Rugby league in Serbia
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Rugby league is a team sport that is played in Serbia, which now has over 250 registered players nationwide, approximately 150 of which are juniors. These numbers are rapidly increasing each year. Belgrade and Novi Sad are the two main bases for rugby league in Serbia, and these two cities produce most of the country's players.
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[edit] History
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 Novermber 26, 1953, between French 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.
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 Dorćol team won the event.
Dorćol is the 2006 champions.
[edit] The National Team
See also: Serbia national rugby league team
The National Team, which has represented Serbia and Montenegro, has competed in the Rugby League Mediterranean Cup in both 2003 and 2004 and had shown great improvement on the second occasion.
In 2005 they also participated in a three-way qualification tournament for the Rugby League European Nations Cup with the Holland and Georgia.
In 2006 Serbia participated in a four-way Rugby League World Cup qualifications/ENC B tournament with Russia, Georgia and Holland.
During July 2006, the Serbian U-19 national team participated in the U-19 European Nations Cup in Northern Catalonia. The Serbian boys were the only team outside Home nations or France on that tournament. However, they finished sixth by losing to Scotland only 14-16 in the last minutes of their 5th place play-off encounter in Barcares.
On August 12th 2006, Serbia won its first trophy. They won Czech Republic in Prague and their captain Radoslav Novaković lifted the Slavic Cup. The Serbian team played without Serbian origin players from UK or Australia.
On October 28th 2006, Serbia played Greece in Athens an historic match as it was the first Rugby League match on Greek soil. Greece was at an advantage in this match, as 10 out of their 17 players were Australian-based Greeks. Although Serbia lost the match 44-26, they played well against a team that included much more experienced players. The Serbian players said it was an honour to play against Salford City Reds player Michael Korkidas. However, this did not stop the Serbian players from being as physical as possible against Korkidas. This match was watched by 150 spectators in Athens.
[edit] Notable achievements
Serbia has wasted no time producing great Rugby League players. Impressive youngsters Dalibor Vukanović and Soni Radovanović had stints with English National League Two side London Skolars in 2005, National League Three side Warrington Wizards and Russian 2nd runners-up Vereya in 2006. The boys were aged 19 and 17 respectively during their stint in England.
Zoran Pešić is arguably Serbia's best export so far. Zoran had a six week stint with National League Three side Warrington Wizards with above-mentioned Vukanović and Radovanović. He was also one of three nominees for the award of Best Emerging Nations Player at the Rugby League International Federation awards in Sydney on November 20th, 2006. This award was won by St George Illawarra Dragons' Wes Naiqama, who represented Fiji.
UK-born player of Serbian origin (and also Serbian RL international) Luka Simeunović lifted the English U-21 Senior Academy Cup as captain of the Halifax RLFC Academy team. He is one of the most successful Rugby League players with Serbian roots, alongside his older brother James, and he is a member of Halifax 27-men squad.
In 2007, some Serbian players have their sights set on breaking into the French Elite League, while others may be headed for Russia or England.
[edit] Clubs
- Dorćol Spiders
- Morava Eels
- Vojvodina Rams
- Voždovac Dragons
- Stari grad
- RLC Podbara Novi Sad
- RLC Zemun Beograd
- Pancevo warriors
[edit] References
- Serbian Rugby League
- Video of European tournament that Serbian football team are involved in
- Dorćol RL and RU web-site (in Serbian)
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