Chad Townsend collapses on plane to NRL Las Vegas

“Kick-off [is] 8pm on Saturday, don’t miss it,” she said.

Former Sharks half collapses on plane to Vegas

Chad Townsend collapsed on the flight to Las Vegas and woke up with an oxygen mask before being helped off the plane by paramedics.

Townsend said he was grateful there was a doctor on the flight who assisted him, as well as a nurse, who is the wife of Newcastle legend Kurt Gidley.

“I was sitting in my seat on the flight, I started to feel nauseous – I was getting hot and cold flushes – then I started sweating to the point my chest was completely wet,” Townsend said on Wednesday in Las Vegas.

“I went to get up and go to the toilet and then fainted. The next minute, I had an oxygen mask attached to my mouth and was getting my blood pressure taken. My blood pressure was really high.

“There was a doctor on board, his name was Jimmy, and Kurt’s wife, Brooke Gidley, who is a nurse. The two of them were amazing and really took care of me.

“The doctor told me he thought I was dehydrated, and the altitude got to me. It scared me. They kept the oxygen on me the rest of the trip, they kept monitoring my blood pressure, and as we descended into LA, my blood pressure returned to normal.

“As we landed, the paramedics came on the flight, got me off the plane, took my blood pressure again, and told me I was free to go.

“I jumped on the connecting flight and flew to Vegas. I’m fine now. I haven’t had much sleep. A lot of people have reached out, which is great.”

Townsend, who won a premiership with the Sharks in 2016 and spent three seasons at the Cowboys, planned to catch up with some of his former North Queensland teammates on Wednesday afternoon local time.

The 35-year-old had not been drinking on the flight.

“I don’t want to touch a drop of alcohol right now,” he said.

Dogs fans to march to Allegiant Stadium

Three of the Bulldogs’ club legends, James Graham, Terry Lamb, and Josh Reynolds, are expected to lead a club march from Mandalay Bay hotel to Allegiant Stadium this weekend, complete with a marching band.

Graham has Triple M commitments, but was keen to get there in time for the special occasion.

“The Bulldogs fans are very proud and very loud; they’re making Las Vegas their own,” Graham told us.

The Englishman spent three seasons with the Dogs’ rivals, St George Illawarra, but made it clear who he would be rooting for.

“I really enjoyed my time at the Dragons; it was fantastic, but I’m very much proud to be a Bulldog. I’m doing some stuff for the club, and I’m enjoying my time back at Canterbury,” Graham said.

One Dogs’ player who is sure to stand out this weekend is Viliame Kikau, who has grown back his trademark mohawk hairstyle and bleached it again.

Tough betting conditions

One of the reasons behind the NRL’s decision to take games to Las Vegas was to tap into the local sports betting market, but local punters are taking longer than expected to come around to betting on rugby league.

ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys said: “We’re confident we can get it going, but it’s taking a bit more time than we thought. Americans can still bet on rugby league. The biggest [online bookies] here are FanDuel and DraftKings, but they’re not holding much money on the games because they’re not promoting it as well as they should be.

“The Super Bowl just held $26 billion in turnover. If a fraction of that bet on the league, I’d be happy.”

Mailata’s ritual performances

Las Vegas Raiders defensive tackle Thomas Booker IV played with NFL rivals the Philadelphia Eagles and loved his time with Australian teammate Jordan Mailata, who had a quirky pre-training ritual.

“Jordan is a man of many, many talents, and before practice, he would sit there and sing – and he has a voice,” Booker told us.

“He would sing, if someone had a ukulele or guitar, they would do that before or after practice to set the right vibe. He was such a great dude.”

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Mailata and his dulcet tones proved a hit on season seven of The Masked Singer in the US.

Beattie takes a dip

Spotted enjoying a morning swim at Resorts World in Las Vegas was former Queensland premier Peter Beattie. A former chairman of the ARL Commission, Beattie remains a commissioner and is in town along with other commissioners including Megan Davis and Tony McGrath.

Also spotted having a morning dip were Bulldogs pair Jacob Kiraz and Bailey Hayward.