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From Gridiron to Rugby League: Kevonta Moses - Atlanta Copperheads Vegas 9s · WCBH

• 0:24
  Hey, it's Cam with a WCBH mini episode, so get your strapping strapped,
• 0:28
  the magic sponge doused, and the oranges cut chilled and quartered.
• 0:31
  As we catch up with Kavonte Moses, Kavonte is a USA Rugby League player.
• 0:37
  Kavonte, welcome to WCBH.
• 0:39
  All right, man. Thanks for having me. Start off by just giving us a little bit
• 0:43
  of your back. Oh, well, I played college football.
• 0:48
  In high school, I played basketball, football, track, anything I could get my
• 0:52
  hands on. And I learned about rugby after my final year of college,
• 0:58
  doing my pro day against a sit night.
• 1:00
  Results to a couple teams around the world that play rugby, and that's when I got introduced.
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  So I've been having fun, loving the game. I'm still learning, honestly.
• 1:12
  It's so good to hear that Rugby League and Rugby Union is there in America.
• 1:18
  When you refer to rugby, are you talking about Rugby League or Rugby Union?
• 1:23
  Honestly, I got into rugby union first. So, yeah, I usually talk about union.
• 1:29
  When I say rugby league, I just usually say league. But, yeah,
• 1:34
  our main one here is union.
• 1:36
  So in terms of league, what position do you play? Honestly, I don't know.
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  And I would call you a front rower or a prop.
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  And is there an Australian player from the NRL that you've modelled your game
• 1:49
  on or that you think that you play pretty similar to?
• 1:51
  Honestly, I don't get a chance to watch them as much. I work as a teacher during
• 1:56
  the day, and then at night I got another job.
• 1:59
  So I just work out and work all the time, and I barely watch any rugby.
• 2:04
  That's why I'm still learning. That's why I barely know my position.
• 2:07
  All right. I'm going to send you some links after we finish of a player called Jason Talmalolo.
• 2:13
  He's a prop forward for the North Queensland Cowboys. When I've watched your
• 2:17
  highlights, you seem to play very similar to Jason Taumalolo.
• 2:23
  And like you're big, you only know one way and that's Ford.
• 2:27
  But what surprised me is how quick you are in that highlights package.
• 2:31
  How big and how fast are you? Yeah.
• 2:35
  Well, I don't know my kg and centimeters, you know, but if you could translate
• 2:41
  that to your fast, 6'1 1⁄2 and 235 pounds.
• 2:48
  So the fast I ran in the 40-yard dash, I don't know if y'all measure like that,
• 2:53
  but I ran a 4.55, but I was like 220 when I did that.
• 2:57
  So I probably won't run that fast in Vegas, but I'll try to keep it close.
• 3:03
  Well, they're pretty impressive stats. So 235, I'd say I'd need to do the calculations,
• 3:09
  but you'd be over 100 kg and 6'1", that would be a little bit taller than the
• 3:15
  average, but it sounds like you're very fast as well.
• 3:18
  So pretty impressive out there on the field.
• 3:20
  What's your favorite thing about playing rugby league?
• 3:23
  My favorite thing, I'll just talk about this today, I love playing both ways.
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  Like in college football with the competition, either you play offense or defense,
• 3:31
  unless you're on a really bad team or you're the guy from Colorado, Travis.
• 3:36
  But, yeah, so I like being able to hit people, man. I used to only catch the ball and block.
• 3:43
  So now I get to tackle people. So I like that. Okay, fantastic. So in –.
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  In American football, you played in the offensive team, is that right?
• 3:53
  Yeah, I played wide receiver and tight end, so I got to do some forward passes
• 3:58
  before I switched over to rugby.
• 3:59
  Yeah, okay, I learned how to pass the ball backwards and you get to tackle as well.
• 4:03
  And in the Vegas Nines, you're playing for the Atlanta Copperheads.
• 4:09
  Do you also play for them in a domestic competition in the U.S.?
• 4:14
  Yes, we do. like I was saying earlier, we play, we used to be the Southwest Florida Copperheads.
• 4:20
  Last summer was our last year here in Florida. So starting next summer,
• 4:25
  well, summer of this year, we're going to be switching over to Atlanta.
• 4:29
  Okay. So relocation of the franchise from Florida up to Atlanta.
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  And at the Vegas Nines, I see that the Copperheads are putting in a couple of
• 4:38
  teams in the men's premier division, the women's premier division and the men's community division.
• 4:44
  So So Copperheads is one of the bigger, more successful rugby league organizations
• 4:50
  there in the States? Oh, yeah, definitely.
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  And then we got the two different cities. So a lot of our guys from Florida,
• 4:58
  they want to come play one last time with the guys.
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  And we get to meet the Atlanta guys or the people that are going to be making
• 5:04
  the trip to play for the team still.
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  So it's a good time to have this event for us because we get to do some team
• 5:10
  bonding and see what our skills are like. and you've got a pretty cool logo
• 5:14
  and jersey colours there.
• 5:16
  I've had a look at your draw in the Vegas Nines. You've got the Sacramento Immortals,
• 5:21
  NCR All-Stars, Renegades Wide Bay and Uniting Sporting Club.
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  Do you know much about the opposition that you'll be taking on?
• 5:28
  No, those all sound like some West Coast teams, and we usually only play here on the East Coast.
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  So I think it'll be my first time meeting these guys. I'm not sure.
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  We got other guys that are very experienced.
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  We got Wes Piggins. He's another USA team guy, and he won't be playing because
• 5:46
  he'll be playing against Scotland that weekend, guys.
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  When you're at Vegas, keep an eye out for a Darwin team. We've got one team over there.
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  It's called Garamila Duovata. they're playing in
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  the women's community division that's the that's the team
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  from my town one of the big things that
• 6:03
  about rugby league in the states it's promoted as no
• 6:06
  helmets and no pads how do you feel about that that's what
• 6:10
  I left out when I was talking about my favorite things about rugby I left that
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  out because now my stiff arms are more effective there's no helmet protecting
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  you from it now so I love it there's no helmets no pad sounds like you love
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  the defensive aspect of rugby league as well. Do you follow a team down under?
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  I did see a team, Coogee Wombats. Okay. So I've been watching them a little bit. Okay.
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  I don't know what division they are. I don't think they're NRL.
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  I think they're like a club team, but they're pretty good. And we played against
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  them in Naples a few years ago when I was playing off and on.
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  And they're the cool guys.
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  So I like to go and support them, watch as much of their stuff as I can.
• 6:51
  Yeah. So they're a Sydney-based team, the Coogee Wombats.
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  And I see that they're over there at the nines. But maybe I'll help you out
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  a bit later and suggest some NRL teams that you could follow.
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  Do you get the NRL on streaming services over there?
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  I know here we've seen a huge explosion in the accessibility of the NFL.
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  So a lot of Australians, like myself, will really start to follow the NFL now
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  because we can pick a team and we can watch the games week in,
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  week out through the streaming services.
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  Oh, yeah, we definitely get a lot of NRL and rugby stuff here.
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  Our rugby house here has a lot of nights where they come over and watch the game with us.
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  So I remember the last game I got to watch, it was college players,
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  but they were huge. It was like North versus South or something.
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  I think it was the States game or something like that. Okay,
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  that might be Queensland versus New South Wales State of Origin.
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  That's probably one of the biggest games or three games in a year.
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  After the Vegas Nines, will you get an opportunity to go to a Legion stadium
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  and watch the NRL season opener?
• 7:57
  Yes, I will. I'm excited for that. Happy stuff, right?
• 8:00
  Yeah, I would imagine. So that will be so good. You'll get to see three games,
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  two NRL games, so four teams coming over from Australia, and then two teams
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  coming over from England. I think it's Leeds and Hull KR, the defending premiers from England.
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  How good is that stadium, a Legion? Have you been there before?
• 8:18
  I haven't. I'm excited to see it. And it's going to save me some money because
• 8:21
  I'll be in Vegas probably losing.
• 8:23
  So, I guess that's set up for us. Very good. Who do you follow in the NFL?
• 8:28
  I like my home team. I'm from Georgia, so I like the Falcons,
• 8:30
  even though we don't do well.
• 8:34
  Yeah, I've been following the Cincinnati Bengals for the last couple of seasons,
• 8:39
  but I'd love to get over to the States one day and get to one of the SoFi Stadium or Allegiant.
• 8:47
  I'd also like to get up to see the Buffalo Bills play in one of those really
• 8:52
  cold, cold climate games.
• 8:55
  But, yeah, you won't catch me there. Good luck. Not a fan of that cold weather.
• 9:00
  That's what I'm thinking about Australia. I'd rather dry out in the desert.
• 9:04
  Yeah, well, speaking about Australia, like any plans one day maybe to come down
• 9:08
  and watch an NRL game or play some ball down here?
• 9:11
  Yeah, I'm looking for opportunities to try to play some ball.
• 9:14
  I just got my passport, and I'm trying to work on getting me a skill visa so
• 9:19
  I can be there for a few years because, you know, I teach, so hopefully I need
• 9:23
  some teachers and bowlers, so I'll be there.
• 9:26
  Well, let's talk about that a little bit later as well because that sounds like
• 9:30
  a great prospect for a rugby league club who's looking for a gun front row forward.
• 9:34
  Hey, we've been talking with Kavonte Moses from the Copperheads,
• 9:37
  from the Atlanta Copperheads.
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  He's about to participate in the Las Vegas Nines as part of the NRL season opener.
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  Kavonte, thanks so much for joining us on WCBH.
• 9:49
  Thanks for having me, man. It's fun talking to you. I learned a lot.
• 9:52
  And that's full-time on this WCBH mini.