Hull FC halfback Marc Sneyd says his side are out to show that the NRL is not drastically better than Super League when they face St George Illawarra.
The English club and the Dragons will lock horns on Saturday at ANZ Stadium.
Super League has a poor reputation in the eyes of some Australian fans, but Sneyd believes the standard of the European competition is not “a million miles” off the NRL.
Hull FC will field several ex-NRL players on the weekend, including Albert Kelly, Mickey Paea, Fetuli Talanoa, Carlos Tuimavave, Mark Minichiello and Sika Manu, and will be out to prove a point.
“I believe we’re one of the top teams in Super League so hopefully we should be able to go there and challenge them and put up a good game,” Sneyd told Inside Sport.
“It’s just a case of seeing where we’re at because you get a lot of people saying they’re that far in front it’s ridiculous.
"Obviously I’ve never played against an Australian side in my life or internationally, so I’m just looking forward to see where we’re at as a group so early in the season. We’re not a million miles away at all. It’s just them fine margins.
ALL smiles now but come Saturday these 4 are going toe-to-toe on the pitch at @ANZStadium for the #IntlDoubleHeader! #SuperLeagueOnTour pic.twitter.com/hJHZxOFD0l
— ANZ Stadium (@ANZStadium) February 13, 2018
"Obviously the size of the sport over there is drastically bigger than us here. So that obviously helps them out massively but we’re not a million miles off.
"We get the chance to test ourselves against St George Illawarra, which is something that English rugby player wants to have do, have a crack at them and measure yourself where you’re at against the other side of the world.”
The Dragons have named a strong team to play Hull FC, with James Graham, Gareth Widdop, Korbin Sims, Paul Vaughan, Cameron McInnes, Jason Nightengale and Ben Hunt all included.
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