Luther Burrell believes he can be a trailblazer for other top rugby union players who want to move to Super League.
The 31-year-old England international is three training sessions into his Warrington Wolves career under head coach Steve Price, after signing from the 15-man game's top-flight Northampton Saints.
And he says he has already had calls from union players also eager to switch to the 13-a-side code.
Burrell said: “I was telling Steve Price on my way to the media conference, I had Danny Care asking if he needs any half-backs. He [Care] has 80 plus caps for England now and would make a good half-back in league.
“He’s one of a few — Danny Cipriani asked if he would be good, and I said he would. Unfortunately, he’s re-signed for Gloucester, but he was one when he heard about me signing, he reached out and said he’d love to try his hand at it.
“These lads would make good league players.
“We would watch Super League matches in union – when you see these wingers scoring with one-handed finishes, the lads love it and they go mad for it. There’s a stigma surrounding it and people seem to think union players don’t like it, but they do.
“We had started to use similar traits – as a centre, a lot of our back plays are based on league structures. If you were to watch a game of union now you would see that — especially from teams like [English and European champions] Saracens , with Owen Farrell in there, who played league in his youth.
“There’s a lot of learning to be had from league, and as I say, the perception is a good one.”
Burrell’s initial task is to force his way into a Warrington side sitting second in Super League and into the Challenge Cup semi-finals, although he admits he has dreams of winning caps in league to go with the 15 he got for England in union.
But first he admits he has to work on his fitness to impress Price.
Burrell added: “You have to be fitter in league, definitely. It’s a different sort of fitness – it’s short bursts, very explosive and a lot of wrestling, so you’ve got to be lighter and fighter.
“There’s a lot more stoppages in union and the shot clock has made the rest and recovery time pretty much non-existent in league, so you’ve got to be very fit. I’ve always followed the game throughout my union career, it’s constantly speeding up.”
