'Most manly sport': America freaks out over brutal NRL hits

Round six saw fans witness some of the biggest hits in the NRL in recent memory and the epic thuds were heard right around the world.

On Saturday night, star Roosters fullback James Tedesco was ushered out of the heavyweight clash with Parramatta after finding himself on the wrong end of a barnstorming Maiko Sivo.

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The hulking Eels winger did his best impression of All Blacks great Jonah Lomu as he crashed mercilessly into Tedesco’s futile attempted tackle, sending the fullback flying backwards like a rag doll.

The reigning Dally M Player of the Year never returned to the match after the incident.

“Call an ambulance, maybe call a priest, Sivo has run over the top of Tedesco. What a moment at Bankwest (Stadium)," Andrew Voss said in commentary for Fox Sports.

“He just copped everything from Sivo. Bravely put his body on the line with Sivo full head of steam up.”

Then on Sunday it was Sharks playmaker Matt Moylan who was the unfortunate victim of another bone-rattler from Bulldogs star Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.

Moylan was unaware Watene-Zelezniak had come rushing up out of the defensive line to line up the Sharks star in one of the hardest-hitting tackles of the season so far.

“Look at the contact on Matt Moylan — Dallin Watene-Zelezniak has knocked Matt Moylan back to the Sutherland Shire,” Matt Russell exclaimed on Fox Sports' commentary.

“(Moylan) bounces straight back up amazingly, what contact. This was absolutely brutal.”

American fans lose it over ferocious incidents

It wasn't just the commentators and the local fans that were losing it over the bone-jarringly vicious plays, with overseas viewers left in a state of disbelief.

American-based video site House of Highlights - whose Instagram page has more than 17.5 million followers - uploaded the clips over the weekend and viewers were left gobsmacked.

"This what you call real man sport," one comment read.

Another user said: "How did he just get up? This makes no sense."

Some of the comments were quite obviously from American viewers, who couldn't get enough of rugby league's unique brand of brutality.

“Damn EA need to come out with a rugby game,” another user added.

“I play football but this is the most manly sport out there,” another one confessed.

Another viewer added: “Just me or these guys look way stronger than NFL players?”

The video received more than 140,000 likes in the first five hours of it being uploaded to Instagram.

It's fair to say American viewers are taking a real liking to Australian footy in the absence of their traditional sports.