Norrie Rowan, the former international rugby union prop, was among the spectators who packed Workington's Derwent Park on Sunday to watch a Scotland team battle gamely to keep their Rugby League World Cup hopes alive.

He had travelled down with John Thorburn, the former Scottish Rugby Union committee member and they were clearly impressed by what they saw. So much so, that Norrie called the next day to ask me how many of the Scotland players I thought would make it into the national team in the 15-a-side code.

Given that Danny Brough, the inspirational captain of the league team, had told me the previous evening that he had once been approached by the Scottish Rugby Union to join Edinburgh, only for the deal to break down, it was a timely question. It is certainly not difficult to see why the Scotland management of the time, who were apparently behind that approach to Brough, would have coveted the skill-set the little half-back could have brought to the table.

It may have taken him some time to make the adjustments but, given the problems Scotland have had in the last 20 years in identifying a reliable play-maker who can consistently make sound decisions and then kick and pass properly, the man his Super League peers have voted 'Man of Steel' this year could surely have done so.

He would have been an unusual convert, though. For the most part those who are successful moving from league to union have tended to be back-three players, somewhat removed from the most technical aspects of rugby union at the lineout, scrummage and breakdown.

I remember that even Jason Robinson, the great Wigan winger who switched to union took some time to get used to the tackle situation and having to release the ball. Telling, though, that he and fellow former league player Lote Tuqiri scored the only tries in the 2003 World Cup final.

The two games are very different but that pair and many others, including Wendell Sailor, another of league's biggest stars when he switched and Andy Farrell, a team-mate of Robinson's in the great Wigan team but part of the British & Irish Lions coaching team, have shown that it can be done.

Farrell is proof that it works and there was a spell when it felt as if a background in rugby league was a prerequisite for those seeking posts as defence specialists in union.

Rowan's question seems all the more relevant given that several of Brough's Scotland team-mates are only part-time professionals playing in the Championship, the rung below Super League, while winger Alex Hurst, who has had a fine tournament, is effectively playing for a contract since he is currently a free agent. All the moreso since the Scottish team at this tournament, Brough, his Super League colleagues and the Australian NRL players included, are receiving little in the way of fees. It feels as if there has been something of a role reversal with the league players motivated by the cause rather than money and supported by unpaid volunteers.

In terms of how many of them could readily fit into the Edinburgh or Glasgow Warriors squads I accept it is very difficult to draw parallels given the different technical requirements, while the comparative pace of individuals and the game as a whole is also difficult to judge.

However, the respective managements of Edinburgh, Glasgow Warriors and Scotland must surely envy the percentage of conversion rate from scoring opportunities to tries by this Scottish team.

In particular, the quality of their passing under pressure and general awareness of the right thing to do when they do sniff a chance is reminiscent of, dare I say it, the great Alan Tait who had two magnificent little spells in rugby union either side of a long, highly decorated career in league.

I mentioned these thoughts at the end of a chat yesterday to Andrew Henderson, Scotland's most capped rugby league internationalist, ahead of his return to the side for tonight's vital meeting with the USA and his answer was telling.

"I considered it once," he said of switching codes. "But you're brought up with league . . . you love it. You're so much more involved. Some of the league boys have gone over before and just haven't enjoyed it as much. You can go a whole game of rugby league and the team makes 300 tackles, whereas you can go through a game in rugby union and the whole team makes 35 tackles. You can play on the wing in union and not even touch the ball. League players are more used to being involved."

That is not to say that either version of the sport is superior to the other. Dating back to the days of the great Wigan team of the early to mid-90s I have long enjoyed league but can find it a bit one-dimensional compared to union where there are so many different types of combat zones but which, in turn, can have long periods where nothing happens.

It was, however, interesting to hear Henderson's views while recalling the days when people in union would look down their noses at those who 'went north', regarding themselves as somehow superior because they were the ones playing for the love of the sport rather than filthy lucre.