Club executives continue to grapple with the puzzle of how to navigate Las Vegas and return home unscathed.

LAS VEGAS: It’s arguably one of the most frequently discussed challenges for club football teams when the NRL hands them a ticket to Sin City: how do we make it through this escapade and return home unscathed?

The Las Vegas Strip is a mind-boggling mix of alcohol, gambling, showgirls, and countless pitfalls for young men (and women) to succumb to.

Substantial funds are allocated to security, and months of meticulous planning are invested in keeping players out of harm’s way; however, in a venue like Vegas, trouble has a way of finding its way in.

While no Vegas scandal has yet posed a significant threat to the initiative, the incident involving Hudson Young and Morgan Smithies has marked two incidents in two years, following the post-match fracas that included Spencer Leniu and several Broncos players last year.

The two incidents might seem trivial compared to the more significant controversies seen back in Australia. However, they serve as a cautionary tale that nothing positive happens after midnight, especially when you throw four NRL teams’ worth of testosterone into an environment rife with temptation.

Therefore, it may not be surprising to see Canterbury’s chairman, CEO, and football director Phil Gould congregating on Thursday night at the NRL fan event on Fremont Street, gathering insights and beginning to strategise how to handle the Bulldogs’ forthcoming trip to Vegas, which is expected to be next year.

At this point, Gould reportedly prefers a shorter pre-match stay in Vegas, suggesting an arrival as late as Tuesday, while the Bulldogs are contemplating extending their stay after the game to allow players some downtime.

The NRL schedule, designed to facilitate the season launch in Vegas, accommodates this plan, as all teams playing at Allegiant Stadium have the subsequent weekend off.

However, this has not been the approach adopted by any other club so far.

Of the four NRL teams present this year, the Raiders, Warriors, and Panthers arrived in Vegas over a week ahead of their matches, giving players the opportunity to enjoy the festivities before refocusing on their responsibilities.

This strategy was first put in place by Manly in 2024, with them being one of the two victors and arguably the most impressive performers; nevertheless, opinions remain divided on whether this is the optimal strategy.

Breaking from convention this year is Cronulla, with coach Craig Fitzgibbon seeking guidance from his mentor, Trent Robinson of the Roosters, who chose to relocate his team to southern California — far from the flashing lights — before flying them into Vegas just a few days before the fixture.

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While distinctly different from Manly’s method, Robinson can also claim success based on the outcome, with the Roosters triumphing in a scrappy match against the Broncos with a score of 20-10.

The highlight of that trip was Leniu’s racial slur directed towards Broncos five-eighth Ezra Mam, escalating tensions that culminated at Resorts World afterwards.

Leniu faced a lengthy suspension, and the Roosters returned home carrying a hangover that lingered until after the Origin series, when they finally found their rhythm too late to pose a serious threat to the leading premiership contenders.

As for the Broncos, they struggled to regain their momentum, with their defeat in Vegas foreshadowing a disastrous 2024 season that culminated in Kevin Walters’ dismissal.

On Sunday (Australian time), all eyes will be on the Raiders to see if their early arrival in Vegas was a sound decision, allowing players to have a drink in the lead-up to the match — a choice that led to the incident with Young, Smithies, and an inflatable baseball bat in their hotel lift.

There’s a school of thought circulating near Sin City that suggests the Raiders managed the situation exceptionally well after news broke by providing the media with a comprehensive account of the events and having Young and Smithies address the media directly to mitigate the story’s impact.

On the flip side, critics argue they made a mistake by allowing their players to revel on the Strip, and despite their adept crisis management, they now head into their matchup against the Warriors facing a significant distraction.

We may not know the outcome until the final whistle blows at Allegiant Stadium.

If the Raiders falter, it’s a certainty that Gould and the Bulldogs’ brain trust will endorse the strategy that reads ‘stay clear of Vegas until there’s no opportunity for indulgence.’