There will be a double helping of international rugby league tomorrow, Saturday, when Chile meet Malta in a men’s senior international at Forshaw Park, Sydney (kick off 1pm, local time) before the North Macedonia face Poland.
In naming the Chilean squad, chair Rod Miller said: “We are in a rebuild process at the moment as many of our stalwart players have now hung their boots. A new era of Chilean Rugby League commences with this match. We have a high number of new players who are all below the age of 22 and a growing amount of junior players contacting us, so the future of Chile RL looks quite healthy. We are very respectful of our opposition and will need to play very well to be able to compete, but I have a great deal of faith in our young squad to represent their heritage nation with pride.”
The Weichafes have selected 14 new names in their squad and were the first South American nation to be involved in a men’s qualifier for the Rugby League World Cup when they faced USA in November 2018.
Malta went down 38-12 in their last outing, against Italy and head coach Aaron McDonald commented: “We’ve got a talented side, but we still need to gel. We’ll have different half backs this week and a new hooker. Chile will probably try to come through the middle so our boys will need to aim up defensively. They had a really good win against the Philippines last year who had beaten us, so I’m expecting a very tough contest.”
CHILE SQUAD
Alvaro Jimenez, (Latin Heat RL), Alvin Ekes (Latin Heat RL), Austin Ekes Olivares (Rouse Hills Rhinos), Ben Fisher (Blue Mountains Rugby), Brandon Tobar, Christian Sandoval (Moorbank RAMS ), Chris Castillo (Bankstown Bulls), Diego Becerra (Mounties RL), Diego Bravo (Canterbury Bankstown), Esteban Labra (ESA Magpies), Harry Croker, Mitch Black (South Newcastle), James Horvat (Ipswich Jets), Jay Jimenez (Tafe NSW Polecats), Jayden Jorquera (South Eastern Seagulls), Javier Ramirez Ley (Cronulla Caringbah Sharks), Joshua Artesi (Northern Sharks), Jose Nitor (Latin Heat RL), Mauricio Reyes Vega (Patrician Brothers Fairfield), Max Castillo (Brothers Cairns), Mohamad Tabbouch (East Campbelltown), Nick Doberer (Leichardt Wanderers) Captain, Sebastian De La Paz (Gymea Gorillas), Zane Artesi (Usyd RL)
MALTA SQUAD
Dylan Hodson (Brothers), Riley Tonna (Campbelltown City Kangaroos), Luke Huth (Cessnock), Logan Sipple (Central Coast Roosters), Will Exton (Hawkesbury), Jordan Xuereb (Jamberoo), Zac Vella (Moorebank Rams), Anthony Bucca (Mounties), Ryan Azzopardi (Riverstone), Tyler Cassel (Ryde Eastwood), Eli Foote (Singleton), Bryson Demanuele (St Clair), Zarrin Galea (St Patricks), Lucas Borg (Shellharbour Stingrays), Kyal Greene (The Oaks), Jayden Azzopardi, Carlo Cassar (Unattached), Kyle Cassel (Wentworthville), Tyson Jackson (West Harbour).