Lebanon RL

[rus]

Al Jazeera Feature:


www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLxAOVsr8jw

[kier]

Lebanon RL is a real success story - well done to Danny K for all his hard work over there. Fantastic stuff.

[Gibbo]

There's a bit more about Lebanon RL here.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_league_in_Lebanon

[rus]

More:

Samoa seal League World Cup spot
By Steve Kaless in Featherstone
english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/1FF34245-1391-4139-AF3D-0230606770DE.htm

Samoa clinched the tenth and final place in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup after they defeated Lebanon 38-16 in Featherstone.

Boasting a physical side with eight former New Zealand internationals the Samoans were simply too strong for a Lebanese team that played with plenty of spirit, but paid heavily for some mistakes and wayward goal kicking.




John Ackland, Samoa coach, was pleased to see his side qualify for next year's tournament and hoped it would be the beginning of a rugby league revival in the Polynesian Islands.







"The boys got there through heart and effort, what they call 'malossi' and I think it is good for international rugby league to have Samoa at the World Cup because I believe we have the potential to have a very competitive side," Ackland said after the match.

"Along with Tonga, if we can reach a stage where five or six countries are competitive then the game will really be able to grow internationally."

Ackland believes the spirit within the camp and the opportunities that exist in Samoa make for a positive future.

"We have a unique opportunity in Samoa to build it from the ground up and get it right."

John Ackland,
Samoa coach

"The senior blokes have welcomed the younger guys from the domestic comp into the side and it will hopefully mean a lot to the game in Samoa," said Ackland.

"We have a unique opportunity in Samoa to build it from the ground up and get it right."

The team's performance has already won over Everton midfielder Tim Cahill, who is of Samoan heritage, and the Socceroo has already pledged his support in helping the game grow in his mother's homeland.

A proud showing by Lebanon

While disappointed with the result, Darren Maroon, Lebanon coach, was more than proud of his players.

"To go out there and play as we did against a side stacked with internationals speaks volumes about the character of the side. We didn't go out there to make up the numbers but to put on a good show of ourselves, but the experience of the other side probably told in the end," Maroon said.

The Lebanon boss was left frustrated by eligibility rules of the International Rugby League which allowed Tongan players Taniela Tuaki and Fui Fui Moi Moi to assist their country to reach the finals before switching to play in the recent New Zealand tour, but threatened Wests Tigers hooker Robbie Farah with a two-year ban from State of Origin rugby league in Australia.

"We'd give our right arm to play in the finals in Australia."

Darren Maroon,
Lebanon coach

However, he remained positive about the game's growth in Lebanon after four players from the domestic competition (Robin Hachache, Youssef Helou, Ghassan Dandash and Ali Kourouche) all played an active part in the qualifying rounds.

"Our collegiate system which allows university students to play the game and then represent the Emerging Lebanese side is working well and this tour will have given us more exposure," said Maroon.

"We are now working on that side touring in 2009."

With rumblings that Papua New Guinea may withdraw from the tournament due to their frustration at being placed in the 'Super Group' alongside Australia, England and New Zealand, Maroon gave no doubt as to whether his side would be available to take up that spot should it become available.

"We'd give our right arm to play in the finals in Australia."

Samoa off to quick start

Once again the Lebanese side were guilty of letting their opposition get away to a flying start after they allowed Samoa to race to a 14-0 lead after just 11 minutes with tries to hooker Chris Vaegafa and fullback Tangi Ropati while halfback Joseph Paulo kicked three goals.

However the Cedars hit back when Phillip Tatchi made an ordinary kick from halfback George Ndaira look world beating when he plucked a the ball out of the air to dive over.

Samoa then sent out a reminder of just how strong they can be when they won a scrum against the feed by pushing the Lebanese off the ball before captain Nigel Vagana rocketed on to a pass to crash over.

To see a try scored in such a manner certainly wound back the clock. The last time such a try was scored at the ground, Featherstone were probably still a rugby league powerhouse in England.

A further try to Samoan and Penrith Panthers prop Frank Puletua had the Cedars reeling before they scored the best try of the match.

Some great hands close to line saw five-eighth Toufic Nicholas flick a speculative pass out the back before Adham El-Zbaideh picked up the loose ball and dived over much to the delight of the crowd who were keen to see a Lebanese revival.

Kicking costs Cedars

Sadly it was short lived when Samoan winger Andreas Bauer, who plies his trade just up the road at Hull Kingston Rovers, crossed to push the score out to 32-8 after some excellent lead up wok by Newcastle Knights centre George Carmont.

To their credit though, Lebanon again fought back through tries to Danny Chiha and Tom Joseph who scored after another deft kick from Ndaira found him in plenty of space.

However with Toufic Nicholas unable to land a single conversion all night, Lebanon were making hard work of their fightback and the result was sealed five minutes from time when big Samoan prop Hutch Maiva crashed over to round out the try scoring.

In stark contrast to Nicholas' wayward boot, Paulo then landed his seventh conversion of the night to book his side's place in Group C of the World Cup alongside Ireland and Tonga.

[rus]

Still more:

www.lebrl.com/
.............

Representatives from the Bank of Beirut and the Ministry of Youth and Sport also attended as the LRLC officially launched its five year partnership with the bank and mapped out its plans for the future.

.................


Addressing the domestic scene, Ziade commented that the LRLC should become a federation by the end of the year, and that the sport is now seeing the fruits from the development strategy that was implemented five years earlier. The most notable example is the partnership with Bank of Beirut, “a natural fit” according to Ziade due to “the synergy between the Bank’s own strategy and our core values and characteristics.”

Ziade went on to reveal the launch of Lebanese rugby league’s nationwide school development plan, spearheaded by the Development Department’s three course directors and 15 Level 2 coaches, in partnership with the Ministry of Education. “Over the next few weeks we will qualify a number of Level 1 coaches as we conduct courses for school teachers – a programme we started last Sunday in Tripoli – which is the first step towards inter-school competitions for both girls and boys, and the fielding of youth national teams next year.”

Bank of Beirut’s Communications and Marketing Manager, Elissar Hajj Zarwi, echoed Ziade’s thoughts: “rugby league conforms to our aspirations and the bank’s development strategy, with a strong emphasis on youth, good health and sex appeal!”

The sports ministry’s Ali Khalil said: “while we are disappointed that the national team could not qualify for the world cup we acknowledge the big effort they made and the efforts being made to develop the sport in Lebanon. It is important to the ministry that rugby league becomes a popular sport here.”

[kier]

I was speaking to a "Tunisian" the othe day - I use the "" because he's never lived outside of NZ and it was his parents who moved here. Yet he considers himself Tunisian - and would consider his (future) kids and grandkids to also be Tunisian. Most importantly he assures me that all members of the family would be considered Tunisian (at least on a social/cultural level) if they were to return to Tunisia

This is in stark contrast to (white) european immigrants to NZ - people already expect me to consider myself as kiwi after 5 years - and the attitude to my son is that he is 100% NZ.

I'm not sure if there is an aspect of mild racism in the attitude - but it is true that the different cultures around the world have totally different attitudes towards the exploits of their expatriates - and as such RL has to be careful about having a blanket approach to grassroots development around the world.

I have no doubt that the 'Lebanon' RL team is considered as 100% legit in the eyes of the Lebanese people - and as such should be given support and opportunities. A similar "Irish" team (for example) wouldn't be viewed in the same light either at home or abroad.

[rus]

Still more:

Rugby league is changing people's lives in Lebanon, according to European Federation representative Danny Kazandijan.


The Londoner, who has been charged with the responsibility of developing the sport in the Middle East and north Africa, helped guide The Cedars to the brink of World Cup qualification in mid-November.

Despite going down 38-16 to Samoa in the repechage final, Lebanon proved their potential by drawing with Ireland and defeating Wales along the way.


Channelled aggression

Lebanese clubs have contested championships every year since 2002 and Kazandijan believes the sport's introduction provides a positive distraction from the political instability in the region.

"It became clear very quickly that they were suited to the sport. They've taken to it like ducks to water," he said.

"Some of them couldn't believe their luck when they started playing. They used to ask - you mean this is allowed?

"The chance we've given these young men to do something positive has been an enormous fillip to them.

"They all understand that they have built all this up by themselves and hopefully we've done our bit to change people's perceptions of Lebanon."

Only three Lebanese-based players made the World Cup qualifying squad though this time round and Kazandijan hopes to expand on the development of home-based talent before the next World Cup campaign.
www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12198_2924098,00.html