeasePlan Cup - NLL All Star Series in the Hisense Arena located in Melbourne on Friday and Saturday, bringing the sport of professional box lacrosse to a nation looking to grow its national lacrosse programs.
The two game series matched up East All-Stars against West All-Stars. Both teams incorporated a few Australian born lacrosse players from the Williamstown, Eltham and MCC Lacrosse Clubs. In the past few years, several Australian players have appeared at NLL training camps, and have come close to gaining roster spots, providing the groundwork for the LeasePlan Cup to take place.
Led by former NLL MVPs Mark Steenhuis (Buffalo Bandits), Gary Gait (Rochester Knighthawks) and John Grant, Jr. (Rochester Knighthawks), the East All-Stars swept the series. In game one, Steenhuis scored 6 goals on route to a 24-16 victory. Game 2 was a bit tighter, with the East prevailing in a 20-19 final. Grant, who missed last NLL season due to a serious knee injury, showed that he didn't lose a step in the NLL world by scoring 6 goals during Game 2, including 3 in the fourth quarter.
Game 2 was not without some drama, as two of the Australian players, Wes Green (Williamstown) and Keith Nyberg (Eltham), came to blows during the third period. In addition to seeing a lacrosse fight, the Melbourne crowd was treated to quite a few highlight reel goals from Grant, Gait, Shawn Evans (Rochester Knighthawks) and Dane Dobbie (Calgary Roughnecks.)
LeasePlan, a fleet and vehicle management company, was the naming rights sponsor for the series, with Zaidee's Rainbow Foundation, an Australian organ and tissue donation program, being the official charity of the event. According to Boston Blazer Kyle Ross's blog for NLL.com, both All-Star Teams wore rainbow shoelaces during the games to represent the charity's work.
Jordan Hall of the Orlando Titans remarked in his NLL.com trip blog that being a part of the series was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. "In the NLL we don't make enough to turn down fantastic opportunities like this one," he wrote earlier in the trip. "I think most guys in the league try and help grow the game as much as possible."
For more information: Hall and Ross's blogs from Australia can be found on the NLL website. (Hall's Pro and Con entry is hysterical.)
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