Rugby league in Serbia
Encyclopedia
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
is a team sport
Team sport
A team sport includes any sport which involves players working together towards a shared objective. A team sport is an activity in which a group of individuals, on the same team, work together to accomplish an ultimate goal which is usually to win. This can be done in a number of ways such as...
that is played in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, which now has over 250 registered players nationwide, approximately 150 of which are juniors. These numbers are rapidly increasing each year. Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
and Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
are the two main bases for rugby league in Serbia, and these two cities produce most of the country's players.
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 BelgradeBelgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
on November 26, 1953, between French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
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
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
and Yugoslav authorities demanded that Serbian clubs switch to rugby union to unite Yugoslavia under one form of rugby football
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
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 Dorćol
Dorcol
Dorćol is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Stari Grad.- Location :Dorćol begins already some 700 meters north of Terazije, the central square of Belgrade...
team won the event.
Dorćol is the 2006 champions.
The National Team
The National TeamSerbia national rugby league team
The Serbia national rugby league team represents Serbia in the sport of rugby league football, has been participating in international competition since 2003.-History:...
, which has represented Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro was a country in southeastern Europe, formed from two former republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia : Serbia and Montenegro. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was established in 1992 as a federation called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
, has competed in the Rugby League Mediterranean Cup
Mediterranean Cup
The Mediterranean Cup was an annual rugby league football tournament that was held in Lebanon although it also has been held in France. It was contested by Lebanon, France, Serbia and Morocco with the competition first conceived as a qualifying tournament for the 2000 Rugby League World Cup, and in...
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
Rugby League European Nations Cup
The European Cup is a rugby league football tournament for European nations that was first held in 1935. The tournament was first started in 1935, with England, Wales and France each playing each other once...
with the Holland
Netherlands national rugby league team
The Netherlands Rugby league was formed in January 2003. The national team played its first international match in 2005.-2008 World Cup Qualifying:See Also 2008 Rugby League World Cup qualifying...
and Georgia
Georgia national rugby league team
The Georgia national rugby league team represented Georgia in rugby league football. It played its first international game in 2005. The Georgian team play in a red jersey with a white cross on the front...
.
In 2006 Serbia participated in a four-way Rugby League World Cup
Rugby League World Cup
The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league competition contested by members of the Rugby League International Federation . It has been held nearly once every 4 years on average since its inaugural tournament in France in 1954...
qualifications/ENC B
Rugby League European Nations Cup
The European Cup is a rugby league football tournament for European nations that was first held in 1935. The tournament was first started in 1935, with England, Wales and France each playing each other once...
tournament with Russia
Rugby league in Russia
Rugby league is a team sport in Russia. The Russian Rugby League Federation is the governing body of rugby league in Russia.-Olympic Status of Rugby Union Sevens and the expulsion of Rugby League from the State Register of Sports of Russia:...
, Georgia and Holland.
During July 2006, the Serbian U-19 national team participated in the U-19 European Nations Cup in Northern Catalonia
Northern Catalonia
Northern Catalonia is a term that is sometimes used, particularly in Catalan writings, to refer to the territory ceded to France by Spain through the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659...
. The Serbian boys were the only team outside Home nations
Home Nations
Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on the context. Politically, it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom...
or France
Rugby league in France
Rugby league has been played in France since 1934. As with rugby union, the heartland of the game is the south of the country.During the Second World War, in association with the French rugby union, the sport was banned by the Vichy government, an act which the sport has struggled to recover from...
on that tournament. However, they finished sixth by losing to Scotland
Rugby league in Scotland
Rugby league is comparatively minor sport in Scotland, dwarfed by the popularity of association football, and to a lesser extent sports such as rugby union, curling and shinty...
only 14-16 in the last minutes of their 5th place play-off encounter in Barcares.
On August 12 2006, Serbia won its first trophy. They won Czech Republic
Rugby league in Czech Republic
Rugby League in the Czech Republic was started in 2006. The Czechs received government funding before a game was played there, and in their first game on August 5, 2006 in Prague, the Czechs went down 34-28 to the Netherlands....
in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
and their captain Radoslav Novaković lifted the Slavic Cup
Slavic Cup
The Slavic Cup is a rugby league football competition first competed for in 2006. The first winners of the Slavic Cup were Serbia. The competition was organized as part of the continuing effort to spread the game of rugby league throughout the many nations of Europe...
. The Serbian team played without Serbian origin players from UK or Australia.
On October 28 2006, Serbia played Greece
Rugby league in Greece
Rugby league is a popular team sport emerging in Greece. The Greece national rugby league team is now an affiliate member of the Rugby League International Federation.-History:...
in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
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
Salford City Reds
Salford City Reds are an English rugby league club based in Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1873, they currently play in the Super League. They have won six Rugby Football League Championships and one Challenge Cup...
player Michael Korkidas
Michael Korkidas
Michael Korkidas is an Australian-Greek rugby league player who currently plays for the Keighley Cougars. He primarily plays at .-Playing career:...
. 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.
Belgrade hosted the first U16 European Nations Cup from 27 June to 3 July. Serbian boys made great upset by beating Russia 22-10 in the first match of their pool. In the second round, England (later winners of the Cup) won Serbia 46-0 and in 3rd place playoff Serbia lost to European Celts 22-20. However, the fourth place of Serbian U16s is the greatest success of national Rugby League in the history of the game in the country.
In 2007 Serbia is taking part in European Shield, newly-established European Rugby League competition. The first match, v Germany
Rugby league in Germany
Rugby league is a minor sport in Germany. The national governing body for the sport, Rugby League Deutschland, is an associate member of the Rugby League European Federation...
in Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
, Serbia won 38-6 (tries by Pešić, Radovanović, Vukanović, Matejić, Jerković and Milanko and goals by Vukanović 6 and Matejić). The second match, v Czech Republic in Belgrade, Serbia won 56-16 (tries by Pešić 2, Mijušković, Radovanović 2, Jerković 2, Matejić, Brkić and Marko Milosavljević and goals by Brkić 5 and Novaković), and won the three-way competition with perfect record. Winning the match v Czech national team, Serbians defended Slavic Cup.
2008 saw Serbian national team challenges in the both U18 and open age competitions. U18s won 6th place in European Nations Cup (European Nations Shield runners-up) held in Prague and Beroun after losing to Ireland 12-66 in preliminaries, defeating European Celts 38-32 in Shield semifinals and losing to Scotland 42-38 after golden point in the second extra-time of the Shield final.
As failed to qualify to 2008 Rugby League World Cup
2008 Rugby League World Cup
The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since the inauguration of the tournament in 1954, and the first since the 2000 event...
, Serbian national team took part in Euro-Med Challenge during end of September and first week of October and finished third due to defeats to Russia (4-30 in Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
) and Lebanon (14-20 in Bhamdoun
Bhamdoun
Bhamdoun is a town in Lebanon from Beirut on the main road that leads to Damascus, lying at an altitude of above the Lamartine valley. Two separate villages compose the town, Bhamdoun-el-mhatta and Bhamdoun-el-day'aa...
).
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 SkolarsLondon Skolars
London Skolars are a rugby league club based at the New River Stadium, Wood Green, Haringey in North London. They were founded in 1995 and have been semi-professional since 2003, operating in Championship One...
in 2005, National League Three side Warrington Wizards
Warrington Wizards
Warrington Wizards are a British rugby league team. They play in the National Division of the Rugby League Conference.-History:Warrington Woolston Rovers, a National Conference League team were invited to be founder members of the new National League Three, the 4th tier of British rugby league in...
and Russian 2nd runners-up Vereya in 2006. The boys were aged 19 and 17 respectively during their stint in England.
Zoran Pešić
Zoran Pešic
Zoran Pešić is a Serbian rugby league player , who plays mainly at . He has represented Serbia many times, and had a brief stint with the London Skolars in 2006. He currently plays for Red Star Rugby League Club in Belgrade....
is arguably Serbia's best export so far. Zoran had a six week stint with National League Three side Warrington Wizards
Warrington Wizards
Warrington Wizards are a British rugby league team. They play in the National Division of the Rugby League Conference.-History:Warrington Woolston Rovers, a National Conference League team were invited to be founder members of the new National League Three, the 4th tier of British rugby league in...
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
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
on November 20, 2006. This award was won by St George Illawarra Dragons
St George Illawarra Dragons
The St George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing the St. George and Illawarra regions. They have competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 as a joint venture between Sydney's historic St. George Dragons club and 1982 expansion club, the...
' Wes Naiqama
Wes Naiqama
Wes Naiqama is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Newcastle Knights of the National Rugby League competition. Also the incumbent Fiji national team captain, his usual position is in the centres...
, who represented Fiji
Rugby league in Fiji
Rugby league, or rakavi saumi as it is also known there, is a popular team sport played in Fiji since 1992 when the country was included in the World Sevens.-History:...
.
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
Halifax RLFC
Halifax RLFC is one of the most historic rugby league clubs in the game, formed over a century ago, in 1873 in the Yorkshire town of Halifax. Known as 'Fax', the official club colours are blue and white hoops, blue shorts and blue socks . They share The Shay stadium with football club FC Halifax Town...
27-men squad.
In March 2007, Serbian Rugby League national team have beaten the British Prison Service 44-24 and won Belgrade Trophy.
In 2007, some Serbian players have their sights set on breaking into the French Elite League
Rugby league in France
Rugby league has been played in France since 1934. As with rugby union, the heartland of the game is the south of the country.During the Second World War, in association with the French rugby union, the sport was banned by the Vichy government, an act which the sport has struggled to recover from...
, while others may be headed for Russia
Rugby league in Russia
Rugby league is a team sport in Russia. The Russian Rugby League Federation is the governing body of rugby league in Russia.-Olympic Status of Rugby Union Sevens and the expulsion of Rugby League from the State Register of Sports of Russia:...
or England
Rugby league in England
Rugby league football is a team sport in England. The sport receives funding from Sport England as an "English priority" sport. The top-level competition in England—called Super League—is not an entirely all-English affair, as it includes a team from France, and also featured a team from Wales from...
.