Latino rugby league players eating tacos at Guzman y Gomez, F.Valley. Jonathan Espinoza and Sebastian Maja with their lunch. Pic Chris Higgins Source: Chris Higgins / News Limited
IN WHAT may be a first for rugby league, Fortitude Valley's nightclubs have actually helped the sport.
League's boldest pioneers, the Latin Heat have little idea who Greg Inglis is.
Several team members were introduced to the code amid salsa music and tequila. But they are pouring their heart into the 13-man game.
A collection of bouncers, scientists, cleaners and university students, the Heat make their international debut against the Philippines Tamaraws on the Gold Coast in a fortnight.
Captain Jonathan Espinoza, who dominated the University league competition last season with an incredible 27-metre average per hit-up, is adamant Latin America is a potential goldmine for NRL clubs in future years.
They just have to make Latinos aware of the sport first, even if it means pitching in night clubs.
"Latino and rugby league aren't used in the same sentence much," said Espinoza, born in Australia to Chilean and Nicaraguan parents.
"The guys have heard of Maradona and Lionel Messi but not Darren Lockyer.
"There is rugby union in places like Argentina and Chile but people are oblivious to rugby league.
"We have the skill and talent to make a good league side and we want to start it here and take it back to Latin America."
Diego Lopez Pinto and Fernando Villegas play for the Latin Heat rugby league team. Picture: Peter Cronin Source: News Limited
The Heat players' English ranges from excellent to non-existent, and their sponsor is South American food outlet Guzman y Gomez.
They all hail from throughout Latin America, with brilliantly named backrower Juan David emigrating from the Columbian town Pablo Escobar made famous, Medellin.
In existence for just 11 months, the Heat have recruited 50 players in Brisbane and Sydney.
They have fallen in love with league as a means of learning more about Australia and adapting to their new homes.
"One of our sponsors has regular events at a nightclub and a lot of Latin boys come in and they ask about us playing rugby," Espinoza said.
"We tell them to come along and while they are a little intoxicated when we ask them they love it when they start training.
"Some of them could be good enough to play in the Queensland Cup and who knows from there.
"It is a beautiful thing because we are embracing the Australian culture with the Latin culture."
Jonathan Espinoza plays for the Latin rugby league team. Picture: Peter Cronin Source: News Limited
Brisbane-based Heat director and league tragic Robert Burgin said there were plans for the team to tour Latin America in the next 12 months, while a Columbian team featuring several Heat players is set to play Jamaica later this year.
There is a combined Latin American population of close to 600 million people, so even a tiny niche in the culture could present incredible opportunities to the code.
While the traditional physique of Latin Americans suits the stocky, powerful, frame required for league.
The Heat were born when Burgin visited his girlfriend's family in Brazil.
"The light bulb moment when I thought it could work was last Christmas, when I was in the tiny Brazilian town of Assis Chateaubriand, in a very rural community and I showed people NRL and State of Origin clips on YouTube and they loved it," he said.
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