The Eagles are doing their best to corner the Australian rugby market.
Second-team All-Pro left tackle Jordan Mailata has been the crown jewel of the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program.
A Bankstown, Australia native, the 6-foot-8, 365-pound Mailata is the star student of “Stoutland University. Once a football novice, Mailata, 28, has turned into arguably the best LT tackle in the world with the help of Philadelphia’s well-regarded offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland.
Set to enter his eighth NFL season, Mailata has already received two different $60 million extensions since arriving to IMG Academy for his first football training in 2018.
Mailata’s history in Australia was as a second-unit professional rugby player for the Russell Crowe-owned South Sydney Rabbitohs.
On the heels of Mailata’s success, the Eagles dipped into the IPP well again last season with another Australian offensive tackle candidate, the 6-5, 320-pound Laekin Vakalahi.
Vakalahi, who played junior rugby in Brisbane, was discovered by Eagles’ international scout Chris Naeole after a chance meeting with Vakalahi’s father in Hawaii, who informed Naeole just how big his two sons were.
Vakalahi spent last season as the Eagles’ IPP exemption on the practice squad and has again gotten the IPP exemption for a second straight year as Stoutland tries to get lightning to strike twice on the offensive line.
The latest foray by the Eagles and the rugby world is the 21-year-old Carsen Patu, who is 6-1 and 243 pounds.
Patu, a former rugby player for Manly Sea Eagles under-21 team, has been extended an invitation to Philadelphia’s rookie camp this weekend as a tryout player.
Patu worked with Conquest Athletic Performance in Australia to prepare for his NFL dream, a group that also worked with Vakalahi before he caught on with the Eagles.
