Qld rugby player Laki Tasi signed by Las Vegas Raiders from same program that produced Jordan Mailata

Queenslander Laki Tasi has taken a massive step towards following in the NFL footsteps of Jordan Mailata after being signed by the Las Vegas Raiders. Tasi, 21, is a 198cm, 157kg giant who is another product of the NFL’s International Player Pathway program. It’s the same program that helped Super Bowl winning offensive lineman Mailata graduate from South Sydney under 20s to the NFL and an eight-figure contract. More recently, another Queensland rugby product, former Wallabies centre Jordan Petaia, was snapped up by the Los Angeles Chargers. Tasi, who was born in Samoa before moving to Brisbane with his family, played rugby for the Ashgrove GPS club in the Queensland Premier Rugby Union before joining the NFL’s IPP program. He was signed by the Raiders as a defensive lineman. Tasi was turned on to the IPP program by a local burger shop owner while at home in Queensland. “One of the guys that owns a burger joint back home, he was telling me about this IPP that Jordan Mailata joined, which is kind of surprising because I didn’t know who Jordan Mailata was or what the NFL (was),” he told ESPN before last week’s NFL draft. “The owner was onto me … like let’s try out this NFL thing, you’ve got a good body (for it),” the 21-year-old explained. “As soon as I searched up the YouTube (story) about Jordan and the NFL IPP I realised how big it is.” The Raiders have an exemption to sign Tasi to the 90-man roster as part of the IPP program, meaning his number doesn’t count and he can develop at his own pace.