Indigenous NRL players have been tipped to create history and lead all contenders to win a proposed inaugural grand final sprint this year.
The NRL is planning to stage a prized 100 metres contest on the biggest night of the season that will end public debate and crown the game's fastest man over the Olympics most-watched track event.
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo outlined the athletics concept to club executives during a video conference held last week.
The clubs still have to agree to release some of their top athletes for the proposal that could include both other running events and testing rugby league's best skills, but culminating with a 100m final.
While the sprinting concept is nothing new to grand finals after the VFL/AFL initially held a mile race from 1977 for two years until it was replaced with 100m heats and a final first until 1987.
The race was revived in 2002 and still continues, which also included a handicap system in 2006 for three years.
The difference with the NRL is the plan to include another sprint just for large-body forwards, a goalkicking competition and the longest kick-off to identify the biggest NRL boot that will be held earlier on grand final day in between the NRL state championship and the NRLW grand final matches.
However, the NRL is prioritising the 100m sprint ahead of the other proposed events, depending on an ability to source sponsors inside the next month before looking to allocate time for the extra scheduling.
Renowned sprint coach, Roger Fabri, is expecting one of the Indigenous players between Josh Addo Carr, Alofiana Khan-Pereira, Jason Saab, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Reece Walsh to win the race that will include preliminary heats before a final.
Other frontrunners could include Toluta'u Koula and Ronaldo Mulitalo, of Samoan descent, Kaeo Weekes, of Maori heritage, and Jahream Bula, who is of Aboriginal, Fijian and Samoan ancestry.
Those names could well be the exact starting lineup in a 100m final.
Grand final participants will obviously be ruled out, but organisers will not know the available full list of sprinters until eight days before race day.
"I'd stake my reputation on Saab winning the race," Fabri told Nine media.
"He has worked with me extensively and he understands how to put a race together and to hold his composure.
"He would be unbeatable at the back end."
Behind the proud Anaiwan to the line, Fabri believed Torres Strait Islander, Tabuai-Fidow, and Khan-Pereira, a proud Bundjalung man, would be the Manly winger's two podium challengers.
According to information provided from a GPS data to determine the top speed of players, Mulitalo moved the quickest last season with the ball in hand at a maximum speed of 37.188km/h.
Fabri, who very publicly trained Wallabies veteran Kurtley Beale to regain his fitness ahead of a return to rugby union in between the court case where the Darug and Gomeroi man was found not guilty of sexual assault in January, said the lure of such a 100m race would end many pub quarrels.
"The public have been crying out for this for so long," he added.
"I dare say there would be people who would attend the grand final just to watch the race.
"The public is going to go crazy because at some stage you may get three or four different people leading the race in different areas.
"For example, I could see Walsh being in front at the 30-metre mark, then the 'Foxx' (Addo-Carr) taking the lead, Koula applying heavy pressure in the middle and then someone like Saab swooping over the top of them all.
"How can that not be exciting?"
