Ethan Grayson: From San Diego to Newcastle – the story so far for the versatile back

Grayson’s stint with Newcastle is due to end after a game against his boyhood club Northampton Saints at the end of December.

After that, it will be time to pack his bags and head over to America for his second season in San Diego.

He ended up in southern California, having seen a potential move to London Irish in the summer of 2023 collapse when the Exiles went out of business.

Grayson plugged the gap with a short spell at Bedford Blues, but he travelled across the Atlantic early this year leaving behind a sense of disillusionment at how things were going in English rugby.

What he found in America was exactly what he needed – playing in front of average home crowds of more 7,000 as the Legion reached the MRL quarter-finals.

The San Diego team included rugby legends Ma’a Nonu of New Zealand and Australia’s Matt Giteau and featured a new type of rugby. The sunshine and outdoor ‘SoCal’ lifestyle also suited Grayson down to the ground.

“The standard has been way better than I thought,” he said.

“You think of the physical specimens and freaks you get in the NFL and the NBA, well it’s exactly the same in rugby.

“There are loads of American Polynesians in the league, Kiwis, South Africans. The physicality is not far off the Premiership, whereas skill-wise, it’s probably more like the Championship.

“But everyone wants to have a crack. It’s a lot looser, which is exactly the type of rugby I enjoy and the quality is getting better all the time.

“Major League rugby is still in its infancy. It’s only seven years old whereas the Premiership is nearly 30 years old.”