Since its foundation in 2004, Maltese rugby league has continued to grow, and Pat Galea, one of the players who was there at the beginning, could not be happier.
GIVEN the successful year the Maltese Knights had in the way of victories in 2023, could this be the pivotal turning point of the game flourishing in Malta?
According to Knights inaugural international Pat Galea, the answer is yes!
Wins over Montenegro, Bulgaria, Chile, the Philippines, and North Macedonia last year, illustrates that rugby league in Malta is alive and well.
Whilst some of you may be unfamiliar with the history of the game in Malta since its inception in 2004, the Knights certainly got off to a flyer in their international debut.
A 78-0 thrashing of the British Defence Force in Sydney was not only a watershed moment in the Knights history, but to date, is Malta’s biggest ever win.
Since then, the Knights have never looked back and with the current crop of Maltese players setting the pace, the future looks bright.
Galea reminisces about his time with the Knights and the missed opportunities he suffered in trying to make a name for himself in the NRL.
“I started my career like any other kid growing up in Sydney playing all my junior footy at my local club.
“I had dreams of playing for Penrith who were the biggest club in my catchment area.
“I actually qualify for Malta as my father is Maltese and I also have an Irish mother which means I also qualify for Ireland.”
From their formation in 2004 at the Russian club in Strathfield Sydney, there have been many quality players that have lined up to wear the Knights jersey over the years.
Names like former Penrith and London Broncos star Jarrod Sammut, Huddersfield import Jake Mamo and with current Redcliffe Dolphins halfback Sean O’Sullivan putting his hand up to represent Malta in the future, the only way is up for the ambitious Knights.
In Galea’s case, the former North Sydney Bear is excited as to what the future holds for Maltese rugby league, however his own journey has been filled with many bumps in the road.
“I actually wanted to play for Penrith and being a junior in the area, I was overlooked by the club.
“I then had a chance to trial with North Sydney and was given a contract to play in their Jersey Flegg side.
“After a few good seasons in Flegg, I was promoted to reserve grade and at that stage, the Bears were the feeder club to the Melbourne Storm.”
But Galea’s horror run of injuries and with a plethora of young talent coming through the Bears system, his tenure with North Sydney ended.
Fortunately, a chance to reignite his career under Tim Sheens at Wests Tigers, came knocking.
“I had a meeting with Tim and was given a train and trial contract with the Tigers and was training in their top 20 squad.
“Unfortunately, I only played reserve grade with Wests and didn’t get a chance to play first grade, so I was pretty gutted that I was unable to break into the top 17.
“Although I never got the opportunity to make my NRL debut, I will always be thankful playing under Gary Freeman at North Sydney and Tim at the Tigers, who were both great coaches.
“I did take away one story of being coached by Tim though, the day that he put everybody on notice at our first training session of the year.
“One player was not training hard enough and was continually faking injuries to get out of doing the cardio sessions.
“Tim is a smart man and saw right through him.
“He assembled the squad, called this player out and said: ‘Go to your locker, clean it out and hand back your keys because your time with the Tigers is over.’
“Needless to say, for the rest of that year, the players put in 110 per cent.”
Although Galea might not have had a glittering career in the NRL, his eight caps for Malta are still high on his achievements.
“Being one of the inaugural Knights players in our debut international against the British Defence Forces, will always be special to me.
“I look at it in that, I am now part of history.
“To get that first international win, we certainly put other countries on notice that we were not going to be pushovers by any means.
“I was actually picked to play in that international through the pages of Big League magazine.
“The Maltese Rugby League recognised Galea being a Maltese name, so they got in contact.
“When they realised I was half Maltese and could play rugby league, they asked if I was keen on playing for them and I jumped at the chance.
“Without the tireless work of former Maltese coach Anthony Micallef, with his pushing to get the game off the ground in Malta, who knows, maybe it all might still have just been a pipedream?
“But here we are 20 years down the track and Malta are still competing against the rest of the world snapping at everybody’s heels.
“It’s great to see!”
Galea believes for Maltese rugby league to remain competitive in the future, it all comes down to two things.
“Setting proper pathways in place for young aspiring Maltese kids who want to play for Malta in the future is paramount.
“Currently, we have the Malta rugby league pathways program in which we coach kids as young as 12, in helping them develop into top tier players.
“Secondly, we have welcomed the Maltese Dames women’s side, and they are now a pivotal piece in the Maltese rugby league puzzle.
“Women’s rugby league has taken off in leaps and bounds, so having a Maltese women’s side is fantastic.
“My daughters have just started playing rugby league, so I would love to see them follow in my footsteps of representing our heritage.
“Whichever way you look at it, Maltese rugby league is here to stay.
“I’m just glad I was able to go along for the ride.”
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 492 (January 2024)
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