Germany host Netherlands in their annual Griffin Cup contest tomorrow, Saturday at the Althoff-Stadion, Hattingen (kick off 2pm local time) in a men’s senior international for world ranking points.
It will be the eleventh meeting of the western European neighbours for the cup, with the series standing at five-all. Germany won the opening four encounters, Netherlands the next five but last year, in Voorschoten, Germany regained the trophy with a 29-24 victory.
The game will be played on the first dedicated rugby league pitch in Germany, and Nationaler Rugby League Deutschland are raising funds to support the installation of posts at the venue at the following link: https://bit.ly/3rWR9Gm
NRLD president, Bob Doughton, commented: “I’m pleased that we’re able to call on professional talent for this game in Jimmy Keinhorst and Charlie Tetley who are funding their own trips to the game, which shows excellent commitment to the national team and blends nicely with our local players such as Liam Doughton who will play his 30th game for Germany.
“Our squad includes six potential debutants, Martin Tormann, Max Alderson, Harry Cartwright, Dorotej-Dado Arnold, Alexj Petry, Brian Kikawa and Konstantine Gabedeva, who are all excited at the prospect of earning national team honours and we’re looking forward to seeing how those selected play in that environment.”
Netherlands come in on the back of consecutive victories against Norway, Albania and last week’s win over Europe’s third ranked nation Serbia. Head coach Dave Hunter said: “It has given us the opportunity to really work on our weaknesses. While the matches against Norway and Albania were pleasing from a scoreboard perspective, the performance against Serbia showed what the squad is capable of.
“The support we’ve received from the Dutch public has been great, I’m not sure they fully appreciate how much they mean to the boys. We’ve got a massive match against Germany and we’re hoping as many as possible will make the trip over the border to support us. They will be desperate to keep hold of the Griffin Cup, a trophy that means a lot to both teams.”
GERMANY SQUAD
Max Alderson, Alex Nyahoe, Martin Tormann (Bocks), Eoin Bowie (Miles Devils), Kote Gabedeva, Fabian Kramer, Kilian Martin, Alexej Petry, Felix Rau (Panthers), Liam Doughton, Dany Doukeng, Sebastian Paassen (Rhinos) Mawuli Améfia, Dorotej-Dado Arnold, Harry Cartwright, Brian Kikawa, Christophe Ngondi (Trouts), Charlie Tetley (Wakefield Trinity), Jimmy Keinhorst (York Knights)
NETHERLANDS SQUAD
Daan van Rossum, James Adams, William Johnston (Amsterdam Cobras), Lucas Thomson (Cessnock Goannas), Tom van der Bokhoven (Cromer Kingfishers), Frank Longhurst, Maas van der Reek, Bonne Wilce, Hamish Wragg (Den Haag Knights), Harry Mulligan (The Entrance Tigers), Mitch Donnelly (Narrabeen Sharks), Shadan Lavia, Isaac Ngirubiu, Tom Turnock, Soren van der Linden (Rotterdam Pitbulls), Damon Koolstra (Souths Mackay Sharks), Dimitri Haringa, Mauricio Gomez Pazos, Mike Prins (Zwolle Wolves)