Moceidreke was on Tuesday listed as one of three Australians in the NFL’s 10-week International Player Pathway (IPP) development camp in Florida this season.
Wallabies flyer Jordan Petaia will also feature after being unveiled as one of the initial attendees last week, as will Queensland club rugby player Laki Tasi.
The development camp is the same one Mailata went through in 2018, before being picked up by the Philadelphia Eagles as an offensive tackle.
Philadelphia’s Jordan Mailata talks to the media ahead of their Super Bowl 57 loss to the Chiefs. (AP PHOTO)
Moceidreke’s story has similarities to Mailata’s.
They both went through Canterbury’s junior system before moving elsewhere, with Mailata playing prop in U20s at South Sydney.
Moceidreke played one game on the wing for the Cowboys late in the 2021 season, finishing off a try against Parramatta, in his only first-grade opportunity.
He then moved to Newcastle, but could not crack the Knights’ backline before his development deal at the club expired.
The 24-year-old will trial as a tight end or defensive end, and has been sold on his pedigree by organisers with his grandfather and father representing Fiji in athletics and rugby respectively.
Laitia Moceidreke dives over for a Cowboys try, his only one in the NRL, against the Eels. (Regi Varghese/AAP PHOTOS)
Petaia will also trial as a tight end, while Tasi is listed as an option in the offensive line.
Moceidreke, Petaia and Tasi will begin the camp next month, with only 14 players from around the world accepted into the IPP.
New Zealand basketballer Nathaniel Salmon and Fijian rugby player Jeneiro Wakeham are among the others in the program.
Scouts from all 32 NFL clubs will attend the Pro Day in March, at the University of South Florida.
Some 41 international players have signed with NFL teams as a result of the program, but only six of those have ever claimed a spot on an active roster.
Moceidreke’s former Cowboys teammate Valentine Holmes also went through the IPP, signing with the New York Jets’ practice squad in 2019.
Valentine Holmes in action during his time wearing Jets colours. (AP PHOTO)
However he never played an NFL game, opting out of the system after a pre-season of limited opportunities and returning to the NRL.
Gold Coast VFL talent Patrick Murtagh trod a similar path last year, joining the Detroit Lions and the Jacksonville Jaguars out of the IPP.
But he was waived in August after he broke his ankle in training and did not play a game.
Jarryd Hayne’s move to the NFL, where he played eight games for the San Francisco 49ers, pre-dates the current program.
