18 replies to this topic

[Honor James]

SERBIA HOST UNDER-18 FESTIVAL

This weekend will see Belgrade host a three-cornered rugby league under-18s tournament, the hosts facing England – made up of a representative side from the Midlands – and Lebanon. The festival comes on the back of Germany and Italy fielding sides at this level for the first time in July.

“It promises to be a great experience for the young players from all three nations,” said RLEF Central and Eastern Europe Director Jovan Vujosevic. Without youth development there is no solid base for sport in any country and because of that festivals like this are very important.”

Lebanon Under-18s coach Robin Hachache, who toured Serbia with Liban Espoir in 2007 and who coached the Espoirs (Lebanon Under-20s) in two matches against the English Lions Under-18s recently, is looking forward to further testing his young players against European sides. “It’s a great opportunity for our players to be able to experience a different level and it’s made me re-educate the team on some basic fundamental skills.”

Cedar Omar Marahaba, one of the youngest players in the festival who spent a week training in London earlier this summer, can’t wait to get into the thick of it. "I'm really excited that we will be playing in this event, for most of us it’s a dream come true, I hope that we will make our families and friends and all supporters proud of us.”

FIXTURES
17th August: English Midlands v Lebanon
18th August: Serbia v Lebanon
19th August: Serbia v English Midlands

SERBIA U18 39-MAN SQUAD
Nikola Đunić, Lazar Mićić, Mladen Randjić, Vuk Štrbac, Miodrag Tomić (Crvena Zvezda), Vasilije Jovanovic, Aleksandr Karimanović, Uros Radulović, Ivan Tulić (Dorćol), Sabedin Demirović, Milos Đorđević, Vuk Jovanović, Stefan Mijić, Aleksandr Pavlović, Nikola Popović (Morava), Nemanja Bajić, Stefan Kojović, Jan Kulik, Nik Ramišvili (Podbara), Ivan Antanasijević, Srdan Četnik, Branko Ćorić, Pero Madžarević, Vukasin Rajšić, Milos Reljić, Zdravko Stikić, Stefan Vidaković (Radnički NP), Gavrilo Cvetković, Milos Jovanović, Bojan Jović, Slavko Marković, Nemanja Petrović, Nikola Stojmenović, Filip Stošić, Nemanja Zlatanović (Soko), Veselin Caričić, Sergej Devetak, Nikola Đukić, Marko Stanković (Voždovac)

ENGLISH MIDLANDS U18 20-MAN SQUAD
Adam Bromley, Oliver Sankey, Chris Zaric (Birmingham Bulldogs), Harry Marks, Connor Slater (Coventry Bears), Jack Pearce (Derby City), Will Cox (Leamington Royals), Hershall Ward (Leicester Storm), Tom Hughes, Alasdair McDougall-Stone (North Derbyshire Chargers), Myles Turner (Northampton Demons), Michael Bennett, Joe Frobisher, Daniel Hyams, Reece Needham, Nick Tasker, David Wilson (Nottingham Outlaws), Alex Heath, Ryan Home, Ben Lewis, Denham Samuels (Telford Raiders)

LEBANON U18 20-MAN SQUAD
Ayman Soultan,Thomas Zachariou, Christopher Dalati, George Farah, George Yazbek, Khaled El Makari (Balamand High School), Ali Kanj, Andre Khoury, Maxime Chalhoub, Karim Tanir, Sadecc Choucaire (Broumana High School), Adam Dahbache, Mohamad Dahbache (David Karem High School), Omar Marhaba (Emir Fakhreldine High School), Jad Rizk (College Melkart), Karl Kaloustian, Liam Laba (IC Hamra), Nour el Baba, Mamoun Soufan (Namouzaj High School)



PHIL CAPLAN
RLEF MEDIA OFFICER

[deluded pom?]

Are we building up to an age group European Cup sometime in the not too distant future?

[tim2]

Good news from Belgrade, at least for the Midlands boys! Midlands 46 Lebanon 4. Great effort for the first game! We have a day off now and we play Serbia on Sunday at 6pm.

[deluded pom?]

Thanks for the update Tim.

[jannerboyuk]

good stuff, seem to be more and more tours to serbia, helps build the sense of the sport genuinely spreading. france, serbia, malta gives some popular options for tours, i'm sure the players have a great time

[Bob8]

good stuff, seem to be more and more tours to serbia, helps build the sense of the sport genuinely spreading. france, serbia, malta gives some popular options for tours, i'm sure the players have a great time

Yes.

Indeed, Malta are coming to Denmark at the end of September. Which is mentioned in this article;
http://www.cphpost.dk/sport/league-side-fails-nordic-cup-defence
...which everyone should 'Like', as mentioned at the bottom of the article.

Sorry, it is not a biggie, but the editor is not a huge RL fan and it is good to finally start making progress. The Danish language media have always been more accommodating.

[EdinburghExile]

Yes.

Indeed, Malta are coming to Denmark at the end of September. Which is mentioned in this article;
http://www.cphpost.d...dic-cup-defence
...which everyone should 'Like', as mentioned at the bottom of the article.

Sorry, it is not a biggie, but the editor is not a huge RL fan and it is good to finally start making progress. The Danish language media have always been more accommodating.

I don't see any like button, otherwise I would.

[tim2]

Midlands U18 beat Serbia under 18s 30-0 to end the tour undefeated!

[MidlandsRugbyLeague]

http://www.midlandsr...18s-tour-report


Lebanon U18s 4 – 46 English Midlands U18s – Friday 17^th August 2012
Serbia U18s 0 – 30 English Midlands U18s – Sunday 19^th August 2012

The Midlands Under 18s returned from the Rugby League European Federation Youth Festival in Belgrade, Serbia with two victories.

The tour, which saw the Midlands represent England at the event, saw the side take on Lebanon and hosts Serbia, as well as attending a welcome reception with representatives from the Belgrade Municipality and both the British and Lebanese Embassies, with dignitaries attending both fixtures, played at the Ada Ciganlija sports centre on the banks of the river Danube.

Both games attracted healthy and enthusiastic following and gave all three sides an opportunity to test their arm and fulfil their differing development objectives.


With a 21 man touring party, the Midlands coaches were keen to rotate the squad as much as possible, naming two different starting line-ups for each encounter.

The Midlands dominated the opening quarter of an hour in the encounter against Lebanon, with full back Nick Tasker opening the scoring, scything through the middle of the park. Having added the extras, Tasker was on hand again to convert winger Jack Pearce’s fifth minute try after the Derby-flyer galloped away down the right side unopposed.

David Wilson nosed the Midlands further ahead, finishing a right to left move with a jinking run back inside, with Tasker this time wide of the mark.

Disrupted by a raft of substitutions, the Midlands eased off the pedal momentarily, but Lebanon capitalised with Maxine Chalhoub barging his way through the troubled defence. Ali Kanj pushed the conversion wide of the posts.

Spurred back into life, the Midlands crafted a further score through hooker Tom Hughes’ darting run, with Tasker again stretching the lead to 4-20 at the break, with Will Cox shining as a defensive player in the visitors back line.

The second half saw captain Reece Needham stretch through the defence, taking three of the Junior Cedars with him, with Ben Lewis taking over on goal kicking duties to add his name to the team sheet, but the Lebanon put their best defensive pattern together, holding their line firm until the third quarter mark, with big hits coming in from Chalhoub and Omar Marhaba, punishing the Midlands’ smaller players.

Jack Pearce finished another fine move out wide to claim his brace, Lewis missing the conversion, before Chris Zaric, a player with Serbian heritage, broke away through the middle to touch down. Lewis was unable to add the easy conversion and surprisingly missed his next shot at goal as Harry Marks’ incisive run from dummy-half saw a further centre field try. His blushes were restored he jinked his way through the final defence to complete the Midlands scoring, converting his own try and brining the final score to 4-46.

LEBANON U18
Ali Kanj, Jad Rizk, Andre Khoury, George Farah, Nour el Baba, Adam Dahbache, Mohamad Dachbache, George Yazbeck, Thomas Zachariou, Ayman Soultan, Maxime Chalhoub, Liam Laba, Omar Marhaba. Subs: Karl KaloustiAn, Chris Dalati, Sadec Choucaire, Khaled El Makari, Karim Tannir, Mamoun Soufan

Scorers: Tries: Chalhoub (20). Goals: Kanj 0/1

ENGLISH-MIDLANDS U18
Nick Tasker, Will Cox, Alasdair McDougall-Stone, David Wilson, Jack Pearce, Harry Marks, Ben Lewis, Dan Hyams, Joe Frobisher, Myles Turner, Oliver Sankey, Adam Bromley, Reece Needham. Subs: Michael Bennett, Denham Samuels, Tom Hughes, Ryan Home, Hershall Ward, Connor Slater, Chris Zaric, Alex Heath

Scorers: Tries: Tasker (2), Pearce (5, 46), Wilson (13), Hughes (23), Needham (33), Zaric (48), Marks (52), Lewis (56) Goals: Tasker 3/4, Lewis 2/5


Facing the hosts Serbia was always going to be a tougher prospect for the Midlands and from the first bone crunching tackle to the last play of the game, both teams slugged out a physical contest, separated mainly by the visitors ability to move the ball, although at times the Serbian pack had the upper hand.

There were early wide scores for Leicester Storm’s Hershall Ward in the second minute and Nottingham Outlaws Tasker grabbed a further try of the tour on five minutes, after Tom Hughes superb scoot out to gain the field possession, both goaled by Tasker to give a 12-0 lead, however the remainder of the half proved a fascinating contest of strength and guile.

The Midlands lost Connor Slater to a freak warm up injury and shortly into the half Prop Dan Hyams left the field with a broken hand, causing a re-think on substitutions against the heavyweight Serbs. Hershall Ward hugged the touchline a little too closely on a couple of occasions, with tries ruled out, whilst Denham Samuels and Reece Needham fell short of the line and Jack Pearce’s score was ruled out due to a forward pass, however the team dug deep to keep the Serbian onslaught at bay.

Jack Pearce hit his mark as the second half, backing up a strong forward display to allow Ben Lewis to add the extras. Reece Needham stretched the lead after shrugging off two defenders to dive through the sticks, again giving Lewis an easy shot on goal.

Mike Bennett’s knock on over the line gave Serbia a hope of a score, but the Midlands defence held firm.

Dave Wilson’s inside pass from Hershall Ward gave him space to score on the left hand side, and with Tasker on the field covering a concussed Ward to add the extras, the Midlands moved the score to 0-30 with fifteen minutes on the clock.

Plucky defense, including a superb one on one tackle from plucky half-back Alistair McDougall Stone on man-mountain Miloš Jovanović kept the Midlands spirits high, grinding out the win and keeping a clean sheet.

SERBIA U18
Zdravko Stikić, Nemanja Zlatanović, Filip Stošić, Nemanja Bajić, Branko Ćorić, Ivan Antanasijević, Vasilije Jovanović, Sergej Devetak, Srdjan Četnik, Miloš Jovanović, Uroš Radulović, Nemanja Petrović, Pero Madžarević. Subs: Vukašin Rajšić, Nikola Stojmenović, Nik Ramišvili, Stefan Vidaković, Jan Kulik, Mladen Randjić, Slavko Marković

ENGLISH-MIDLANDS U18
Nick Tasker, Will Cox, Connor Slater, David Wilson, Hershall Ward, Alistair McDougall-Stone, Ben Lewis, Alex Heath, Tom Hughes, Ryan Home, Myles Turner, Mike Bennett, Reece Needham. Subs: Chris Zaric, Adam Bromley, Harry Marks, Denham Samuels, Oliver Sankey, Jack Pearce, Dan Hyams, Joe Frobisher

Scorers: Tries: Ward (2), Taker (5), Pearce (34), Needham (37), Wilson (45). Goals: Tasker (3/3), Lewis (2/2)

[Johnoco]

Great stuff.

[keighley]

I never tire of seeing examples of the games expansion. The Midlands, Serbia and Lebanon, what a diverse and amazing range of cultures and regions brought together by the love of our game. It's something I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams when I took up playing and following the game in the 1960's. I love it.

[sigesige00]

When did RL start in Srbija (Serbia)? Before or after the collapse of Jugoslavija (Yugoslavia)?

[deluded pom?]

I thought you were a student sige? Don't you know how to use the internet? You are asking a lot of questions on the forums that could easily be answered with a little bit of research.

[sigesige00]

I thought you were a student sige? Don't you know how to use the internet? You are asking a lot of questions on the forums that could easily be answered with a little bit of research.

I apologise if you felt that I had made too many questions. However, I think that questions and answers on such boards are useful for everyone, in my opinion.

[MidlandsRugbyLeague]

One of the Serbian RL guys has a coaching manual from the late 1970s headed "Yugoslavia Rugby League".

[Mister C]

One of the Serbian RL guys has a coaching manual from the late 1970s headed "Yugoslavia Rugby League".

Could you ask him to pass it on to Steve McNamara

[sigesige00]

One of the Serbian RL guys has a coaching manual from the late 1970s headed "Yugoslavia Rugby League".

Oh. RL in the former Jugoslavija has at least 40 years history!
What teams were playing? Partizan, Crvena Zvezda, Dinamo Zagreb?

[nadera78]

Could you ask him to pass it on to Steve McNamara

Superb!

[Evil Homer]

Oh. RL in the former Jugoslavija has at least 40 years history!
What teams were playing? Partizan, Crvena Zvezda, Dinamo Zagreb?

'Rugby league was introduced into Serbia in 1953, by then secretary of the Yugoslavian Sport Association, Dragan Maršićević. The first rugby league match in Serbia was held in Belgrade on November 26, 1953, between Frence students and Selection Provence. The game was part of an attempt by the French Rugby XIII Federation to stimulate interest in the sport in Serbia.

The first rugby league club formed in Serbia was Partizan, on November 1, 1953, followed a couple of months later by Radnički. The two teams played their first match on April 26, 1954, with Partizan winning 21-11. In 1961, the Yugoslav national team played their first and only match against a French amateur XIII, with the team going down 13-0.

Whilst rugby league was played in Serbia, Croatia played the rival code of rugby union and Yugoslav authorities demanded that Serbian clubs switch to rugby union to unite Yugoslavia under one form of rugby football in 1964.

Rugby league officially returned to Serbia in 2001, with the formation of the Serbian Rugby League Federation. Journalist Slaviša Milenković was voted in as president of the new federation. The inaugural Serbian Rugby League Championship was held on November 10, featuring teams from Belgrade, Morava, Novi Sad and Kruševac. Belgrade's Dorcol team won the event.'

Taken from Wikipedia.

So basically there was RL in the 50's and 60's, but rugby union and the government forced them to stop playing and RL only returned in 2001.

Edited by Evil Homer, 28 August 2012 - 12:58 PM.