WHEN Apple Pope tells fellow Americans he plays rugby league, the most common response is: "Is that the game with the stick?"

"Most people wouldn't have a clue, they always get it confused with lacrosse," said the 21-year-old biology student, who has been training with Souths in Jacksonville and could get a run in their match against Leeds this weekend at the University of North Florida.

Pope knew nothing about the sport, either, when he first started playing five years ago but has now become a league disciple in a country where being able to watch a game is almost as hard as finding a decent cup of coffee.

It's a pity because just about any American who has seen even a snippet of NRL highlights loudly sings the game's praises - and it's not just because they speak at megaphone volume.

"It's unbelievable, the game is constantly moving and there's a hell of a lot of contact," enthused former NFL linebacker Tom McManus, now a sports radio show host in Jacksonville. "People love that sort of stuff."

Jacksonville Jaguars star linebacker Mike Peterson is another fan. "It's a physical game, probably one of the top physical games," he said. "I've seen it on the TV, but not live, so I'm going to try and catch it on the weekend."

The comments show why South Sydney's decision to travel to the United States for a pre-season camp and the Leeds match has been so important for the game's development.

Despite the hype about the upcoming 42nd Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants, the presence of the Rabbitohs and Rhinos in Jacksonville has generated an awareness the sport has never previously had.

The Herald even met a fan wearing a retro Bulldogs jersey he had ordered over the internet, while the Souths and Leeds merchandise on sale at the game is unlikely to satisfy the demand of the anticipated 10,000 capacity crowd at Hodges Stadium.

"This is the first time two first-grade teams, one from Australia and one from Great Britain, have met outside their countries, and the support we have received in Jacksonville has made us feel incredibly welcome here," Rabbitohs co-owner Peter Holmes a Court said.

"We believe that we can capture a tiny, tiny share of the American sporting consciousness, we believe we can support the local American rugby league competition and we can leave a great memory in this town from our experience and hopefully return a number of times in the future."

With 35 local businesses having climbed on board as sponsors of the Australia Day Challenge and the city likely to subsidise a return match next year, it would seem foolish not to build on the foundations put in place this week. League must find new commercial opportunities, and what better place to start than the US?

Yet aside from the 10-team American National Rugby League, played mainly on the east coast, league barely exists in the US.

And it is played at all only because of the enthusiasm and generosity of team owners, such as ex-Queenslander Daryl "Spinner" Howland, who started the Jacksonville Axemen three years ago and last August quit as marketing manager of the Australian-themed Outback Steakhouse to work full-time on organising the Souths-Leeds game.

It was Howland who convinced Pope to take up a game he had never even seen. He is now the Axemen's hooker.

"I had been playing American football since I was eight years old so the hitting and the contact came natural," Pope said. "Passing backwards and kicking was something that took a bit of work but I just watched any videos of the game that we could find because it's hardly ever on TV."

If it were, there is little doubt the game would at least develop a niche market. "Television is the key over here, anything that is on TV people tend to buy into," Peterson said.

Australia's Channel Nine is to show the game, but has yet to decide on scheduling.

Brad Walter's trip to the US was funded by the South Sydney Rabbitohs.