HOW will Peru and Uruguay fare in their 13-a-side rugby league debuts? How will Chile go with a new-look side? Will El Salvador’s league team become the pride of their tiny nation?
Fans will find out the answers to those questions and more when the GYG International Rugby League Revolucion comes to Liverpool All Saints in Sydney’s west this Saturday.
In a packed schedule of six matches, kicking off at 1:15pm, teams will feature not only from Latin America, but also from Africa, Eastern Europe and South East Asia.
Squads listed at bottom of article.
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 4, LIVERPOOL ALL SAINTS
Hillier Oval, Memorial Avenue, Liverpool.
1:15pm Latin Heat U17 v Africa United U17
2:30pm Incans (Tawantinsuyu) v Sydney University
4pm Peru v Africa United – Unranked match
5:30pm Uruguay v Hungary – Ranked match
7pm El Salvador v Thailand – Ranked match
8.30pm Chile v Poland – Unranked match
The event highlights rugby league’s foothold in new and exciting territories, featuring full 80-minute, 13-a-side men’s matches between Chile and Poland, El Salvador and Thailand, Uruguay and Hungary, and Peru and Africa United.
For Uruguay, Peru and Poland, the event will herald their debuts in full-length matches against sovereign nations.
It will also be the first time Hungary and Poland have played a full match outside of Europe.
Earlier games are set to feature a combined Latin American under 17 team against similarly-aged rivals from Africa United, and a team representing the nations of the Incan Empire (Tawantinsuyu) facing Sydney University.
“We think fans will love the event as a way to kick-off a year in which the 2017 Rugby League World Cup comes to Australasia,” Latin American Rugby League president Daniel Godinez said.
“To have communities from Latin America, Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe all converging to celebrate a game that was unknown by them a few decades ago is a real positive for the sport.
“None of these teams is ranked in the top 20 at the moment, but I believe it’s only a matter of time before one breaks through.
“I can remember people doubting Sri Lanka would ever be a force in international cricket not that long ago and they’ve since become world champions in multiple forms of the game.”
In the latest Rugby League international Federation rankings Chile is listed 34th, Hungary is 38th and El Salvador is 39th, with the other nations recognised by the RLIF, but as-yet unranked.
For Godinez, who arrived in Australia as a childhood refugee and spent several months in Villawood Immigration Centre, the ability of rugby league to put nations such as his homeland El Salvador on the map is something special.
“I’m sure a lot of people don’t realise, but El Salvador has not made a FIFA World Cup for 35 years, and the rugby union team has been heavily beaten in recent times,” he said.
“It’s a tough country full of tough people and rugby league has a real opportunity to create attention if we continue to build on recent foundations.
“For each of the teams competing this Saturday, we hope this is a positive way for their people to unify and show strength on the world stage in another pursuit.”
Two brand new jerseys featuring the tribal markings of their respective cultures will be displayed by Peru and the Tawantinsuyu team.
Peruvian front-rower Juan Carlos Carrion was chief designer of his team’s kit, while Ecuadoran forward Rodney Garcia conceptualised the Tawantinsuyu strip.
“I have Incan heritage via my father’s side and it’s something I’m quite proud of,” Garcia said.
“The team to play Sydney University will have players from all the nations that today reflect the extent of the Incan empire – from Colombia and Ecuador in the north, down to Bolivia, Peru, Chile and Argentina.
“I’ve had the honour of captaining Ecuador before, but this will be a special moment too.”
Tickets to the day will be $15 for adults or $25 for a family (two adults and two children), with proceeds split between the competing nations for future grassroots development.
** ANNOUNCED SQUADS**
PERU (Alphabetical)
Frank Altamirano
George Altamirano
Paul Altamirano
Juan Carlos Carrion
Corey Daniela
Sean Day
Luis Fhon
Jonathan Julca
Kurtis Labour
Jacob Parker
Aaron Perez
Mitchell Perez
Martin Portillo
Sergio Rios
Jye Sommers
(Two to be added)
Head Coach: Jaime Perez / Assistant: Andrew Charles
AFRICA UNITED (Positional)
- Obed Karwhin
- Job Baboth
- Mun Mapiou
- Bill Benjamin
- Geofrey Duku
- Jonathan Saweris
- Bevan De Vries
- Gerald Dzirutwe
- Yibeltal Campbell
- Joel Tubbs
- William Peters
- Acout Dut
- Daniel Dut
- Seth Buckley
- Jordan Adebumowa
- Samuel Mariel
- Frederick Solo
Manager: Steve Warwick
URUGUAY (Positional)
- Matt Cama
- Michael Leon
- Matty Booth
- Angel Morrison
- Javier Britos
- Gabriel Papa
- Jesse Graham
- Michael Pizzorno
- Niko Cama
- Steven Clarke
- Andres Rossini
- Julio Toledo
- Josh Gadea Hellyer
- Eric Rendo
- Pablo Florentin
- Federico Gonzalez
- Michael Byng-Bolz
Coach: Mark de Ubago
Manager: Sheyla Nadj
HUNGARY (Positional)
- Nathan Farkas
- Marty Schneider
- Danny Schneider
- Stephen Nemeth
- Ryan Nemeth
- Jred Farkas
- David Farkas
- Joseph Toth
- Aaron Frkas
- Karoly Acsai
- Chris Schneider
- Brent Varga
- Eddie Ertl
- Max Feast
- Josh Institoris
- Matthew Pankasz
- Shane ‘Geoffrey’ Stevens
- Daniel Bridges
- Stephen Toth
- Paul Graham
Coach: Jonathan Wilson
Manager: Richard Harsanyi & Steffan Nemeth
EL SALVADOR (Alphabetical)
Alvaro Alarcon
Michael Alarcon
Fredy Arteaga-Figueroa
Chris Castro
Daniel Godinez
Jono Godinez
Frank ‘Paco’ Godinez
Miguel Gonzalez
Roberto Gonzalez
Josh Guzman
Jimmy Iraheta
Jose Martinez
Nelson Melgar
Joaquin Mendoza
Oscar Mendoza
Rafael Mendoza
Eric Orellana
Ronnie Rivas
Brandon Rodriguez
Sebastian Schubert
Michael Zamora-Rivera
(Four to be omitted)
Coach: Frank Bluegum Senior
THAILAND (Positional)
- Damien Nicholls
- Micky Pannao
- Opal Pesanan
- Dangmo Chimpla
- Suhttirak Choengkhiri
- Chris Twigg
- Micky Obrien (vc)
- Will Scully
- Eightt Saisiri
- Carlin Millar (c)
- Joey Halpin
- Scott Stapleton
- Don Boonkhit
- Rhys Tucker
- Curtis Baxter
- Dan Thomas
- Winston Witharjonkul
- Travis Clements
- Vissut Domklang
- Dylan Baxter
(Three to be omitted)
Coach: Brian Smith / Assistant: Marvin Pace
Acting Manager: Martin Twigg
CHILE (Positional)
- James Horvat
- Jose Nitor-Alvear
- Joshua Munoz
- Ben Fisher
- Jon Munoz
- Brad Millar
- Trent Millar
- Eduardo Wegener
- Israel Perez-Bueno
- Josh Betros
- Patrick Caamano
- Jonathan Espinoza
- Peter Betros
- Mana Castillo-Sioni
- Alvaro Avaria
- John ‘Eugene’ Araya
- Jaxson Uzabeaga
- William Climpson
- Sergio Montenegro
(One to be omitted)
Coach: Grant Mitchell / Assistant: Trev Smith
Manager: Carlos Astorga Gonzalez
POLAND (Positional)
- Matt Haskie
- Jayden Zelezniak
- Ben Field
- Dwayne Mosley
- Sean Kowalski
- Alex Kowalski
- Cheyne Pike
- Zac Pitt
- Jaydon Sienkiewicz
- Stephen Kolodziej
- Mitchell Sahw
- Ben Scerbanik
- Todd Mosley
- Ethan Niszczot
- Jordan Owen
- Mark Chmurycz
- James Usher
- Jackson Field
Coach: Ellis Hurworth
Manager: Shane Young