The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are a professional rugby league side founded in 1934, and participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) in Australia.
1997
Lafoga Jordan Mailata (born 31 March 1997) is an Australian-born American football offensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL) and former rugby player.
He previously played rugby league for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs under-18s team and the South Sydney Rabbitohs on their under-20s team.
2007
This partnership was intact from 2007 until 2018, when the agreement ended.
It has been stated that Mailata was only offered a reserve-grade contract due to fitness and conditioning concerns.
The South Sydney coaching staff did not believe that Mailata would be able to physically keep up with the pace and nature of professional rugby league, due to the free-flowing play and limited stoppages in games.
Mailata was given the advice from his agency to "play a sport that appreciates his size".
Ultimately, Mailata declined the contract from the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
There was no bad sentiment between Mailata and the Rabbitohs after the contract offer, as Mailata stated "They gave me a chance. Without them, I wouldn't be here".
After seeing video clips of him playing rugby league, NFL executives invited Mailata to try out for their International Player Pathway Program.
Mailata had never played American football and admitted that his knowledge of the game was minimal, and also stated that he would watch only one NFL game a year, the Super Bowl.
2014
In 2014, Mailata fainted during a pre-season training session, one week before the Bulldog's first scheduled game in the S.G. Ball Cup.
The S.G. Ball Cup is an Under-18s rugby league football competition which is hosted in New South Wales.
This required surgery to repair both the upper and lower chambers of his heart.
He went on hiatus from rugby league for over a year.
During this time, it was reported that Mailata had jumped from 147 kilograms to 166 kilograms.
After coming back from surgery, Mailata and his two brothers Daniel and Moana played rugby league for Five Dock RSL Junior Rugby League in Five Dock, at the A-grade level in the Balmain competition.
It was in this competition that Mailata attracted the attention of Ben Rogers, a recruitment agent for the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
2015
Jordan Mailata grew up playing rugby league for the Bankstown Bulls, and was selected for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs' Under 18s team in 2015.
2017
Mailata was then offered the opportunity to join the South Sydney Rabbitohs' U20s team in 2017.
The South Sydney Rabbitohs offered Mailata a one-year contract worth $5000 to play for the North Sydney Bears.
The North Sydney Bears had a partnership with the South Sydney Rabbitohs in which they served as the Rabbitohs reserve grade team.
2018
He joined the NFL via the league's International Player Pathway Program and was selected in the seventh round, 233rd overall by the Eagles in the 2018 NFL Draft.
In February 2018, he went to IMG Academy in Florida to train under the supervision and guidance of coach Aden Durde.
During this training he was scouted by Jeff Stoutland, the offensive line coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.
During the player introductions for NBC Sunday Night Football, Mailata pays credit to Stoutland's mentorship, saying he attended "Jeff Stoutland University", having had no collegiate football experience before entering the NFL.
NFL scouts evaluated Mailata as a 5.5 prospect grade, which equates to a practice squad player with a chance to make the bottom-end of the official NFL roster.
Pre-draft scouting reports written about Mailata evaluated him as a "work in progress", and gave him the pro player comparison of Conor McDermott of the New York Jets.
In March 2018, Mailata attended a combine at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice facility, at One Buc Place.
The combine participants included 5 other international NFL prospects like Mailata, as well as a host of top-ranked college football prospects who did not receive an invite to the official NFL Combine.
Several general managers of NFL teams were present, including Jason Licht of the Buccaneers and Rick Spielman of the Minnesota Vikings.
Mailata received doubts from scouts through the NFL drafting process and combine, as his weaknesses were listed as "will require an extensive period of development to learn technique", and "has never played a single down of American football".
However, scouts did see positives in Mailata as they described him to have "very good physical traits" and "a tremendous size with a frame that carries weight well" due to his 6-foot-8 stature.
IMG Academy strength and conditioning trainer Jay Butler stated that he had "never had anybody that looks like that" in reference to Mailata's sub-20% body fat percentage and physical attributes.
Mailata was also extremely quick for his frame, as he recorded a 5.12 second time in the 40-yard dash at the combine, which was the 7th best time recorded for tackles at the NFL combine in February 2018.
Mailata also managed to record a 4.67 second time for the short shuttle, which would have equated to a top-10 score amongst left tackles at the official NFL combine.
Additionally, Mailata was able to achieve 22 reps at the combine bench press.
In response to his own performance, Mailata felt optimistic as he hoped that coaches would get "a chance to see the progress I have made as I try to master the position."
Mailata was selected by the Eagles with the 233rd overall pick in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Mailata became the second player to be drafted with no American high school or college experience after German Moritz Böhringer, following the path of compatriot Jarryd Hayne, who also converted from rugby league.
