Greece national rugby league team

Greece

Nickname	Centaurs
Governing body	Hellas Rugby League Federation
Region	Europe
Head coach	Steve Georgallis
Captain	Joshua Kanakis
RLIF ranking	24th
Colours
First international
New Caledonia 10–26 Greece (September 2003)
Biggest win
Hungary 0–90 Greece (27 October 2013)
Biggest defeat
Greece 4–76 Spain (17 October 2015)

The Greece national rugby league team (Greek: Ελλάδα εθνική ομάδα ράγκμπι λίγκ) represents Greece in rugby league football, officially since 2013. The team has been participating in international competition since 2003, and have since become an affiliate member of the Rugby League International Federation.

For more Greek stats, news, team results and more visit Greece's RLEF Page.

History

In October 2005, Greece, The Titans, played an international match in Australia against Malta which they lost 24 points to 22 in front of an estimated crowd of 6,500. Before departing to Greece for their historic match, they played a warm up match against Fiji A at OKI Jubilee Stadium in front of 1103 spectators. Fiji, who had just qualified for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup won the match 34-12. Greece played their first ever Rugby League International Game in a 26-10 victory against New Caledonia in September 2003. On 28 October 2006, Greece played Serbia in the first international match on Greek soil. Greece, because of their Australian based contingent, were favourites against a much improved Serbian outfit as both teams fought out the game in determined fashion. Greece eventually ran out winners, 44-26 in front of 150 home fans of the Glyka Nera Football Club, Athens. Greece were coached by former Western Suburbs Magpies player Steve Georgallis.Greece won their first ever Rugby League Championship in 2009 where they won the Australian Mediterranean Shield defeating Italy in the Final 34-14. The 2009 Australian Mediterranean Shield that they won was their first competition that they took part in. The Greeks were led to the win by Wests Tigers player John Skandalis. The Greeks Triumph at the 2009 Australian Mediterranean Shield was their first trophy in the trophy cabinet. The Greeks did not qualify for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup which was held in Australia.

RLIF World Rankings
Official Rankings as of December 2015
Rank	Change	Team	Points
1		New Zealand	897.00
2		Australia	719.00
3		England	655.00
4		Samoa	280.00
5		France	209.00
6		Ireland	162.00
7		Fiji	147.00
8		Wales	132.00
9		Scotland	121.00
10		United States	102.00
11		Serbia	72.00
12		Italy	65.00
13		Canada	62.00
14		Papua New Guinea	60.00
15		Russia	46.00
16		Tonga	40.00
17		Belgium	40.00
18		Malta	32.00
19		Germany	28.00
20		Lebanon	27.00
21		Spain	26.00
22		Cook Islands	23.00
23		Ukraine	22.00
24		Greece	21.00
25		Denmark	20.00
26		Norway	19.00
27		Jamaica	16.00
28		Netherlands	15.00
29		Sweden	15.00
30		Czech Republic	14.00
31		South Africa	13.00
32		Niue	4.00
33		Hungary	2.00
34		Latvia	2.00
35		Morocco	0.00

A number of plans for the Greek Rugby League have been put into place with a regular domestic competition to commence in 2007. The domestic competition was planned to be based in Athens consisted of four teams, as that is the minimum requirement in gaining associate membership into the Rugby League European Federation. As of 2012 they did not manage to establish a championship. On July 11, 2011, the GB Student "Pioneers" played a game vs an unofficial "national" team (consisted of players from the two Rhodes teams) in Rhodes island. Greeks lost that game. Greece have had a fair bit of players in Australian Rugby League in the past 40 years. Players like George Peponis a former Australian International and Captain who played for the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs, George Katsogiannis, Jim Serdaris, Steve Georgallis the Coach who played for Western Suburbs, John Skandalis, Nick Kouparitsas, Michael Korkidas and Braith Anasta who is half-Greek, half-Anglo Saxon Australian is a Greek and Australian International who used to play for the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs and is now retired. He played for both Countries at International level.

On 27 October 2013 Greece defeated Hungary 90-0 in an international match played in Budapest in front of 500 spectators. The Greek side featured a mixture of players from the Greek domestic competition and Australian-based players including Anasta and Korkidas. Anasta kicked 15 goals from 15 attempts and scored 46 points in the win.

In October 2014, Greece were crowned European Championship C champions after beating Czech Republic in the final. This was their second international tournament victory

Later in the same month, Greece competed in the inaugural Balkans Cup tournament held in Serbia. They beat the hosts in the final to win their third international tournament to add to their trophy cabinet, second in over a week.

Matthew Ashill was the coach of the team for the 2015 European C/2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying tournament and on the 13th of September 2015 he named a 22 man train-on squad with only domestic club players which caused controversy as it was a key event coming up for the national rugby league team. He explained his decision saying “We have a totally new plan using just domestic players who will contribute to the growth and development of the sport here”.

Current squad

Here is the 22 man train-on squad named for the 2015 European Championship C/2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying tournament. *Note, players are listed in no particular order

• Joshua Kanakis (c)
• Giorgin Syti
• Touki Arimanana
• Dimitris Giannimaras
• Giannis Giannimaras
• Nikolaos Kostakis
• Alexandros Goumas
• Artemis Pittaras
• Kostas Roussos
• Panagiotis Varypatis
• Pavlos Polymeneas
• Konstantinos Lambrakis
• Dimitris Ganos
• Panagiotis Karmiris
• Andreas Psarakis
• Panagiotis Karefilis
• Grigoris Koutsimbogiorgos
• Evagelos Ilias
• Giorgos Zdanov
• Konstantinos Arvanitis
• Konstantinos Ilias
• Panagiotis Papadopoulos
• Sotiris Papasotiriou

Notable players

Since rugby league has been known to the nation of Greece since the 2000s many players of Greek birth or heritage have gone on to attain notability in representing either Greece, other nations or appearing in major domestic leagues around the world, some of the more notable Greeks have included:

Player	Position	Association to Greece	Distinctions
Braith Anasta	Five-eighth	Greek Father and Grandparents	Played in the NRL with the Canterbury Bulldogs, Sydney Roosters and the West Tigers. He has represented notable Australian representative teams such as the Australian national team and the New South Wales rugby league team. Anasta has made one appearance for Greece in their 2013 test-match against Hungary where he contributed with 46 points.
Jason Demetriou	Second Row	Greek Heritage	Mainly known for his career in the Super League. Represented Greece in 2000.
George Gatis	Hooker	Greek Heritage	Played in the NRL with the North Queensland Cowboys and New Zealand Warriors as well as with the Huddersfield Giants in the Super League. Played for Greece in 2005.
Iwi Hauraki	Wing	Greek Heritage	Played in the NRL with the Sydney Roosters. Has represented Greece in 20??
Michael Korkidas	Prop	Greek Heritage	By far Greece's most influential big name player, making his debut in 2005 and ever since captaining the side and making more than 10 appearances for the team. He has mainly played his career in the Super League with teams such as the Wakefield Wildcats, Salford City Reds, Castleford Tigers and Huddersfield Giants.
Nick Kouparitsas	Second Row	Greek Heritage	Played in the NRL with the Canterbury Bulldogs and Sydney Roosters as well as playing for the London Broncos in the Super League. Appeared for Greece in 2005 and 2006.
Blake Lazarus	Halfback	Greek Heritage	Played in the NRL with the Wests Tigers. Appeared for Greece in 2012 and 2014.
Jordan Meads	Halfback	Greek Heritage	Played in the NRL with the New Zealand Warriors and in the Championship 1 tier of English competition for the Gloucestershire All Golds. Captained Greece in 2014 Balkans Cup and 2014 European Championship C.
John Skandalis	Halfback	Greek Heritage	Notable Wests Tigers player as well as playing for the Huddersfield Giants in the Super League. Represented the City Origin Team between 2002-2006. Captained Greece in the 2009 Australian Mediterranean Shield.

Match official

Referee

• Dino Vikas

Overall Tournament History

The following tournaments is a list of notable international competitions that Greece has been competing in since their existence in 2003.

A red box around the year indicates tournaments played within Greece

World Cup

World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	D
2008	Not involved in qualifying
2013	Not involved in qualifying
2017	Failed to Qualify
Total	0 Titles	0/13	0	0	0	0

Balkans Cup

Balkans Cup
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	D
2014	Champions	1/4	2	2	0	0
Total	1 Title	1/1	2	2	0	0

Australian Mediterranean Shield

• The Australian Mediterranean Shield tournament is a tournament involving affiliate and observer European nations competing against each other for more international rugby league experience. Greece beat Portugal by 42-16 and therefore advanced to the final to take on Italy. They won the final by a score of 34-14 to be crowned the champions, the country's first International rugby league title.

Australian Mediterranean Shield
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	D
2009	Champions	1/4	2	2	0	0
Total	1 Title	1/?	2	2	0	0

European Championship C

European Championship C
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	D
2008	Not Invited
2009	Not Invited
2010	Not invited
2011	Not invited
2012	Not invited
2013	Not invited
2014	Champions	1/3	2	2	0	0
2015	To Be Determined
Total	1 Title	1/7	2	2	0	0

Results

• OCT 2013: Hungary 0-90 Greece
• OCT 2012: Vanuatu 14-24 Greece
• JUL 2008: Greece 14-12 France (Plate Winners, Student World Cup)
• Oct 2007: Greece 58-32 Scotland Students (development team)
• Oct 2006: Greece 44-26 Serbia
• Oct 2005: Malta 24-22 Greece
• Oct 2004: Italy 58-14 Greece
• Mar 2004: Greece 56-8 New Caledonia
• Sep 2003: Italy 26-24 Greece
• Sep 2003: Greece 26-10 New Caledonia

See also

• Rugby league in Greece

External links

• Hellas Rugby League blog