 With the success of Canadian rugby union player Mike Pyke's conversion and many other players transitioning at junior level the AFL and commentators began to speculate that professional rugby league players might make an easier transition to the AFL due to coming from a high-contact professional sport involving an oval ball.The transition of two highly publicised rugby league players has since proved to be of little success, and the cross/code focus of AFL recruiters has returned to the GAA and expanded to include American professional sportsmen.In 2018 the Irish contingent in the AFL consists of five senior-listed players and six rookie-listed players.