RUGBY league will take a play from American football by staging an inaugural NFL-style, talent-spotting camp to help deliver budding stars to the NRL.

Dubbed the Rugby League Combine Camp, the groundbreaking event will give emerging teenagers or late-blooming talents their shot at breaking into the big time.

The scouting combine is a fixture in the US, with the NFL holding an annual, week-long camp where college players undergo physical and mental testing in front of NFL scouts and coaches.

Now the concept will be launched in Australia, with 80 players to descend on the Gold Coast on October 2 and 3 to showcase their skills in the quest for an NRL contract.

The event has the backing of the NRL’s major sponsor Telstra and will add an extra dimension to the traditional model of unsigned players attending open-day trials.

Under the Combine format, held over two days, players not only take part in match trials, but undergo individual tests in specific areas to determine their strength, speed and skill.

The RL Combine is particularly attractive to older players who believe they are NRL quality, but may have been overlooked by top-level scouts in their rookie years.

Manly prop Brenton Lawrence, who made his NRL debut at age 26 after a nine-year wait, says he is a prime example of why the RL Combine Camp can be a smash hit.

“This scouting Combine will give a young kid or an older bloke the chance to chase their NRL dreams,” said Lawrence, who began his league career in South Australia.

“There’s no guarantee of an NRL contract, but if a person feels they are up to it, this is a pathway for them to impress NRL scouts if they have a dream to play first grade.’’

Applicants will be divided into under-20s (17 to 19-year-olds) and Opens (20 years and over).

RL Combine Camp founder Chris Orr, managing director of Pacific Sports Management, says the concept is a raging success in the NFL.

“Over the past 20 years I have seen too many players discarded too early,” former Gold Coast top-grader Orr said.